Liaison, Elision & Linking Sounds — The Secret Handshake of Spoken French

You survived nasal vowels and consonant combos — congratulations, you’re now invited to the inner circle. Liaison and elision are the velvet ropes.

You already met the nasal vowels (remember: un, on, an — nasal, dreamy, delicious). You also practiced consonant combinations (that silent s that shows up as a zipping sound sometimes). Now we glue those ideas together. Liaison, elision, and enchaînement are the rules that make words cozy — they determine when sounds hop from one word to the next, when letters reappear like a surprise guest, and when vowels get politely, dramatically deleted.

Big Definitions (quick and spicy)

• Liaison: The pronunciation of a normally silent final consonant because the next word begins with a vowel. Think: the silent letter gets called back to work. Example: les amis → [lez‿ami] (the s sounds like [z]).

• Elision (élision): Dropping a vowel (usually e or ne) and replacing it with an apostrophe to avoid a vowel-vowel collision. Example: je aime → j'aime [ʒɛm].

• Enchaînement (linking sound): Not a magic consonant revival — this is when a final pronounced consonant simply moves to start the next syllable when followed by a vowel. Example: petit ami → [pə.ti.ta.mi] (the final t is already pronounced; it becomes the onset of the next syllable).

Quick mnemonic: Liaison = ghost consonant comes back. Enchaînement = consonant just walks over. Elision = vowel gets ghosted.

Compare them at a glance

Rules, star examples, and the drama

When liaison is mandatory (learn these like the Lord's Prayer of French)

• After determiners: les amis → [lez‿ami]
• Between adjective and noun: petits enfants → [pə.ti.z‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃]
• Between subject pronoun and verb (3rd person pl.): ils arrivent → [ilz‿a.ʁiv]

Examples with IPA-lite hints:

• les amis → [lez‿a.mi]
• grand homme → [gʁɑ̃.d‿ɔm]
• ils ont → [ilz‿ɔ̃]

When liaison is optional (classy or old-school speakers do it; casual people skip it)

• After plural nouns before a verb: des gens arrivent (des gens z'arrivent)
• After adverbs or prepositions in fancy speech: vous avez can be [vu.z‿a.ve] in formal registers

When liaison is forbidden (the strict rules; break them at your peril)

• After et: Paul et Marie — never paul z'et marie
• After singular nouns (usually): le garçon arrive — no liaison after garçon
• Before an h aspiré (it behaves like a consonant): les héros → [le e.ʁo] (no liaison) — but les hommes (h muet) → [lez‿ɔm]

Tip: H aspiré vs H muet is a pain point. Memorize common words with h aspiré (like haricot, héros, halle) vs h muet (like homme, hiver).

Elision: the tidy-up crew

• Common elisions: je → j', ne → n', le/la → l', de → d', ce → c'
• Example: Je aime les chats → J'aime les chats [ʒɛm le ʃa]
• It’s obligatory before vowel or mute h: l'homme (not le homme).

Remember: in spoken French, dropping sounds is normal — but in writing you must use the apostrophe.

Special note: nasal vowels & liaison

You already learned nasal vowels (like un /œ̃/, on /ɔ̃/). Sometimes the consonant letter that marks the nasal (n, m) will behave in linking contexts. For many speakers, un ami is pronounced [œ̃.n‿a.mi] or [œ̃nami] — the nasal quality remains but you may hear a consonantal link. This can vary by speaker and speed of speech.

Short version: nasal vowels were a separate chapter — they don't always block liaison, but speakers’ choices vary. If you hear an /n/ pop in casual speech before a vowel after a nasal-word, that’s normal in many accents.

Common pitfalls & illusions

• Don’t assume every final letter is silent — context matters. Grand is silent in grand jour but pronounced in grand homme (liaison gives the d).
• et is small but mighty: no liaison after it.
• Formal registers love liaison. In everyday speech, people skip optional liaisons all the time.

Practice time (do this out loud — your mouth will thank you)

Mark whether liaison (L), enchaînement/normal linking (E), elision (X), or no-link (N) is used. Then say the sentence aloud.

1. Les amis arrivent.
2. Petit ami.
3. J'aime les croissants.
4. Paul et Anne.
5. Nous avons fini.

Answers (read after trying):

1. Les amis arrivent. -> Liaison (les amis) [lez‿ami] + liaison (amis arrivent) optional/depends. (L)
2. Petit ami. -> Enchaînement (t links) [pə.ti.ta.mi] (E)
3. J'aime les croissants. -> Elision (je -> j') [ʒɛm le kwa.sɔ̃] (X)
4. Paul et Anne. -> No liaison after 'et' (N)
5. Nous avons fini. -> Liaison (nous avons) [nu.z‿a.vɔ̃] (L)

Closing — how to sound like a real human, not a robot

• Practice aloud with recordings from native speakers (newsreaders will overuse liaison; casual podcasts will underuse it). Get both.
• When in doubt: be conservative in informal speech. Use liaison more in formal contexts (presentations, films, reading aloud) and elide when grammar says so.
• Listen for the letters that often appear in liaison: s, x, z, t, d — they’re the usual suspects.

Final pro tip: Liaison and enchaînement are not just rules — they’re the glue that makes French flow like silk instead of clanking like a bicycle chain. Master them, and your French will stop sounding like individual words and start sounding like music.

Tags: practice this aloud, laugh when you mess up, and then say it again. Vous pouvez le faire — go make the liaisons proud.