The sounds of ai, ei and è in French

1. 1
   maison/mɛzɔ̃/

   housenoun

   Building where people live, with its rooms and roof.
2. 2
   semaine/səmɛn/

   weeknoun

   Period of seven days that follow each other.
3. 3
   neige/nɛʒ/

   snownoun

   Frozen water that falls from the sky in white flakes.
4. 4
   laine/lɛn/

   woolnoun

   Soft, warm material made from sheep's fleece.
5. 5
   lait/lɛ/

   milknoun

   White liquid given by a cow or goat, that people drink.
6. 6
   paire/pɛʁ/

   pairnoun

   A set of two similar things that go together.
7. 7
   aider/ɛde/

   to helpverb

   To do part of someone's work to make things easier for them.
8. 8
   aimer/ɛme/

   to loveverb

   To have a strong feeling for someone and care about them a lot.
9. 9
   frais/fʁɛ/

   cooladjective

   A little cold, pleasant when it's been warm.
10. 10
    clair/klɛʁ/

    lightadjective

    A color close to white, not dark.

The sentences

1. On passe toute la semaine dans cette maison de campagne avec les enfants.

   We're spending the whole week at this country house with the kids.

2. Toute la semaine, il y a eu de la neige sur le toit.

   All week long, there's been snow on the roof.

3. Les enfants jouent dans la neige depuis ce matin, ils adorent ça.

   The kids have been playing in the snow since this morning, they love it.

4. Tu peux me prêter des chaussettes en laine, il fait très froid.

   Can you lend me some wool socks, it's really cold.

5. Il reste du lait frais pour le petit déjeuner de demain matin.

   There's still some fresh milk left for breakfast tomorrow morning.

6. Il me faudrait une paire de chaussettes en laine pour ce soir.

   I could use a pair of wool socks for tonight.

7. Vous pouvez aider les enfants à faire un bonhomme de neige ?

   Can you help the kids build a snowman?

8. Vous allez aimer le calme de la maison sous la neige.

   You're going to love how peaceful the house is under the snow.

9. Le matin est frais, prends un pull en laine avant de sortir.

   The morning is cool, put on a wool sweater before you go out.

10. Le mur de la maison est peint dans un gris très clair.

    The house's wall is painted a very light gray.

Pronunciation

• maison/mɛzɔ̃/

  The s is said as z, and the ending is nasal: you don't hear any n.

• laine/lɛn/

  The n is clearly heard: it's not a nasal sound.

• lait/lɛ/

  The final t is silent.

• paire/pɛʁ/

  The r is heard at the end, despite the e written after it.

• aider/ɛde/

  Two different e sounds: an open è at the start, a closed é at the end, and the r stays silent.

• aimer/ɛme/

  The start sounds like è, the end sounds like é: the final r is not said.

• frais/fʁɛ/

  'ai' is pronounced like a wide open è, and the final s stays silent.

• clair/klɛʁ/

  The final r is clearly pronounced.

Questions

How do you say "house" in French?

Maison.

What does "frais" mean?

A little cold, pleasant after it's been hot.

How do you say "to help" in French?

Aider.