AccentPad

French Alphabet: Letters A to Z, When J and W Joined, Œ and Æ

French writes with the same a to z as English; the Académie française calls z the twenty-sixth letter. Accents are marks on those letters: acute, grave, circumflex, tréma and cedilla. Œ and æ are joined vowels. Copy any of them below, capitals included, or learn one dead key per mark: on a Mac, Option+E then E gives é.

What are the letters of the French alphabet, in order?

The French alphabet here is 26 letters, a to z, the same as English's: the letters the Unicode CLDR uses as index headings for French. CLDR's list for French adds 16 accented forms and joined vowels, which are not letters of their own; they are listed below with their shortcuts. Tap a capital or a small letter to copy it.

The order is CLDR's collation for French, applied by ICU 78.3 (CLDR 48.0).

What does French write besides a to z?

French writes 16 accented forms and joined vowels besides a to z. They are not letters of the French alphabet; 14 carry a mark. Each one links to its own page with every shortcut.

How do you type the French accented forms and joined vowels on each device?

Each row gives the method the vendor documents for one French accented form or joined vowel. The help pages are linked at the end.

LetterMacWindowsMicrosoft Word
àOption+`, then AAlt+0224Ctrl+`, then A
âOption+I, then AAlt+0226Ctrl+Shift+^, then A
æOption+'Alt+0230Ctrl+Shift+&, then A
çOption+CAlt+0231Ctrl+,, then C
éOption+E, then EAlt+0233Ctrl+', then E
èOption+`, then EAlt+0232Ctrl+`, then E
êOption+I, then EAlt+0234Ctrl+Shift+^, then E
ëOption+U, then EAlt+0235Ctrl+Shift+:, then E
îOption+I, then IAlt+0238Ctrl+Shift+^, then I
ïOption+U, then IAlt+0239Ctrl+Shift+:, then I
ôOption+I, then OAlt+0244Ctrl+Shift+^, then O
œOption+QAlt+0156Ctrl+Shift+&, then O
ùOption+`, then UAlt+0249Ctrl+`, then U
ûOption+I, then UAlt+0251Ctrl+Shift+^, then U
üOption+U, then UAlt+0252Ctrl+Shift+:, then U
ÿOption+U, then YAlt+0255Ctrl+Shift+:, then Y
Guide How to type accents on a Mac How to type accents on Windows How to type accents in Word
  • Google Docs: documented for every French accented form or joined vowel here. For à: Insert, then Symbols, then Special characters, then search "latin small letter a with grave". How to type accents in Google Docs
  • iPhone, iPad: documented for every French accented form or joined vowel here. For à: Touch and hold A, then slide to à.
  • Android: documented for every French accented form or joined vowel here. For à: Touch and hold A, then slide to à.
  • Chromebook: documented for à, â, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, ù, û, ü and ÿ. For à: Switch to the US International keyboard, then `, then A. None for æ and œ. How to type accents on a Chromebook

Sources:Mac (Apple)Windows (Microsoft)Microsoft Word (Microsoft)Google Docs (Google)iPhone, iPad (Apple)Android (Google)Chromebook (Google)Mac (Apple)Mac (Apple)

Which common words use à, â, æ, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, œ, ù, û, ü or ÿ?

FrequencyWords counts the words used in film and TV subtitles, and its lists give these as the most frequent words with each letter in each language, most common first.

à
French:
  • là
  • déjà
  • voilà
  • çà
  • revoilà
  • delà
  • holà
â
French:
  • grâce
  • âge
  • âme
  • lâche
  • gâteau
  • bâtiment
  • hâte
  • théâtre
ç
French:
  • ça
  • façon
  • garçon
  • reçu
  • garçons
  • français
  • leçon
  • commençons
é
French:
  • était
  • été
  • étais
  • déjà
  • désolé
  • passé
  • trouvé
  • hé
è
French:
  • très
  • père
  • après
  • mère
  • problème
  • dernière
  • frère
  • première
ê
French:
  • être
  • même
  • êtes
  • tête
  • arrête
  • arrêter
  • prêt
  • fête
ë
French:
  • noël
  • israël
  • aiguë
  • canoë
  • raphaël
  • joël
  • noëls
  • ciguë
î
French:
  • plaît
  • dîner
  • maître
  • connaître
  • connaît
  • boîte
  • paraît
  • île
ï
French:
  • coïncidence
  • égoïste
  • aïe
  • héroïne
  • cocaïne
  • maïs
  • haïr
  • samouraï
ô
French:
  • côté
  • plutôt
  • bientôt
  • drôle
  • tôt
  • hôpital
  • contrôle
  • hôtel
œ
French:
  • cœur
  • sœur
  • œil
  • œuvre
  • œufs
  • sœurs
  • œuf
  • cœurs
ù

French: où

û
French:
  • sûr
  • dû
  • sûre
  • sûrement
  • goût
  • coûte
  • brûler
  • brûle
ü

French: führer, saül

No list here has a common word with æ and ÿ.

How do you type the French marks on a US keyboard?

Learn one key per mark, not one per letter. On a Mac, in Microsoft Word and on a Chromebook set to US International, each French accent mark is a dead key: press it, let go, then press the letter. The same key works for every vowel that takes that mark. Every step below is one the vendors document for these letters.

MarkLettersMacMicrosoft WordChromebook, US International
acuteéOption+E, then ECtrl+', then E', then E
graveà è ùOption+`, then the vowelCtrl+`, then the vowel`, then the vowel
circumflexâ ê î ô ûOption+I, then the vowelCtrl+Shift+^, then the vowelShift+6, then the vowel
trémaë ï ü ÿOption+U, then the vowelCtrl+Shift+:, then the vowelShift+', then the vowel
cedillaçOption+CCtrl+,, then CShift+AltGr+5, then C
joined oeœOption+QCtrl+Shift+&, then Onone documented

For a capital, add Shift to the letter you press second; the capitals table further down has each one. On Windows, the documented method is an Alt code, one per letter, such as Alt+0233 for é and Alt+0231 for ç, and the Alt code table on this page lists them all. On an iPhone or an Android phone, touch and hold the plain letter and slide to the accented one.

To write a whole text instead, the French keyboard page types each of these letters on screen, and shows where AZERTY and the Canadian layouts put them.

When did j and w become letters of the French alphabet?

Late. The Académie française's dictionary gives every letter its rank, and the ranks moved between editions. The ninth edition's entry for Z calls it the twenty-sixth letter and the twentieth consonant of the French alphabet. Earlier editions counted fewer.

EditionWhat the Académie's dictionary says
3rd, 1740z is the twenty-third and last letter
4th, 1762z is the twenty-fifth and last letter; j has an entry of its own
7th, 1878w belongs to the alphabets of northern peoples, "without making it one more letter" of French
8th, 1935w is used in French only in words borrowed from those languages
9th, dated 2024w is the twenty-third letter, y the twenty-fifth, z the twenty-sixth

The rows come from the entries for Z in the third and fourth editions, and for W in the seventh, eighth and ninth. The Académie's note on letter genders fills in the j row. Before the fourth edition, j sat under i and was called "i consonne". The same note quotes the seventh edition: z there is still the twenty-fifth letter, because w does not count.

So the count of twenty-six is the ninth edition's. Accented letters are not in it. É is an e that carries a mark, and Œ is an o and an e written as one.

The Unicode CLDR draws the same line. Its index for French, the headings software splits a sorted list under, has one heading for each letter from A to Z and none for É or Œ, as the alphabetic information chart shows. The grid at the top of this page is that index. CLDR's wider list of the characters French writes, accented forms and joined pairs included, follows it under its own heading.

What job does each French accent mark do?

French accent marks do one of two jobs: they change how the letter sounds, or they tell two words apart. That is the definition the OQLF, Québec's office for the French language, gives for a signe diacritique. The same entry lists the French ones: the accents aigu, grave and circonflexe, the cédille and the tréma. The letters column below comes from CLDR's list of French characters, the set this page copies from.

Mark, in FrenchLetters it sits onIts jobExample
accent aigu (acute)éa closed elevé
accent grave (grave)à è ùan open è; on a and u, it tells words apartlève; où
accent circonflexeâ ê î ô ûoften stands for a lost s; can tell words apartforêt, forestier
tréma (diaeresis)ë ï ü ÿthe vowel is said on its ownmaïs
cédille (cedilla)çc said as s before a, o and ufaçon

The examples are the OQLF's own. Levé against lève is its example of a mark that sets the sound. The circumflex in forêt shows up as the s of forestier, and hôpital pairs with hospitalier the same way.

The tréma page sets maïs, said in two syllables, against mais. The cédille page gives ça, façon and reçus, and notes that ciel needs no cedilla, since c before e, i or y already sounds like s.

The marks are younger than the letters. The OQLF's history of the accents says they first appeared in the sixteenth century. They often replaced a silent s: eschole became école, deuxiesme became deuxième and estre became être. Only at the end of the eighteenth century did they settle into today's use.

Which French words change meaning with one accent mark?

Many short, common ones. The OQLF lists the pairs that the grave accent and the circumflex keep apart. The meanings of the marked words are Wiktionary's, from its entries for où, dès, sûr, dû, mûr, jeûne, tâche and maïs.

Without the markWith the markWhat the marked word means
ouoùwhere
aàto, at
lalàthere
desdèsfrom, as soon as
sursûrsure
dudûowed; past participle of devoir
murmûrripe
jeunejeûnea fast
tachetâchea task
maismaïscorn, maize

Leave the mark off and the sentence still reads as French, just not the French you meant. A spell checker cannot catch it, since both spellings are real words. Où and ou are the clearest case: one asks where, the other offers a choice.

What did the 1990 rectifications change in French spelling?

They made some accents optional and moved others. The Conseil supérieur de la langue française proposed the changes, the Académie approved them, and they appeared in the Journal officiel in December 1990. The Académie's annex on the rectifications calls them a recommendation, not a rule. The OQLF counts the traditional and the rectified spellings as both correct.

The changeRectified spellingWhat stays as before
no circumflex on i and uaccroitre, chaine, aout, surementâ, ê and ô; dû, mûr, sûr and jeûne; croître where it would read as croire; verb endings such as nous finîmes
tréma moves to the u that is saidaigüe, ambigüe, ambigüité, cigüe; gageüre and argüer gain onethe old forms, such as aiguë, stay correct
a grave where é is said as èje cèderai, crèmerie, empiètementévénement and évènement are both listed
a grave instead of a doubled consonantj'amoncèle, j'étiquète, ruissèlementappeler, jeter and the words built on them
borrowed words take French accents and drop foreign marksimprésario, révolver, artéfact; volapukforeign marks such as å stay in proper names only

The first two rows are the OQLF's, from its notes on the circumflex and the tréma on u. The rest are the Académie's. Derived words lose the exception: the Académie writes sûr but sureté, croître but accroitre.

For typing, the reform trades marks. A rectified text needs fewer î and û, and more ü. The ü is in CLDR's French set, so it is on this page with the rest.

When to write é and when è, which common words lose their circumflex, and what each AZERTY layout types are on the French accents page.

Do French capital letters keep their accents?

Yes. The Académie française recommends accented capitals in every case, the preposition À included. Its answer on the accentuation of capitals says the accent has full spelling value in French. Leave it off and reading slows down, and the reader can be misled. It names the works that follow the rule: its own dictionary, Grevisse's Le Bon Usage, the Imprimerie nationale and the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade.

Its example is a headline in capitals. In FAUT-IL SUPPRIMER LES RETRAITES ? the question is about pensions. With RETRAITÉS it is about the retired people themselves, as Wiktionary's entry for retraité has it.

The methods table above covers the small letters. The capitals have steps of their own, listed here from the same vendor facts.

CapitalSmallMacWindowsMicrosoft Word
ÀàOption+`, then Shift+AAlt+0192Ctrl+`, then Shift+A
ÂâOption+I, then Shift+AAlt+0194Ctrl+Shift+^, then Shift+A
ÆæShift+Option+'Alt+0198Ctrl+Shift+&, then Shift+A
ÇçShift+Option+CAlt+0199Ctrl+,, then Shift+C
ÉéOption+E, then Shift+EAlt+0201Ctrl+', then Shift+E
ÈèOption+`, then Shift+EAlt+0200Ctrl+`, then Shift+E
ÊêOption+I, then Shift+EAlt+0202Ctrl+Shift+^, then Shift+E
ËëOption+U, then Shift+EAlt+0203Ctrl+Shift+:, then Shift+E
ÎîOption+I, then Shift+IAlt+0206Ctrl+Shift+^, then Shift+I
ÏïOption+U, then Shift+IAlt+0207Ctrl+Shift+:, then Shift+I
ÔôOption+I, then Shift+OAlt+0212Ctrl+Shift+^, then Shift+O
ŒœShift+Option+QAlt+0140Ctrl+Shift+&, then Shift+O
ÙùOption+`, then Shift+UAlt+0217Ctrl+`, then Shift+U
ÛûOption+I, then Shift+UAlt+0219Ctrl+Shift+^, then Shift+U
ÜüOption+U, then Shift+UAlt+0220Ctrl+Shift+:, then Shift+U
ŸÿOption+U, then Shift+YAlt+0159Ctrl+Shift+:, then Shift+Y

The pattern is simple. Every Mac dead key and every Word shortcut works for the capital too: press Shift with the letter that follows. Only the single-chord letters, Ç, Œ and Æ, take Shift in the chord itself.

Where do œ and æ stand in the French alphabet?

Outside the twenty-six letters of the French alphabet, and never split. The OQLF calls them lettres doubles, double letters, each made of two vowels. The pair must stay joined, in small letters and in capitals. CLDR still lists both in its French set, which is why they are on this page to copy, outside the alphabet grid. Its index has no heading for either.

They sound different. Œ is said like the e of peur in bœuf and sœur, and like é in learned words such as fœtus. Æ is said like é. It is rare, mostly in Latin phrases: curriculum vitæ, ex æquo, cæcum. Each has a page of its own, linked from the list under the alphabet: which words need œ, and the languages where æ is a full letter.

How do you pronounce à, â, æ, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, œ, ù, û, ü or ÿ?

WikiPron transcribes these letters in common words from Wiktionary: in French, déjà is /deʒa/; in French, grâce is /ɡʁas/; in French, façon is /fasɔ̃/. The table gives one example word per letter and language.

LetterLanguageExampleIPA
àFrenchdéjà/deʒa/
âFrenchgrâce/ɡʁas/
çFrenchfaçon/fasɔ̃/
éFrenchétait/etɛ/
èFrenchtrès/tʁɛ/
êFrenchêtre/ɛtʁ/
ëFrenchnoël/nɔɛl/
îFrenchplaît/plɛ/
ïFrenchcoïncidence/kɔɛ̃sidɑ̃s/
ôFrenchcôté/kote/
œFrenchcœur/kœʁ/
ûFrenchsûr/syʁ/
üFrenchführer/fyʁœʁ/

The WikiPron lists used here have no example word for æ, ù and ÿ.

How to type French letters and accents, step by step

Step 1: Mac: the dead key for each French mark

Press Option+E and then E for é. Press Option+` and then A, E or U for à, è or ù. Option+I followed by a vowel gives the circumflex, Option+U followed by a vowel the diaeresis. Option+C types ç with no second key.

Step 2: Windows: an Alt code on the number pad

Hold Alt and type the code on the number pad, then let go: Alt+0233 gives é, Alt+0231 gives ç and Alt+0156 gives œ. The capitals have codes of their own, such as Alt+0201 for É.

Step 3: Microsoft Word: Ctrl and the mark's own key

Press Ctrl+', let go, then press E for é. Ctrl+` then a vowel gives a grave accent, Ctrl+Shift+^ then a vowel a circumflex. Ctrl+, then C gives ç.

Step 4: iPhone or Android: touch and hold the base letter

Touch and hold E, then slide to é, è, ê or ë. Hold O for ô and œ, and C for ç.

Step 5: Capitals: keep the accent

On a Mac, Option+E then Shift+E types É. In Word, Ctrl+' then Shift+E does the same. The Académie française asks for the accent on every capital, À included.

What are the Alt codes for the French accented forms and joined vowels?

Hold Alt and type the digits on the number pad with Num Lock on. The top row of digits does not work, and laptops without a number pad need the methods above.

LetterAlt code
àAlt+0224
ÀAlt+0192
âAlt+0226
ÂAlt+0194
æAlt+0230
ÆAlt+0198
çAlt+0231
ÇAlt+0199
éAlt+0233
ÉAlt+0201
èAlt+0232
ÈAlt+0200
êAlt+0234
ÊAlt+0202
ëAlt+0235
ËAlt+0203
îAlt+0238
ÎAlt+0206
ïAlt+0239
ÏAlt+0207
ôAlt+0244
ÔAlt+0212
œAlt+0156
ŒAlt+0140
ùAlt+0249
ÙAlt+0217
ûAlt+0251
ÛAlt+0219
üAlt+0252
ÜAlt+0220
ÿAlt+0255
ŸAlt+0159

Which English words keep à, â, æ, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, œ, ù, û, ü or ÿ?

Wiktionary lists these English words spelled with each letter, most common first by how often they appear in English subtitles:

à
voilà
â
château, pâté
é
  • fiancé
  • fiancée
  • café
  • cliché
  • résumé
  • olé
  • touché
  • attaché
  • séance
  • protégé
è
crème, très, rivière
ï
naïve
ü
führer

Wiktionary lists no English word with æ, ç, ê, ë, î, ô, œ, ù, û and ÿ that English subtitles use.

Which names and places are spelled with à, â, æ, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, œ, ù, û, ü or ÿ?

Given names come from Wikidata, the most widely covered first by the number of Wikipedia editions about them, and places come from the GeoNames list of cities, largest population first, kept only where an official language of the country writes the letter.

à

Given names: Tomàs, Àngel, Màjid

Places:
  • Vũng Tàu (Vietnam)
  • Hai Bà Trưng (Vietnam)
  • Hà Tĩnh (Vietnam)
  • Ðà Lạt (Vietnam)
  • Thành Phố Bà Rịa (Vietnam)
  • Điện Bàn (Vietnam)
  • Cà Mau (Vietnam)
  • Phan Rang-Tháp Chàm (Vietnam)
â

Given names: Kâzım, Siân, Cândido

Places:
  • Goiânia (Brazil)
  • Uberlândia (Brazil)
  • Aparecida de Goiânia (Brazil)
  • Gia Lâm (Vietnam)
  • Thanh Xuân (Vietnam)
  • Ceilândia (Brazil)
  • Xuân Lộc (Vietnam)
  • Hortolândia (Brazil)
æ
Given names:
  • Ælfflæd
  • Lærke
  • Æthelflæd
  • Æthelfrith
  • Ælfwald
  • Æthelthryth
  • Ægir
  • Sævar
  • Lætitia
  • Æthelred

Places: Næstved (Denmark), Holbæk (Denmark), Reykjanesbær (Iceland), Vallensbæk (Denmark)

ç
Given names:
  • François
  • Françoise
  • Çağla
  • Tuğçe
  • Çetin
  • Çiğdem
  • Gökçe
  • Güvenç
  • Jean-François
  • Marie-Françoise
  • François-Xavier
  • Llorenç
Places:
  • Nova Iguaçu (Brazil)
  • Çankaya (Türkiye)
  • Küçükçekmece (Türkiye)
  • Bahçelievler (Türkiye)
  • Camaçari (Brazil)
  • Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil)
  • São Gonçalo (Brazil)
  • Çorum (Türkiye)
é
Given names:
  • René
  • José
  • André
  • Géza
  • Éder
  • Andrés
  • Aurélie
  • Cécile
  • Béla
  • Étienne
  • Aimée
  • Aimé
Places:
  • Lomé (Togo)
  • Montréal (Canada)
  • Santiago de Querétaro (Mexico)
  • Belém (Brazil)
  • Yaoundé (Cameroon)
  • Mérida (Mexico)
  • Salé (Morocco)
  • Bouaké (Côte d’Ivoire)
è
Given names:
  • Arsène
  • Giosuè
  • Thérèse
  • Eugène
  • Bérengère
  • Agnès
  • Angèle
  • Hélène
  • Danièle
  • Adèle
  • Geneviève
  • Aurèle
Places:
  • Thiès (Senegal)
  • Godomè (Benin)
  • Thiès Nones (Senegal)
  • Liège (Belgium)
  • Gurúè (Mozambique)
  • Fès al Bali (Morocco)
  • Trois-Rivières (Canada)
  • Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles (Canada)

Gurúè is spelled with è in GeoNames. It is listed because Portuguese counts è only among its auxiliary letters, outside its alphabet; the alphabet has é and ê.

ê

Given names: Inês, Estêvão

Places:
  • Biên Hòa (Vietnam)
  • Thái Nguyên (Vietnam)
  • Long Biên (Vietnam)
  • Bắc Từ Liêm (Vietnam)
  • Long Xuyên (Vietnam)
  • Phổ Yên (Vietnam)
  • Việt Yên (Vietnam)
  • Thanh Khê (Vietnam)
ë
Given names:
  • Raphaël
  • Joël
  • Gaël
  • Gëzim
  • Henriëtte
  • Gaëlle
  • Maëlys
  • Joëlle
  • Zoë
  • Maëlle
  • Mërgim
  • Judicaël
Places:
  • Durrës (Albania)
  • Vlorë (Albania)
  • Mitrovicë (Kosovo)
  • Shkodër (Albania)
  • Gjakovë (Kosovo)
  • Lushnjë (Albania)
  • Korçë (Albania)
  • Krujë (Albania)
î

Given names: Benoît

Places:
  • Nîmes (France)
  • Tirhanimîne (Morocco)
  • Rîbniţa (Moldova)
  • Saint-Benoît (Réunion)
  • Şarkîkaraağaç (Türkiye)
  • Sept-Îles (Canada)
  • Ceadîr-Lunga (Moldova)
  • L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève (Canada)

Şarkîkaraağaç is spelled with î in GeoNames. It is listed because Turkish counts î only among its auxiliary letters, outside its alphabet.

ï
Given names:
  • Anaïs
  • Loïc
  • Faïçal
  • Aïssa
  • Aloïse
  • Aïssata
  • Aloïs
  • Zénaïde
  • Loïk
  • Aïssatou
Places:
  • Al Hoceïma (Morocco)
  • Sants-Montjuïc (Spain)
  • Béjaïa (Algeria)
  • Ghardaïa (Algeria)
  • Saïda (Algeria)
  • Cap-Haïtien (Haiti)
  • Aïn Beïda (Algeria)
  • Aïn Oussera (Algeria)
ô

Given names: Antônio, Siôn, Jérôme

Places:
  • Buôn Ma Thuột (Vietnam)
  • Thị Trấn Đông Triều (Vietnam)
  • Ðông Hà (Vietnam)
  • Ô Môn (Vietnam)
  • Thành phố Sông Công (Vietnam)
  • Buôn Hồ (Vietnam)
  • Santo Antônio de Jesus (Brazil)
  • Pôr do Sol (Brazil)
œ

Places: Marcq-en-Barœul (France), Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy (France), Mons-en-Barœul (France)

ù

Places: Cantù (Italy), Thị Trấn Trùng Khánh (Vietnam)

û

Places: Mansoûra (Algeria), Boû Arfa (Algeria)

ü
Given names:
  • Jürgen
  • Nilüfer
  • Bülent
  • Tünde
  • Gülşen
  • Süleyman
  • Ümit
  • Gülcan
  • Göktürk
  • Hüsnü
  • Günther
  • Ülle
Places:
  • Küçükçekmece (Türkiye)
  • Düsseldorf (Germany)
  • Ümraniye (Türkiye)
  • Nilüfer (Türkiye)
  • Üsküdar (Türkiye)
  • Zürich (Switzerland)
  • Beylikdüzü (Türkiye)
  • Camagüey (Cuba)
ÿ

Places: L'Haÿ-les-Roses (France)

Which languages use à, â, æ, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, œ, ù, û, ü or ÿ?

Between them, à, â, æ, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, œ, ù, û, ü and ÿ are part of the standard alphabet of 56 languages in the Unicode CLDR. Each letter's languages:

à
22 languages:
  • Anii
  • Catalan
  • Ewe
  • French
  • Italian
  • Ligurian
  • Maltese
  • Norwegian
  • Occitan
  • Piedmontese
  • Portuguese
  • Romansh
  • Sardinian
  • Scottish Gaelic
  • Sicilian
  • Swedish
  • Venetian
  • Vietnamese
  • Welsh
  • Western Frisian
  • Wolof
  • Yoruba
â
11 languages:
  • Afrikaans
  • Anii
  • French
  • Javanese
  • Ligurian
  • Portuguese
  • Romanian
  • Sicilian
  • Vietnamese
  • Welsh
  • Western Frisian
æ
6 languages:
  • Danish
  • Faroese
  • French
  • Icelandic
  • Ligurian
  • Norwegian
ç
11 languages:
  • Albanian
  • Azerbaijani
  • Basque
  • Catalan
  • French
  • Kurdish
  • Ligurian
  • Occitan
  • Portuguese
  • Turkish
  • Turkmen
é
35 languages:
  • Afrikaans
  • Anii
  • Asturian
  • Catalan
  • Czech
  • Dutch
  • Ewe
  • French
  • Galician
  • Hungarian
  • Icelandic
  • Interlingue
  • Irish
  • Italian
  • Javanese
  • Kaingang
  • Ligurian
  • Luxembourgish
  • Nigerian Pidgin
  • Norwegian
  • Occitan
  • Piedmontese
  • Portuguese
  • Romansh
  • Slovak
  • Spanish
  • Sundanese
  • Swedish
  • Tongan
  • Venetian
  • Vietnamese
  • Welsh
  • Western Frisian
  • Wolof
  • Yoruba
è
21 languages:
  • Afrikaans
  • Anii
  • Catalan
  • Ewe
  • French
  • Haitian Creole
  • Italian
  • Javanese
  • Ligurian
  • Maltese
  • Occitan
  • Piedmontese
  • Romansh
  • Sardinian
  • Scottish Gaelic
  • Sicilian
  • Venetian
  • Vietnamese
  • Welsh
  • Western Frisian
  • Yoruba
ê
14 languages:
  • Afrikaans
  • Anii
  • Breton
  • French
  • Javanese
  • Kurdish
  • Ligurian
  • Northern Sotho
  • Portuguese
  • Sicilian
  • Tswana
  • Vietnamese
  • Welsh
  • Western Frisian
ë
10 languages:
  • Afrikaans
  • Albanian
  • Dutch
  • French
  • Ligurian
  • Luxembourgish
  • Piedmontese
  • Welsh
  • Western Frisian
  • Wolof
î
8 languages:
  • Afrikaans
  • Anii
  • French
  • Kurdish
  • Ligurian
  • Romanian
  • Sicilian
  • Welsh
ï
9 languages:
  • Afrikaans
  • Catalan
  • Dutch
  • French
  • Galician
  • Ligurian
  • Occitan
  • Welsh
  • Western Frisian
ô
14 languages:
  • Afrikaans
  • Anii
  • French
  • Ligurian
  • Northern Sotho
  • Norwegian
  • Portuguese
  • Sicilian
  • Silesian
  • Slovak
  • Tswana
  • Vietnamese
  • Welsh
  • Western Frisian
œ
1 language: French
ù
17 languages:
  • Anii
  • Breton
  • Ewe
  • French
  • Italian
  • Javanese
  • Ligurian
  • Maltese
  • Piedmontese
  • Romansh
  • Sardinian
  • Scottish Gaelic
  • Sicilian
  • Venetian
  • Vietnamese
  • Welsh
  • Yoruba
û
8 languages:
  • Afrikaans
  • Anii
  • French
  • Kurdish
  • Ligurian
  • Sicilian
  • Welsh
  • Western Frisian
ü
17 languages:
  • Asturian
  • Azerbaijani
  • Catalan
  • Dutch
  • Estonian
  • French
  • Galician
  • German
  • Hungarian
  • Ligurian
  • Low German
  • Occitan
  • Spanish
  • Turkish
  • Turkmen
  • Welsh
  • Western Frisian
ÿ
2 languages: French, Welsh

Which other letters does the CLDR list for French?

The Unicode CLDR lists these as auxiliary letters for French: characters that turn up in French text without being letters of its alphabet, in loanwords, foreign names or dictionary marks.

  • á
  • å
  • ä
  • ã
  • ā
  • ć
  • ē
  • í
  • ì
  • ī
  • ij
  • ñ
  • ó
  • ò
  • ö
  • õ
  • ø
  • ř
  • š
  • ſ
  • ß
  • ú
  • ǔ

Which AccentPad pages cover the French accented forms and joined vowels?

These letter pages each hold one or more of the French accented forms and joined vowels, with every shortcut and the facts for that letter:

Other alphabets that share some of the French accented forms and joined vowels:

Every letter with the same mark, on one page, for é, ç, â, ê, î, ô, û, à, è, ù, ë, ï, ü and ÿ: Accent aigu, Cedilla, Circumflex, Grave accent, Umlaut.

Need a letter outside the French alphabet?

Frequently asked questions about French letters and accents

Is y a vowel in the French alphabet?

Yes. The ninth edition of the Académie française's dictionary defines y as the twenty-fifth letter and the sixth vowel of the French alphabet. Its French name is igrec, also written i grec. The other five vowels are a, e, i, o and u.

Is the French letter f masculine or feminine?

Masculine: un f. The Académie française notes that every letter of the alphabet is a masculine noun today. F was feminine in the first three editions of its dictionary, after the old name effe, then took both genders until the eighth. H, l, m, n, r and s also changed gender.

Which French letter can carry an acute accent?

Only e. Unicode CLDR's list of French characters has é and no other letter with an acute. It files á, í, ó and ú as auxiliary characters for French, outside the main set. The OQLF gives levé, with é, against lève, with è, as the sound the acute marks.

Is it événement or évènement?

Both are correct. The Académie française's dictionary lists the pair, évènement or événement, among the words where usage hesitates. The 1990 rectifications favour a grave accent where the e sounds like è, as in crèmerie and je cèderai.

Which accent marks does French use?

The acute, grave and circumflex accents, the tréma and the cedilla, as the OQLF lists them. The acute sits only on e and the cedilla only on c; the other three go on several vowels. Œ and æ are not accents at all but two vowels joined into one character.