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The Sounds eu, au, eau and ô

FoundationHigherAQA

Learn The Sounds eu, au, eau and ô for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). The combinations eu, au, eau and ô each have their own distinct French sound.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

Foundation

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Higher

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Topic overview

Several vowel combinations produce sounds that cannot be worked out from the individual letters.

The combination eu gives a rounded sound with no English equivalent, found in deux, peu and bleu. Round the lips as for o and say a short uh. The combination au and eau both give a closed o sound, as in aussi, chaud, beau and eau.

The circumflex ô also gives this closed o sound: hôtel, tôt. All three spellings — au, eau and ô — sound identical, which means listening alone cannot tell you which to write. Beau, eau and chaud all rhyme despite looking completely different on the page.

Revision notes

The sound eu

A rounded sound with no English equivalent, in deux, peu, bleu, heureux.

Round the lips as if for o, then say a short uh without changing the lip shape. It is close to the vowel in the English word her, but shorter.

The sounds au, eau and ô

All three give the same closed o sound.

Aussi, chaud, beau, eau, hôtel, tôt. The spellings differ but the sound is identical, so beau and chaud rhyme despite looking nothing alike.

Why spelling must be learned

Since au, eau and ô sound the same, listening cannot tell you which to write.

The spelling of each word must be learned separately. This is a common source of errors in dictation-style tasks and in writing from memory.

Key points

  • Eu is a rounded sound with no English equivalent.
  • It appears in deux, peu and bleu.
  • Au gives a closed o sound.
  • Eau gives the same closed o sound.
  • The circumflex ô sounds the same again.
  • Spelling must be learned separately.

Worked examples

Example 1

State the sound made by the letters eau in beau. [2 marks]

Working

A closed o soundstate the sound
It is identical to the sound of au and ônote the equivalence

Example 2

Explain how to pronounce eu in deux. [2 marks]

Working

Round the lips as if to say odescribe the lip position
then say a short uh without changing the lip shapedescribe the sound

Example 3

Explain why beau and chaud rhyme. [2 marks]

Working

Eau and au both produce the same closed o soundstate the reason
so the words rhyme despite their spellings looking completely differentexplain the consequence

Common mistakes

  • Pronouncing eau as three separate sounds.

    It is a single o sound.

  • Reading au as in English caught.

    It is a closed o, as in beau.

  • Assuming spelling follows sound.

    Three spellings share one sound.

  • Ignoring the circumflex.

    Ô sounds the same as au and eau.

Exam tips

  • Treat eau as a single o sound.
  • Learn which spelling each word uses.
  • Practise eu with rounded lips.
  • Group au, eau and ô as one sound.

Key terms

Eu
A rounded vowel sound with no English equivalent.
Au
A spelling giving a closed o sound.
Eau
Another spelling of the same closed o sound.
Circumflex
The accent on ô, also giving the closed o.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.