{"id":8,"date":"2026-10-01T08:57:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T08:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fluenchy.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/01\/the-french-u-rue-vs-roue\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T08:57:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T08:57:45","slug":"the-french-u-rue-vs-roue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fluenchy.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/01\/the-french-u-rue-vs-roue\/","title":{"rendered":"The French U, finally: rue vs. roue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ask a French person for directions to la rue Victor Hugo<\/em> (Victor Hugo Street) and they will understand you. Ask for la roue Victor Hugo<\/em> and you are asking for Victor Hugo\u2019s wheel. The difference is one sound, and English doesn\u2019t have it. Let\u2019s fix that.<\/p>\n

Two sounds, not one<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • OU<\/strong> sounds like the \u201coo\u201d in food<\/em>: roue<\/em> (wheel), vous<\/em> (you), tout<\/em> (all), sous<\/em> (under).<\/li>\n
  • U<\/strong> is a sound English doesn\u2019t have: rue<\/em> (street), tu<\/em> (you), vu<\/em> (seen), salut<\/em> (hi).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Most English speakers pronounce both as \u201coo\u201d. That\u2019s why tu<\/em> and tout<\/em>, or dessus<\/em> and dessous<\/em>, end up sounding the same.<\/p>\n

    The trick: \u201cee\u201d with a kiss<\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Say \u201cee\u201d<\/strong>, as in see<\/em>. Notice where your tongue is: high, at the front, touching your lower teeth.<\/li>\n
    2. Keep your tongue exactly there. Don\u2019t move it.<\/li>\n
    3. Now round your lips tightly, as if you were about to whistle or give a kiss.<\/li>\n
    4. Keep saying \u201cee\u201d through your rounded lips. That sound is the French U<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      If it sounds a bit like a surprised cat, you\u2019re doing it right. The key is the tongue: for ou<\/em> it moves to the back of your mouth, for u<\/em> it stays at the front.<\/p>\n

      Practise with pairs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      U<\/th>\nOU<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
      rue (street)<\/td>\nroue (wheel)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      tu (you)<\/td>\ntout (all)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      vu (seen)<\/td>\nvous (you)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      dessus (on top)<\/td>\ndessous (underneath)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      bu (drunk, as in \u201cI have drunk\u201d)<\/td>\nbout (end)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      su (known)<\/td>\nsous (under)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

      Read each line slowly, then faster. Record yourself on your phone: you\u2019ll hear the difference better than you feel it.<\/p>\n

      Three sentences to train<\/h2>\n
      \n

      Salut, tu vas o\u00f9 ?
      Tu as vu la rue ?
      Le chat est sous la voiture, pas dessus.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

      A small bonus<\/h2>\n

      After q<\/strong>, the letter u is usually silent: qui<\/em>, quatre<\/em>, quand<\/em> are pronounced with a simple \u201ck\u201d. And after g<\/strong>, before e or i, it is only there to keep the g hard: guitare<\/em>, baguette<\/em>. So you only need the new sound when the u is really a vowel.<\/p>\n

      Five minutes a day for a week and your rue<\/em> will stop rolling away like a roue<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Round your lips, say \u201cee\u201d, and stop asking for directions to the wheel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"atk_mot":"rue \/ roue","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pronunciation"],"yoast_head":"\nThe French U, finally: rue vs. roue - Fluenchy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fluenchy.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/01\/the-french-u-rue-vs-roue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The French U, finally: rue vs. roue - Fluenchy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Round your lips, say \u201cee\u201d, and stop asking for directions to the wheel.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fluenchy.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/01\/the-french-u-rue-vs-roue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fluenchy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-01T08:57:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"martin_bcn_79\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"martin_bcn_79\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fluenchy.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/01\\\/the-french-u-rue-vs-roue\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fluenchy.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/01\\\/the-french-u-rue-vs-roue\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"martin_bcn_79\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fluenchy.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c76efd892d1fd22a300adeec2e942f90\"},\"headline\":\"The French U, finally: rue vs. roue\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-01T08:57:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fluenchy.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/01\\\/the-french-u-rue-vs-roue\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":357,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fluenchy.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Pronunciation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fluenchy.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/01\\\/the-french-u-rue-vs-roue\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fluenchy.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/01\\\/the-french-u-rue-vs-roue\\\/\",\"name\":\"The French U, finally: rue vs. roue - 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