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".

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Part 1: Enchaînement (The Easy Part)

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

The Rule: The last consonant of word A moves to the first syllable of word B.

Part 2: Liaison (The Hard Part)

Liaison happens when a word ends in a silent consonant, but that consonant "wakes up" when followed by a vowel or a silent 'h'.

The Rule: The silent letter becomes the first sound of the next word.

Consonant Changes in Liaison:

1. S and X sound like [Z].

Part 3: The Three Categories of Liaison

You cannot just link everything. French has a strict hierarchy.

A. Obligatory Liaisons (Mandatory)

If you skip these, you sound like a beginner.

1. Article + Noun/Adjective:
   • "Les amis" / "Un étudiant" / "Des enfants".

Part 4: The H-Aspiré Trap

The biggest trap in French pronunciation is the Aspirated H.

• H Muet (Silent H): Behaves like a vowel. Allows liaison and elision (l').

Part 5: Pronunciation Drills

Try reading these out loud, focusing on the link:

1. Mandatory: "Nous sommes arrivés aux Etats-Unis."
   • /Nou-som-zari-vé-zo-zéta-zuni/. (That's 4 liaisons in 5 words!).
2. Forbidden: "C'est un chat intelligent et élégant."
   • /Cé-tun-cha-anté-li-jan-é-élé-gan/. (No link after chat, no link after et).

Conclusion

Mastering Liaison is about rhythm. French is a language of "Vowel-Consonant-Vowel" alternation.

• If a word ends in a vowel, the next should start with a consonant.
• If it ends in a consonant, the next should start with a vowel.

When the spelling doesn't provide this alternation, Liaison steps in to fix it. Memorize the mandatory links (Articles + Nouns), avoid the 'ET' trap, and you will sound 10x more fluent.