How to Pronounce the Days of the Week in French

The 'un' in lundi is a nasal vowel - air flows through the nose. Your mouth is in an 'u' position but you push air through the nose simultaneously. Do not pronounce the final 'i' like English 'ee'; it is shorter and clipped.

The 'r' in mardi is the classic French uvular fricative, made at the back of the throat, not with the tongue tip. Think of clearing your throat gently. The 'ar' is open and similar to English 'art' but with that throat-r.

Mercredi has two French r sounds and a schwa in the middle syllable. The 'e' before 'credi' is a schwa - a neutral, unstressed vowel like the 'a' in English 'about'. Many French speakers reduce this middle syllable even further in casual speech.

Jeudi begins with 'ʒ', the same sound as the 's' in English 'measure' or 'vision'. It is a voiced palatal fricative. The 'eu' is a rounded front vowel - round your lips as if saying 'oo' but try to say 'e'.

Vendredi opens with a nasal 'an' vowel. The vowel in 'ven' is pronounced through the nose with the mouth open (unlike the closed nasals in words like 'bon'). This nasal vowel does not exist in English, so it takes practice.

Samedi is the most phonetically accessible French day for English speakers. The 'a' is an open 'ah' sound, and the 'm' and 'd' are standard consonants. Just avoid the temptation to say 'saym-dee' with a diphthong - the 'a' is pure and flat.

Dimanche ends with the nasal 'an' followed by a 'sh' sound (the French 'ch' is always 'sh', never 'tch' like English 'church'). The final 'e' is silent - do not say 'dee-mahn-sheh'.

French has four nasal vowels that do not exist in English. Air flows through the nose while your mouth forms the vowel shape. The closest English approximation is the 'n' nasality at the end of words like 'man' or 'ran', but without actually closing the nasal passage. Practice by holding your nose while saying 'un' - if sound changes significantly, you are nasalising correctly.

The French 'r' (written as ʁ in IPA) is a uvular fricative - made by vibrating or constricting the uvula at the very back of the throat. It sounds nothing like the English 'r'. The best way to learn it is to gargle with water first to find the right muscle position, then try to make the same vibration without water. In casual French speech, it can be nearly inaudible in some positions.

The 'j' in French is always pronounced as the 'zh' sound, which exists in English only in the middle of words like 'measure', 'vision', or 'treasure'. It is voiced - your vocal cords vibrate while you make a 'sh' shape. English speakers often default to a 'y' sound (like English 'yes') which is incorrect. Practice: say 'measure' very slowly, isolate the middle consonant - that is the French 'j'.