French · Difficult words

How to pronounce beau-frère in French

beau-frère

Brother-in-law

boh-frehr/bo.fʁɛʁ/

French of France · Choose 1.00× to hear the original pace.

beau-frère is pronounced /bo.fʁɛʁ/ in French. In beau-frère: Use gentle friction toward the back of the mouth. Keep the tongue tip relaxed while connecting r to its neighboring vowel. Listen to the word on its own, then compare it with the example sentence.

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Find the sounds in beau-frère

Read beau-frère in these IPA segments: bo · fʁɛʁ. Dots and stress marks identify the boundaries shown in the reference; these symbols are not English spelling. French prominence belongs to the spoken phrase. Do not impose a heavy English-style stress on every isolated word.

  1. 1.The French r /ʁ/

    In beau-frère: Use gentle friction toward the back of the mouth. Keep the tongue tip relaxed while connecting r to its neighboring vowel.

    Watch out: Avoid a strong English curled r or adding a vowel before the consonant.

  2. 2.A steady /o/ vowel

    In beau-frère: Round the lips and keep the tongue toward the back for a steady /o/. Follow the length indicated in the transcription.

    Watch out: Avoid automatically turning a single /o/ into the moving vowel of English “go”.

  3. 3.The open /ɛ/ vowel

    In beau-frère: Keep the vowel open, like the vowel in many pronunciations of English “bed”, without a final glide.

    Watch out: Avoid turning this vowel into English “ay”.

Hear it in context

Mon beau-frère apporte les boissons.

My brother-in-law is bringing the drinks.

Listen once, say it aloud, then replay at 1.00×. Keep the word connected to the surrounding sentence rather than giving every syllable equal weight.

Pronunciation and variety

beau-frère is presented using French of France. Regional accents and connected speech can change details. The isolated word and the example let you compare the dictionary form with a short spoken context.

The English-style respelling is approximate. Use the IPA and recording together for vowel quality and consonants that do not have an exact English equivalent.

Meaning and everyday use

Questions about beau-frère

How do you pronounce beau-frère?

beau-frère is pronounced /bo.fʁɛʁ/ in French. In beau-frère: Use gentle friction toward the back of the mouth. Keep the tongue tip relaxed while connecting r to its neighboring vowel. Listen to the word on its own, then compare it with the example sentence.

What should I listen for first?

In beau-frère: Use gentle friction toward the back of the mouth. Keep the tongue tip relaxed while connecting r to its neighboring vowel. Start at 0.75×, then return to 1.00× to hear the natural rhythm.

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