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When and why do we say c'est la sardine qui a bouché le port de Marseille?
Marseille, a ship, a very big sardine, and a stereotype
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Hungry, peckish, stuffed: 11 French phrases to do with food and eating
These phrases help to talk about one of the most important subjects in France - food
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Rugby vocabulary to know if watching the Six Nations in France
From un tampon to une cathédrale, understand the meaning of key French rugby terms
Connexion Tip: The importance of the curl
I have been told that you should not forget the curl on the C in the word français, because without it it would be said as ‘fronkay’ – why is that?
The cedilla (la cédille) softens the sound of a C before all of the vowels apart from I and E, where it is unnecessary; otherwise it has the hard sound, as in ‘cat’. So, if you are writing correctly you need it for words like leçon (lesson), façade or déçu (disappointed), but not in placement or précis. Its name is from Spanish meaning ‘little Z’.
