What is the rule when pronouncing words that start with G?

Question

I read a lot of French and constantly find myself not knowing how to pronounce words that start with G, e.g.:- *gérer*- *gants*That is, when is it a hard G as in *girl*, and when is it a soft G (something like *jerry*)?Is there a simple rule I can follow to know how to pronounce French words that start with G?

Answer 1

the G in French is hard when it is followed by O, A and U. It is soft when followed by the E and I. Evidence of this is in words like garçon, anguille, goût.....and in the conjugation of manger you must add an E back in before the conjugation for nous to avoid that hard G sound.

Of course, there may be exceptions, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Answer 2

I'm afraid there' are no simple rules for determining which French words begin with a hard or soft "G". It's one of those things that takes time to learn with continued exposure to and speaking the language. An analogy I can think of for people learning to speak English is how to pronounce words that contain the letter group "ough." An ESL student might ask is there a rule to help me know how to pronounce each of the following words:

Through

Tough

Though

Ought

Plough

Cough

I have never heard or seen a rule that can help an ESL student know how to pronounce words containing "ough." The hard or soft "G" in French would fall into this category.

If you ever want to know how to pronounce a word in French, please get back to me!

Answer 3

The simple rule is that the G is soft before E, I, or Y, and it is hard before A, O, U, or a consonant (so, basically every other letter). This is true both at the beginning and in the middle of words, with the exception of some specific sounds made with n (gn makes a ɲ (ny) sound, like the English onion)

These are the words I pronounce in this video:

Soft G in front of E, I, Y

Gentil, géo, génial

Gigantesque, gilet, girafe

Gymnaste, gypse

Hard G in front of A, O, U, or consonant

Gagner, gare

Gouvernement, goute, gomme

Guérir, guider, guerre

Grande, glisser, ghetto

Manger, mangeons