French · Difficult words
How to pronounce cœur in French
cœur
Heart
French of France · Choose 1.00× to hear the original pace.
cœur is pronounced /kœʁ/ in French. In cœur: Keep your tongue toward the front while rounding your lips. /y/ is close to an “ee” tongue position with rounded lips; /ø/ and /œ/ are more open. Listen to the word on its own, then compare it with the example sentence.
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Find the sounds in cœur
The reference transcription for cœur is /kœʁ/. Read adjacent consonants together without inserting extra vowels. French prominence belongs to the spoken phrase. Do not impose a heavy English-style stress on every isolated word.
1.Rounded front vowels
In cœur: Keep your tongue toward the front while rounding your lips. /y/ is close to an “ee” tongue position with rounded lips; /ø/ and /œ/ are more open.
Watch out: English “oo” puts the tongue too far back for these vowels.
2.The French r /ʁ/
In cœur: 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.
Hear it in context
J'apprends ce poème par cœur.
I'm learning this poem by heart.
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
cœur 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 cœur
How do you pronounce cœur?
cœur is pronounced /kœʁ/ in French. In cœur: Keep your tongue toward the front while rounding your lips. /y/ is close to an “ee” tongue position with rounded lips; /ø/ and /œ/ are more open. Listen to the word on its own, then compare it with the example sentence.
What should I listen for first?
In cœur: Keep your tongue toward the front while rounding your lips. /y/ is close to an “ee” tongue position with rounded lips; /ø/ and /œ/ are more open. Start at 0.75×, then return to 1.00× to hear the natural rhythm.
