French (France) minimal pairs

Minimal pairs: tu and tout

/y/vs/u/

Hard for speakers of English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and Arabic, whose languages have no French u: it comes out as “oo”, which is the French ou.

The difference. For ou the tongue is pulled back, as in “food”; for u the tongue stays forward, pressed behind the lower teeth as for “ee”, and only the lips round.

Practice all pairs

12 word pairs

Say both words in each pair. If Tono colors one of them amber or red, that is the sound to work on.

tu tout Practice
rue roue Practice
dessus dessous Practice
vu vous Practice
lu loup Practice
su sous Practice
nu nous Practice
pur pour Practice
russe rousse Practice
sur sourd Practice
bu bout Practice
cure cour Practice

Contrast sentences

Both sounds in one sentence: the real test of whether you can switch between them.

Tu as tout lu ? Practice
La roue a roulé dans la rue. Practice
C’est dessus ou dessous ? Practice
Vous l’avez vu ? Practice

How to practice minimal pairs

Listen to both words in Tono first, one after the other, until you can hear the difference.
Say the pair slowly and exaggerate the difference. Check that both words come back green.
Say the contrast sentences at normal speed. That is where the mix-up usually comes back.

Step-by-step help with these sounds: How to pronounce French U /y/ and OU /u/

More minimal pairs

English minimal pairs Spanish minimal pairs German minimal pairs