French E Accents: When to Use É, È, Ê and Ë
Updated
French E accents at a glance
- é: usually the closed /e/ sound, as in été.
- è: usually the more open /ɛ/ sound, as in mère.
- ê: often /ɛ/; the spelling may preserve a historical letter, as in forêt.
- ë: marks a vowel sequence to read separately, as in Noël /nɔ.ɛl/.
The sound is a useful clue, but it cannot always tell you the spelling. An unaccented e can also sound like /ɛ/, and pronunciation varies across French-speaking regions. The University of Texas French sound chart provides audio for the IPA symbols used here.
Step 1: Does the “E” Get an Accent?
Look at the written word, as well as the pronunciation. Before a doubled consonant, e commonly has no accent: belle, lettre, effet. The same is true in many written consonant groups, as in mer and sel.
Avoid treating “accents only occur in open syllables” as a universal rule. It confuses written syllables with spoken ones: mère /mɛʁ/ has an accent even though its spoken syllable ends in a consonant.
Likewise, a pronounced final e sound does not always mean é. The endings in parler and parlez are pronounced /e/ without an accent on the e. Learn the ending with the word. See the OQLF’s guide to the positions of é.
Step 2: Choosing Between “É” and “È”
É usually represents /e/, with the mouth less open. È usually represents /ɛ/, with the mouth more open.
A useful spelling pattern appears in related words: an é can become è before a written syllable containing a silent e.
| With é | With è | What changes? |
|---|---|---|
| collégien | collège | The following syllable in collège has a silent e. |
| céder | je cède | The verb ending changes. |
| régler | je règle | The same family preserves the meaning, but the accent changes. |
The OQLF explains this é/è alternation in word families. Use it as a pattern, not as a way to invent the spelling of every unfamiliar word.
Exceptions and accepted variants
Words such as médecin and médecine retain é. Initial é and prefixes such as dé- and pré- also have exceptions to a simple “silent e next means è” rule.
Both événement and the rectified spelling évènement are accepted. The 1990 rectifications also permit forms such as je cèderai alongside traditional je céderai. The OQLF lists the changes and exceptions.
The Circumflex Accent (Ê)
The circumflex often reflects the history of a word. A useful memory aid is to connect forêt with forestier, or fête with festival: a related word can preserve an s that disappeared from the shorter form.
That does not mean every ê replaces an s. Treat it as a spelling clue rather than a universal formula. Canada’s circumflex guide gives historical examples.
Ê commonly represents /ɛ/, though vowel length and quality can vary by region. You generally cannot decide between è and ê from sound alone.
The Diaeresis (Ë)
In Noël /nɔ.ɛl/, the tréma signals that the vowels are read separately. It is a reading instruction, not a fifth French vowel sound to memorize.
Do not assume that ë always makes its own sound: traditional spellings such as aiguë use the mark differently. For spelling practice, begin with frequent words such as Noël and canoë, and check unfamiliar forms in a dictionary.
Practice: Choose the Missing Accent
Complete these words: caf_, m_re, for_t, No_l.
Show answers
café, mère, forêt, Noël. Read each aloud, then write a short sentence containing it.
For repeated spelling practice, download the French diacritics Anki deck. To work on hearing the vowel difference, use our French minimal-pair practice.