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In certain word combinations, a normally silent final consonant is pronounced before a following vowel. This is liaison: s and x sound like z, and d like t. It does not happen between every pair of words.
Liaison happens in fixed pairs: article + noun (les amis), pronoun + verb (vous avez), adjective + noun (petit ami). It does not happen after et.
Its neighbour is elision: before a vowel, le, la, je, de drop their vowel and take an apostrophe: l'hôtel, j'aime, d'eau. You'll see this on signs all the time: l'entrée, d'afficher.
| FR | Sounds like | Means |
|---|---|---|
| les amis | lay-za-mee | friendss → «z» |
| vous avez | voo-za-vay | you haves → «z» |
| un ami | uh-na-mee | a friendthe n moves to the next word |
| petit ami | puh-tee-ta-mee | boyfriend, little friendthe t comes alive |
| j'aime | zhem | I loveje + aime |
| l'hôtel | loh-tel | the hotelle + hôtel |
| d'eau | doh | of waterde + eau |
| et ici | ay ee-see | and hereno liaison after et |