FlexiLingoIn one line
French will not allow two vowels to collide. Ten short words drop their own vowel and attach to the next word with an apostrophe.
The forms on this page
| Form | Means | Sound |
|---|---|---|
l' | le or la with its vowel dropped | /l/ |
j' | je with its vowel dropped | /ʒ/ |
n' | ne with its vowel dropped | /n/ |
d' | de with its vowel dropped | /d/ |
The table
| Full form | Becomes | Example |
|---|---|---|
je /ʒə/ | j' /ʒ/ | j'habite /ʒa.bit/ |
me /mə/ | m' /m/ | il m'aide /il mɛd/ |
te /tə/ | t' /t/ | je t'aide /ʒə tɛd/ |
se /sə/ | s' /s/ | il s'appelle /il sa.pɛl/ |
le /lə/ la /la/ | l' /l/ | l'examen /lɛɡ.za.mɛ̃/ l'eau /lo/ |
de /də/ | d' /d/ | d'eau /do/ |
ne /nə/ | n' /n/ | je n'aime pas /ʒə nɛm pa/ |
que /kə/ | qu' /k/ | qu'il habite /kil a.bit/ |
ce /sə/ | c' /s/ | c'est /sɛ/ |
Every one of them ends in a short e or a that can be dropped.
And when they elide
| If the next word starts with | Does it elide? |
|---|---|
a vowel — a e i o u y é è /a ə i o y i e ɛ/ | ✅ |
a silent h /aʃ/ | ✅ l'homme /lɔm/ j'habite /ʒa.bit/ |
| a consonant | ❌ le livre /lə livʁ/ je parle /ʒə paʁl/ |
That h is never pronounced, so the word really does begin with a vowel.
English elides as well — but it is optional, and that is the whole difference. You may write "do not" or "don't", "it is" or "it's", and both are correct; the short form is simply less formal. In French the elided form is the only form there is.
Je habiteis not casual or careless, it is not French. And the apostrophe is doing a different job in each language: English uses it to mark a letter dropped for convenience, French uses it to mark a vowel that the language will not let you pronounce.
Why only these ten words, and not any word that runs into a vowel
Eliding means dropping a vowel. So the word has to have a vowel available to drop — that is, it has to end in one.
All ten end in a weak vowel (je /ʒə/ · le /lə/ · de /də/). Most words end in a consonant, even when they are spelt with a final e:
| Word | Its sound | What it ends in | Elides? |
|---|---|---|---|
le | /lə/ | a vowel, ə | ✅ l'ami |
elle | /ɛl/ | a consonant, l — that e is already silent | ❌ elle aime |
une | /yn/ | a consonant, n | ❌ une amie |
quelle | /kɛl/ | a consonant, l | ❌ quelle heure |
notre | /nɔtʁ/ | a consonant, ʁ | ❌ notre ami |
In
ellethe vowel is in the middle, not at the end. The finaleis already unpronounced — there is nothing left to drop.
So why does elle aime sound like "ell'aime"
Because it genuinely does sound joined — for a different reason. The l that is pronounced in elle attaches to the vowel of the next word and forms a syllable with it:
| Written | Syllables | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
elle aime | è-lème | /ɛ.lɛm/ |
il aime | i-lème | /i.lɛm/ |
une amie | u-na-mie | /y.na.mi/ |
This is called enchaînement, not elision. The difference is that no letter is deleted and the spelling does not change at all — only the syllable boundary moves. The ear cannot tell them apart; the pen must.
You already do this in English without noticing. "an apple" comes out as /ə.nap.əl/ — the n has hopped over to the next syllable — and nobody writes a napple. Elle aime is the same event: heard as joined, written as separate.
Practical rule: if the word is not one of the ten above, do not write an apostrophe — no matter how joined it sounds.
Exceptions
| Exception | What happens |
|---|---|
Aspirated h /aʃ/ | a few words have an h /aʃ/ that blocks elision: le héros /lə e.ʁo/ le hibou /lə i.bu/ la hauteur /la o.tœʁ/. Dictionaries mark them |
le /lə//la /la/ before onze /ɔ̃z/ | le onze /lə ɔ̃z/ la onzième /la ɔ̃.zjɛm/ — the number eleven behaves like an aspirated h /aʃ/ |
si /si/ only before il /il//ils /il/ | it gives s'il /sil/ and s'ils /sil/, but si elle /si ɛl/ and si on /si ɔ̃/ do not elide |
tu /ty/ never elides | in writing it stays tu as /ty a/, not t'as /ta/ |
la /la/ as an object pronoun | it elides too: je l'aime /ʒə lɛm/ — whether it is le /lə/ or la /la/ |
Examples
| English | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| I live | J'habite. | /ʒa.bit/ |
| I don't like it | Je n'aime pas. | /ʒə nɛm pa/ |
| My name is … | Je m'appelle … | /ʒə ma.pɛl/ |
| I'm drinking water | Je bois de l'eau. | /ʒə bwa də lo/ |
| It's a book | C'est un livre. | /sɛ.t‿œ̃ livʁ/ |
| Where does he live? | Où est-ce qu'il habite ? | /u ɛs kil a.bit/ |
| the man | l'homme | /lɔm/ |
| the hero — no elision | le héros | /lə e.ʁo/ |
| She likes music | Elle aime la musique. | /ɛ.lɛm la my.zik/ |
| a friend (feminine) | une amie | /y.na.mi/ |
| What time is it? | Quelle heure est-il ? | /kɛ.lœʁ ɛ.til/ |
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
Je habite ici. | J'habite ici. | That h is silent, so it counts as a vowel |
Je ne aime pas. | Je n'aime pas. | ne + vowel |
Que il habite | Qu'il habite | que + vowel |
l'héros | le héros | This h is aspirated — no elision |
de le eau | de l'eau | Two things at once: le elides, de does not |
Ell'aime la musique. | Elle aime la musique. | elle ends in a consonant — there is no vowel to drop |
Un'amie | une amie | Same — /y.na.mi/ is enchaînement, not elision |
S'elle vient | Si elle vient | si elides only before il/ils |
And how it differs from liaison
elision vs liaison — two different things
| What happens | In writing | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|---|
elision (élision) | a vowel is deleted | visible — an apostrophe | /e.li.zjɔ̃/ |
liaison (liaison) | a silent consonant wakes up | invisible | /ljɛ.zɔ̃/ |
| enchaînement | a consonant that was already pronounced moves | invisible |
le /lə/ + examen → l'examen /lɛɡ.za.mɛ̃/ | elision — the spelling changed |
les + examens → les examens /le.z‿ɛɡ.za.mɛ̃/ | liaison — that s was silent and woke up |
elle + aime → elle aime /ɛ.lɛm/ | enchaînement — that l was always pronounced |
All three exist for one purpose: to stop two vowels from colliding. One deletes, one wakes a consonant up, one borrows a consonant that was already there.
And the practical difference is a single thing: only elision affects the spelling. The other two live in the ear alone — so never change anything in writing because of them.