How to pronounce De vs. Deux in French?
Updated: March 13, 2021 by Mylene in How to PronounceArray ▪
French Preposition De
De is a preposition in French that is equivalent to various English prepositions such as of, from, by, in. In French, de is a frequently used word that you’ll often encounter whenever you speak French.
Example:
- Je viens de Paris (I come from Paris)
- Je bois un jus de pomme (I drink an apple juice)
Use de when you want to refer to possessions, origins, location, quantity, or with some verbs as in the following sentences:
- Possessions: C’est la voiture de mon oncle (This is my uncle’s car)
- Origins: C’est un vin de Bordeaux (This is a Bordeaux wine)
- Location: La table est près de la fenêtre (The table is next to the window)
- Quantity: Un kilo de pommes (One kilo of apple)
- With some verbs: Il parle de son voyage (he’s talking about his trip)
It is always useful to remember that:
- de + le = du: Je veux ajouter du sucre (I want to add some sugar)
- de + les = des: Il s’occupe des enfants (He’s taking care of the kids)
French Number Deux
When learning to count in French, deux refers to two. Example:
- J’ai mangé deux croissants (I ate two croissants)
Deux is also used part of other French numbers such as:
- Vingt-deux (22) Twenty-two
- Trente-deux (32) Thirty-two
How to pronounce “Deux” in French?
Deux is pronounced /dø/.
- Sound /d/: place the tip of your tongue on the ridge behind your upper teeth. As you push air out of your mouth, briefly stop it behind your tongue before releasing it. Vibrate your vocal cords as you make this sound.
- Sound /ø/: the tongue is pushed forward in the mouth, the tip of the tongue is against the lower teeth and the lips are rounded. There is much more tension in the pronunciation.
How to pronounce “De” in French?
De is pronounced /də/.
- Sound /d/: place the tip of your tongue on the ridge behind your upper teeth. As you push air out of your mouth, briefly stop it behind your tongue before releasing it. Vibrate your vocal cords as you make this sound.
- Sound /ə/: be sure that the mouth is much more relaxed, the tongue is in the central part of the mouth and the lips are slightly rounded.
This Instagram video will show you how to pronounce the words De and Deux.
It’s part of our Effortless French Words Pronunciation series.
Click the link to listen to this video or directly play the video shown below.
Let’s connect
To go beyond this effortless French pronunciation post, follow me on Instagram for daily French practice. Subscribe to my channel on YouTube for more awesome French content.
Join the online pronunciation course if you’re looking to improve your French pronunciation quickly. You can get enrolled today and boost your French learning to the next level!
