Silent h vs. aspirated h
The h is (almost) never pronounced
In French the letter h is silent. l'hôtel /lɔtɛl/, l'homme /lɔm/, l'heure /lœʁ/. Forget the German breath in Haus or Hotel. English already does this in hour and honest.
But there are two kinds of silent h, and they behave differently:
h muet (mute h): acts like a vowel
Most h words. You get elision and liaison:
| Word | With article | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| hôtel | l'hôtel | les hôtels /lez‿ɔtɛl/ |
| homme | l'homme | les hommes /lez‿ɔm/ |
| heure | l'heure | deux heures /døz‿œʁ/ |
| hôpital | l'hôpital | les hôpitaux |
| habitude | l'habitude | les habitudes |
| histoire | l'histoire | des histoires |
h aspiré (aspirated h): acts like a consonant
Still silent, but it blocks elision and liaison. You hear a tiny pause instead:
| Word | With article | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| héros | le héros | les héros /le eʁo/ |
| hasard | le hasard | par hasard |
| honte | la honte | |
| haut | le haut | en haut /ɑ̃ o/ |
| huit | le huit (mars) | les huit /le ɥit/ |
Why it matters: les héros /le eʁo/ = the heroes, but les zéros /le zeʁo/ = the zeros. With a liaison you would call your heroes zeros. Dictionaries mark aspirated h with an asterisk: *héros.
Many aspirated h words are Germanic or English loans (la haine, la hache, le hall, le hamster, le hockey). There is no fully reliable rule: learn them as you meet them.
un / une before a vowel
The same logic applies to un and une before vowels and mute h:
- un ami /œ̃n‿ami/: the n is carried over, the vowel stays nasal.
- une amie /yn‿ami/: the n simply links, no nasal.
- un homme /œ̃n‿ɔm/, une heure /yn‿œʁ/, un agent /œ̃n‿aʒɑ̃/, une équipe /yn‿ekip/.
- But aspirated h: un héros /œ̃ eʁo/, no link.
Speak un ami as one word: "u-na-mi" with a nasal first vowel.