Elision — French Grammar

Elision is a mandatory process where the final vowel of a word is dropped and replaced by an apostrophe. This happens to avoid a clash of vowel sounds when that word is followed by another word beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u, y) or a silent 'h' (). This makes the language sound smoother and more fluid.

For example, instead of saying , the in is dropped, resulting in (the friend).

Common Words with Elision

Elision is required for a specific set of short, common words.

The articles le and la

The masculine article and the feminine article both become before a vowel or silent 'h'.

l'aéroport
the airport
l'école
the school
l'homme
the man

The pronoun je (I)

The pronoun becomes .

J'aime le chocolat.
I like chocolate.
J'habite à Paris.
I live in Paris.

Other short words

Several other common one-syllable words also undergo elision.

(of/from) becomes .

le livre d'un ami
a friend's book

(not) becomes .

Je n'ai pas de voiture.
I don't have a car.

(that) becomes .

Je pense qu'il est sympa.
I think that he is nice.

The object pronouns , , and become , , and .

Tu m'aides beaucoup.
You help me a lot.
Il s'appelle Thomas.
His name is Thomas.

The Silent 'h' vs. Aspirated 'h'

Elision only occurs before a silent 'h' (). It does not happen before an aspirated 'h' (), which acts like a consonant and blocks the elision. You must learn which words begin with which type of 'h'.

Silent 'h' (with elision)

l'hôtel
the hotel
l'histoire
the story/history

Aspirated 'h' (no elision)

le héros
the hero
la Hollande
Holland

Special Cases

The word si

The word (if) only elides when it is followed by the pronouns (he) or (they).

S'il pleut, je reste à la maison.
If it rains, I'm staying home.
Je ne sais pas s'ils sont là.
I don't know if they are here.

It does not elide before (she) or (one/we).

si elle arrive
if she arrives
si on mange
if we eat

The pronoun tu

In standard written French, the pronoun (you) never elides.

Tu as un chat.
You have a cat.

However, in very informal spoken French and text messages, you will often hear and see . This is considered non-standard and should be avoided in formal writing.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s French course

219 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 2. A few of them, with the words “Elision” is about in bold:

C'est mon amie, Anna. Elle est étudiante.
This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.
Lesson 2
Je les aime et ils m'aiment.
I love them and they love me.
Lesson 32
J'ai deux voitures, deux vélos et trois motos.
I have two cars, two bicycles, and three motorbikes.
Lesson 33

Comments

Loading comments…