🎵 Lesson 25 – Similar sounds [e] and [ɛ]
Learn to distinguish and pronounce these two French sounds correctly
📘 1. Simple explanation
In French, there are two similar but different "é" sounds. The difference lies in the..."mouth opening :
SOUND CLOSED
Mouth almost closed
Example :
summer
OPEN SOUND
Mouth more open
Example :
mother
💡 Tip to feel the difference:
Say "summer" → mouth almost closed. Now say "mother" → feel how your mouth opens wider? That's the difference!
✨ 2. Examples
Its sound is closed
talk
/paʁ.le/
verb
TV
/TV/
name
summer
/summer/
season
Its open
very
/tʁɛ/
adverb
salt
/sɛl/
name
mother
/mɛʁ/
name
🎯 Important rule
Generally, the sound [e] (closed) is written "é", "er", "ez" at the end of a word. The sound [ɛ] (open) is written "è", "ê", "ai", "ei". But there are exceptions that you need to remember!
💬 3. Mini-situation
Amine:
«" He does very [ɛ] hot today. »
✅ Open sound [ɛ]
His friend:
«"I'm going to watch the TV [e] inside.»
✅ Sound CLOSED [e]
Amine:
«"Okay, that way we avoid the heat [ɛ]. »
✅ Open sound [ɛ] in "heat""
📝 Phonetic note:
In this conversation: "très" and "chaleur" have the OPEN sound [ɛ]. "Télé" has the CLOSED sound [e]. Can you hear the difference?
📚 4. Vocabulary
TV
/TV/
very
/tʁɛ/
mother
/mɛʁ/
summer
/summer/
hot
/ʃo/
💪 Pronunciation exercise:
Practice alternating: "été" [e] (mouth closed) - "mère" [ɛ] (mouth open). Repeat several times to feel the difference in muscle tone!
✍️ 5. Interactive exercise
Match each word with its sound
1. "summer" →
2. "mother" →
3. "to speak" →
🖼️ 6. Image idea for memorization
Thermometer + television
VERY HOT
Open sound [ɛ]
very, heat
Like an open mouth saying "ah! it's hot!""
TELEVISION
Its sound is CLOSED [e]
TV, summer
Like a closed mouth in front of the screen
🌟 Memory tip:
Picture this scene: it's VERY hot (🌡️) → open mouth [ɛ] to say "ah!". We're watching TV (📺) → closed mouth [e] in silence. This visual association will help you remember!
English 
French
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