Liaison: when it happens (and when it doesn’t)
Understand mandatory, optional, and forbidden liaison — and avoid the common “over‐liaison” mistake.
What you’ll learn Understand mandatory, optional, and forbidden liaison — and avoid the common “over‐liaison” mistake.
Key ideas (keep these in your head) • Liaison connects a usually silent final consonant to the next word if it starts with a vowel sound. • Some liaisons are mandatory (les amis), some optional (très important), some forbidden (after et). • Learners often over‐liaise in places that sound unnatural or incorrect.
Real examples (French → what you often hear → English) • Les amis → lez amis → The friends • Un grand homme → un gran tome (linking) → A great man • Et alors ? → e alor (no liaison) → So then?
Common mistakes (and quick fixes) • Liaison after ‘et’. Fix: never do it (et un... not ‘e-tun’). • Adding liaison where it’s forbidden or odd. Fix: learn a small list of mandatory contexts first. • Forgetting liaison that’s highly frequent (plural article + noun). Fix: drill ‘les/z’, ‘des/z’, ‘un/n’.
Quick self-check Say: “les amis / des amis / un ami / et un ami”. Only the last one has no liaison after ‘et’.
About this lesson
How to practise “Liaison: when it happens (and when it doesn’t)”
This débutant lesson is part of the Pronunciation series on Chase in French. Train your ear and mouth on the sounds that make French French — nasal vowels, liaison, the R, and the rhythm patterns native speakers actually use.
Follow the Ears → Mouth → Eyes method: first listen to how native speakers say it, then repeat it out loud until it feels natural, and only then look at the spelling. Plan about 12 minutes, and come back to it over several days — short, repeated practice beats one long session.
Want guided feedback on your accent? The Chase in French Academy and live classes turn lessons like this into structured training, and the weekly podcast lets you hear these patterns in real conversation.
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