French Pronunciation
Vowel Sounds /i/a/ə/ɛ/e/
/i/
The letters i and y are pronounced as /i/.
/a/
The letter a is pronounced /a/.
The letter e is pronounced /a/ when it comes before the letters mm and nn.
/ə/
The letter e is pronounced as /ə/ in short words like these.
/ɛ/ & /e/
The next two sounds, /ɛ/ & /e/, are very similiar and can be hard to distinguish.
It's worth noting that in regional accents of Provence, Gascony, Languedoc, and Alsace, these two sounds often merge into a single /e/ sound. While mastering the distinction between /e/ and /ɛ/ can refine your pronunciation, it's not crucial for achieving fluency in French. After all, you could still pass for a Provençal, and the meaning of words distinguished by this sound difference is usually clear from context.
/ɛ/
The letter 'e' when sandwiched between consonants is pronounced /ɛ/.
Usually the letter combination ai is also pronounced as /ɛ/.
At the end of a word, ai or ai plus a silent consonant (an s or t) is pronounced /ɛ/. In addition êt and ès are pronounced /ɛ/.
The endings of verb forms with ais or ait are pronounced /ɛ/.
/e/
The letter é is pronounced /e/.
Pronunciation Tip
English speakers tend to pronounce vowels with a diphthong - the tongue is shifted so that the sound moves in the direction of another vowel. The pronunciation of French speakers is tense, without this movement.
The letter combinations er, es, and ez at the end a word are pronounced /e/.
Verb forms that end in ai, should be pronounced as /e/.
/ɛ/ & /e/ Comparison
Depending on your linguistic background, /ɛ/ sounds a lot like /e/. On the left the word endings are pronounced /ɛ/ and on the right they're pronounced /e/.