How do you pronounce ville (city) and fille (daughter)? In all logic, the pronunciation should be the same, but is it? The French language has its idiosyncrasies that make learning interesting and challenging at times. Words like ville, fille, fil, fils (city, daughter, thread, son) have their own stories to tell. Are you ready?
Words ending in -ille (with a double ll), such as brille (shines) and fille (girl/daughter), follow a specific pronunciation rule. The -ille sound is roughly equivalent to the sound “ee-yuh” in English, as in “giddy-up."
Listen to Sam, who sees the sunny side of life in this video, and pay attention to the way he says brille:
Le soleil brille dehors.
The sun is shining outside.
Caption 17, Extr@ Ep. 9 - Du boulot pour Sam et Nico! - Part 1
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Most words ending in -ille end with same “ee-yuh” sound. Hence, it’s no surprise to hear that brille (shines) rhymes with fille (girl/daughter):
Sa fille lui expliqua et lui demanda conseil.
His daughter explained it to him and sought his counsel.
Caption 42, Contes de fées Le roi grenouille - Part 1
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However, you guessed it, there are exceptions! No need to panic, though, as there are only three: mille, tranquille, ville (thousand, tranquil, city). In these words, the -ille is pronounced differently, like “eel” in English. (Note, however, that the word for "eel," anguille, rhymes with fille!)
Listen to the way mille, tranquille, and ville are pronounced in the following videos:
Notre amour brillera de mille feux
Our love will shine a thousand fires
Caption 10, Alsace 20 Colonel Reyel en session live acoustique!
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L'avantage, c'est qu'on peut s'y promener de façon vraiment tranquille
The advantage is that you can walk here in a really tranquil fashion
Caption 17, Antoine La Butte-aux-Cailles
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Nous sommes maintenant dans la vieille ville de Chartres
We are now in the old town of Chartres
Caption 6, Voyage en France La Ville de Chartres
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If a word ends in -ile, with a single l, this is no longer an issue, as you simply sound the l as you would normally.
Et des automobiles qui se suivent en file et défilent
And of automobiles that follow in line and drive past
Caption 15, Il était une fois: Les découvreurs 9. Galilée - Part 1
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The feminine noun la file (line) has a masculine homophone, le fil (thread/wire), with no e at the end. They both sound the same but mean different things:
la prêtresse grecque qui déroula son fil
the Greek priestess who unravelled her thread
Caption 9, d'Art d'Art "La mélancolie d'une belle journée" - Chirico
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In the plural form, le fil becomes les fils (threads/wires), and they share the same pronunciation since the s in the plural is always silent:
Bon, enfin. -Et les fils?
Well, anyway. -And the wires?
Caption 1, Sophie et Patrice Les lampes de Sophie - Part 2
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So far so good. However, the word fils has another trick up its sleeve! Les fils (threads/wires) could also be les fils (sons). Fortunately, these two words are easy to tell apart as they have a different pronunciation. When talking about les fils (sons), the l is silent while the final s is pronounced.
Il transmit à ses fils tout ce qu'il possédait.
He passed on to his sons everything he possessed.
Caption 5, Contes de fées Le chat botté - Part 1
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Furthermore, le fils (the son) also ends in a sounded s, even though it’s singular:
Il cherche son fils à l'école.
He looks/is looking for his son at school.
Caption 9, Farid et Hiziya Chercher et trouver
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The only way to tell how to pronounce fils—and whether it's referring to threads, wires, or sons—is through context.
Merci mille fois (many thanks) for following le fil (the thread) of this newsletter!
Did you know that the French word for the back of a space is the same as the word for the bottom of a space? The word is le fond, and determining its meaning is a question of perspective:
Et l'on voit encore des vestiges, des traces de cette époque
And you can still see remains, traces from that time,
avec notamment dans le fond, une chapelle pour se recueillir...
with, in particular, in the back, a chapel for meditating...
Captions 36-37, Lionel - Verdun
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L'eau de l'étang était si profonde que
The pond water was so deep that
la princesse ne pouvait pas en voir le fond.
the princess could not see the bottom of it.
Caption 7, Contes de fées - Le roi grenouille
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We can tell what le fond means in each of these examples based on the type of space they're describing. The subject of the first example is the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Verdun. A chapel wouldn't be located on the bottom of a cathedral, but in the back. And in the second example, the princess is looking down into the pond, which means she's trying to see the bottom of it, not the back.
Whether it means "the back" or "the bottom," le fond refers to the depth of a space. But it can also refer to depth in a non-physical, metaphorical sense—even a spiritual one:
"Om", ça signifie le fond cosmique qui est...
"Om" signifies the cosmic depth that is...
le symbole de l'unité dans la diversité.
the symbol of unity in diversity.
Caption 37, Paix et partage - Journée Internationale du yoga
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Fond is used in quite a few expressions, such as dans le fond and au fond, both meaning "basically":
Dans le fond, c'est des grosses feuilles de betterave.
Basically, they're big beet leaves.
Caption 13, Farmer François - Le stand de légumes
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Parce que au fond, le fait de payer un stand,
Because basically, the act of paying for a booth,
ça sert aussi, euh, d'abord à se rencontrer...
that also helps, uh, first of all to meet each other...
Captions 65-66, Actu Vingtième - Le vide-grenier
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Don't confuse au fond with à fond, which means "totally":
Ah, que griller des feux. -Griller des verts, donc. -À fond.
Oh, just running lights. -Running green lights, then. -Totally.
Caption 49, Cap 24 - Les cyclistes parisiens sont-ils indisciplinés ?
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There's also de fond, an adjective phrase meaning "fundamental":
Mais pour une baisse en rayon,
But for a reduction on store shelves,
la prochaine étape devrait être une réforme de fond.
the next step should be a fundamental reform.
Caption 23, Le Journal - Contrôle des prix alimentaires
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If you'd like to explore the many expressions using this word de fond en comble (from top to bottom), we recommend this WordReference entry.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, please write to us at newsletter@yabla.com or tweet us @yabla.
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