French · Difficult words
How to pronounce espoir in French
espoir
Hope
French of France · Choose 1.00× to hear the original pace.
espoir is pronounced /ɛs.pwaʁ/ in French. In espoir: 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 espoir
Read espoir in these IPA segments: ɛs · pwaʁ. 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.The French r /ʁ/
In espoir: 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.The open /ɛ/ vowel
In espoir: 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”.
3.An open vowel
In espoir: Open the jaw for the a-like vowel shown in the IPA. Keep it continuous and follow the recording’s tongue position.
Watch out: Do not substitute the English diphthong in “day”.
Hear it in context
Il faut garder l'espoir malgré tout.
We have to keep hope despite everything.
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
espoir 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 espoir
How do you pronounce espoir?
espoir is pronounced /ɛs.pwaʁ/ in French. In espoir: 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 espoir: 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.
