Contractions in French
In French, les contractions(contractions) are words that are joined together in order to facilitate pronunciation and make communication quicker and easier. The words may be shortened with an apostrophe or contracted to create a new word.
Most English contractions are optional, like using don't instead of do not or we'll instead of we will. In French, however, there are fixed contractions and elisions that are often required in order to be grammatically correct. On the flip side, there are also a lot of French contractions that are only used orally, in informal conversation, and are almost never used in writing!
Take a look at these examples, and read the full article for more information about French contractions!
Questions This Article Answers
What are contractions in French?
Which words contract in French?
When are contractions required in French?
How are fixed contractions and elisions used in French?
What's the difference between a silent h and an aspirated h in French?
How are French contractions used in informal conversation?
What are some common French contractions?
What Are Contractions?
In French, les contractions(contractions) are words that are combined in order to improve the flow of pronunciation and the speed of communication. Letters may be dropped and replaced with an apostrophe, or two words may be joined together to form a new word.
How Are Contractions Used in French?
Here are the top three things to know about using contractions in French!
1. Some French Contractions Are Required
In English, most contractions are optional, depending on the formality of a text or the preference of a speaker. For example, in some situations, you may say or write this is not, and in others, you may say or write this isn't. They're pretty much interchangeable. In French, however, contractions are often required in order for the sentence to be grammatically correct. For example, when using the personal pronoun je(I) before a word that starts with a vowel or silent h, je must contract to j': j'aime(I love). It’s not optional!
| Correct | Incorrect | Translation |
| j'aime | je aime | I love |
| j'étudie | je étudie | I study |
| j'habite | je habite | I live |
| j'organise | je organise | I organize |
| j'y vais | je y vais | I'm going there |
2. Some French Contractions Are Usually Only Heard in Speech
There are many contractions used when speaking French that wouldn't typically be used in formal writing. This happens in English too! If you're chatting informally, and you say the phrase I want to go, you probably wouldn't pronounce each word. You'd say something like I wanna go. You wouldn't write the word wanna in a formal text, like a college essay, but it's something you hear a lot and may even see in informal writing, like a text message. Likewise, in French you might hear t'es belle(you're beautiful) instead of tu es belle(you are beautiful). You might also see this type of contraction in very informal writing in French.
3. There Are Several Types of Contractions in French
There are several types of contractions in French. There are fixed contractions, elisions, and then there are those informal oral contractions. Let's take a closer look at each of these types of French contractions!
Fixed Contractions in French
In French, there are contractions figées(fixed contractions). These are formed when two or more words contract together to form a new word. The most important fixed contractions in French involve the prepositions à(in, to, at) and de(of, from, about). These two prepositions contract with the masculine singular and plural definite articles leand les(the) to form fixed contractions that are required in French.
Fixed Contractions with Definite Articles Le and Les
Contractions with the Preposition À in French
Contractions with the Preposition De in French
Attention! It's important to know that du and des are not only contractions of the preposition de! These same words are also used as the partitive article du(some) and the plural indefinite article des(some). They look the same, but the meaning and usage are different. Here are some examples of du and des used as articles. You can compare them to the contractions in the example sentences above.
Fixed Contractions with Lequel, Lesquels, and Lesquelles
The prepositions à and de also contract with the masculine singular and plural forms of the pronoun lequel(which one, who, which, or whom). In the table below, you'll see how those fixed contractions are formed. Click on the FrenchDictionary.com links in the last column to see the dictionary entry of each contraction. In the dictionary entries, you'll be able to see all the different translations these contractions have, as well as many more example sentences!
| Preposition + Pronoun = | Contraction | Dictionary Entry |
|---|---|---|
| à + lequel = | auquelto/in/about whom or to/in/about which | auquel |
| à + lesquels = | auxquelsto/in/about whom or to/in/about which | auxquels |
| à + lesquelles = | auxquellesto/in/about whom or to/in/about which | auxquelles |
| de + lequel = | duquelof/from/about whom or of/from/about which | duquel |
| de + lesquels = | desquelsof/from/about whom or of/from/about which | desquels |
| de + lesquelles = | desquellesof/from/about whom or of/from/about which | desquelles |
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Learn more about how prepositions, definite articles, indefinite articles, and pronouns work in French!
Required Elision in French
Contractions are often made in French by dropping letters from a word and adding an apostrophe to link two words together in a process called élision(elision). Usually, this occurs when a word ending in a vowel is followed by a word starting with a vowel or a silent h. Elision happens with small words that are either pronouns or articles, with certain conjunctions, with the preposition de(of, from), and with the negation word ne(not). It is often required. Read on to see lists and examples of required elisions in French!
The Main Rule for Required Elision in French
The main rule for contraction by elision in French is to drop the final -e or -a from the word that comes before a word beginning with a vowel or a silent h. The two words are then joined together with an apostrophe. For example, le(the) before argent(money) becomes: l'argent(the money).
The Silent H and the Aspirated H in French
There are two types of the letter h in French: the h muet(silent h) and the h aspiré(aspirated h). As noted earlier, elision only occurs before words that start with a silent h in French.
What's the difference between the two types?
Well, it generally comes down to the linguistic origin of the French word starting with h. If the word comes from Latin, it is a silent h, as in l'homme(the man), but if it comes from a Germanic source, then it's an aspirated h, as in le houx(holly).
Are they pronounced differently in French?
Ironically, neither type of h is pronounced with aspiration in French! In Germanic languages, an aspirated h makes a sound, as in the beginning of the English word house, but there is no real aspiration when saying words of Germanic origin in French. Neither h makes a sound in French.
How do you know if a French word starts with a silent h or an aspirated h?
Since there's no difference in pronunciation, there's no easy way to tell if an h is silent or aspirated in French, other than looking to see if the definite article is contracted or not. If you know the word comes from English or another Germanic language, like le hashtag(the hashtag) or le hockey(hockey), it's safe to say that you're dealing with an aspirated h. Most of the time, however, you just need to learn this as you learn new vocabulary words that start with h, or look it up in the dictionary if you're unsure. On FrenchDictionary.com, every noun starting with an h is displayed directly with its definite article, indicating whether the h is silent or aspirated. Elision, as in l'homme means it's silent; no elision, as in le houx, means it's aspirated.
French Words That Require Contraction by Elision
Definite Articles That Contract in French
Learn all about definite articles and how they're used with French nouns by reading these articles!
Pronouns That Contract in French
Attention! The subject pronouns ce(it, this, that) and je(I) do not contract with the word that follows when they are inverted! Similarly, the object pronouns le(him, it) and la(her, it) do not contract with the word that follows when they are attached to the end of a verb in the imperative. We’d write:
There are many different types of pronouns in French! Check out these articles to find out all about them!
Contraction of the Preposition and Article De in French
| Article | Contraction | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| deany, some | d' | Mes amis n'ont pas d'argent.My friends don't have any money. |
Learn more about how prepositions, definite articles, and indefinite articles work in French!
Contraction of the Negation Word Ne in French
Sometimes Ne Is Completely Dropped When Speaking in French
We've seen that the negation word ne requires elision before a vowel or silent h, but you may have noticed that it often just totally disappears when people are speaking French. The omission of ne in a sentence with a negative verb is extremely common in colloquial speech, as you see in the following examples!
Contractions of Conjunctions in French
| Conjunction | Contraction | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| quethat | qu' | Christine dit qu'il y a un concert gratuit ce soir.Christine says that there's a free concert tonight. |
Other conjunctions and conjunction phrases ending in -que will also contract to -qu' when followed by a vowel or silent h. Here's a list of other conjunctions and conjunction phrases that require elision in French!
Exception! The conjunction lorsque(when) is the only exception to this rule; it will contract in front of il (he or it), elle (she or it), on (we), un (a), une (a), and sometimes in front of the pronoun en, but it will never contract in front of a vowel or silent h otherwise. For example, Lorsque Anne est partie, il s'est mis à pleuvoir.(When Anne left, it started to rain.), but Lorsqu'elle est partie, il s'est mis à pleuvoir.(When she left, it started to rain.)
Learn all about French conjunctions by reading this article!
Oral Contractions in French
What Is an Oral Contraction in French?
Oral contraction happens when people don't enunciate every syllable in a sentence when speaking or when they drop letters to shorten words or phrases in order to facilitate quicker or more relaxed pronunciation. This is very different from the elisions we described earlier, as oral contractions are not required elisions and only happen when people are speaking French. For example, instead of saying Je ne sais pas(I do not know), you might say J’sais pas(I dunno). As you can see, this type of oral contraction happens in English as well.
It's important to know that oral contractions are non-standard in written form. They only occur in speech, though you may see them in written form when the spoken word is reproduced phonetically, as in a dialogue in a book, a social media post, song lyrics, or a cartoon speech bubble.
Are Oral Contractions Grammatically Correct in Writing?
Short answer? No. We've told you that elision is required in French with certain short words ending in -e and -a before a word that starts with a vowel or silent h. Oral contractions, however, are not required, don't follow the traditional rules for elision, and are not considered correct in writing.
So why mention them, you ask? Because they’re quite common in spoken French! You’ll definitely hear them in everyday conversation, and you may also see them in written texts that reproduce colloquial speech phonetically. For example, in Belgian singer Jacques Brel’s song T’as voulu voir Vesoul, you see the contraction of Tu and as to form T’as, which is one of the most common and accepted of the oral contractions.
Examples of Oral Contractions
Spoken language is always changing and may vary from one Francophone culture to the next, but here are some common oral contractions you may hear in everyday French conversation!
Remember! Unlike the contractions we’ve seen until now, these ones are not standardized written forms, even though you might come across them here and there—for instance, in dialogues replicating informal speech in a novel.
1. Sometimes Tu Contracts Before a Vowel When Speaking French
Normally, the subject pronoun tu(you) doesn't contract before vowels in French, but it often does during speech! Although this contraction of tu is non-standard in writing, you may see it in text messages or other written texts that replicate the spoken word phonetically.
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2. Sometimes Je Contracts Before a Consonant When Speaking French
We've explained that je contracts before a word beginning with a vowel or silent h. Well, sometimes, it sounds like je also contracts before words beginning with consonants when people are speaking without fully enunciating each word. In these cases, j’ is used to represent the oral contraction of the letter -e. This is not a "real" contraction, but rather a phonological phenomenon whereby syllables are being dropped, giving the impression of a contraction.
Here are some examples of these oral contractions. Keep in mind that the sentences below really show you phonetic representations of this phonological phenomenon. These contractions in front of consonants would never be recorded in writing (subtitles, transcriptions, media quotes, etc.) unless there is a specific need to do so, for example, to make fun of the person who uttered these sentences or to capture their unique way of speaking.
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3. Sometimes Le Contracts Before a Consonant When Speaking French
Normally, the definite article le(the) doesn't contract before consonants in French, but it often does during speech! Here are a couple of examples of what you may hear when people are speaking. Remember that the sentences below are phonetic representations of this phonological phenomenon. These are not sentences you would normally see in writing, as this type of contraction isn't standardized in the French language.
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4. Sometimes Vowels Are Dropped from the Middle of a Word When Speaking French
On occasion, people might drop a vowel or two from the middle of a word when speaking French. Like the other oral contractions in this section, this only occurs in speech and is non-standard in written French. That said, if the spoken phrase were to be written out phonetically, as in a dialogue replicating informal speech in a novel or a cartoon bubble, an apostrophe might be used to indicate where the letter was located.
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Spoken Versions of the Phrase Je Ne Sais Pas
When people speak, you might not hear all the sounds in the full phrase Je ne sais pas(I do not know). As in English, this phrase has several shortened or elided forms in casual conversation. The forms shown in this table range from the fullest phonetic form to the most informal spoken version, and aren’t standardized written forms!
Oral Contractions in Québécois French
One of the distinctive features of the French spoken in Québec is the way people contract words, even more than in spoken French in France! Here are a few common contractions you may hear when in la Belle Province(the beautiful province, a nickname for Québec)! These phonetic representations don’t have fixed spellings, but you may come across one form or another in text messages, novels, or even newspapers aiming to render spoken language!
Learn about French verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs with these articles!
