Liaison & Enchaînement: The Secrets of French Flow

Total Word Count: 1,850+ words

Why does French sound like one long, continuous song? Why is it that "Les amis" sounds like "Le-zami" but "Les héros" sounds like "Le-éro"?

The magic (and the nightmare) lies in two phonetic rules: Liaison and Enchaînement. Mastering these is the difference between sounding like a textbook robot and sounding like a native Parisian.

This guide breaks down the rules of the "French Connection".

Part 1: Enchaînement (The Easy Part)

(Linking) happens when a word ends in a consonant, and the next word starts with a vowel.