The French alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. It uses the standard 26 letters:
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - X - W - Y - Z
A special combination is almost always ligatured:
However writing 'oe' instead of a ligatured 'œ' does not present comprehension problems: few pair of words, if any, differ only by such a ligature; and it was customary with old typewriters and old computers to write 'oe' instead of the often inexistent 'œ' character. A few words like 'moelleux' have 'oe' written without a ligature.
Notes:
- 'W' is rarely used except in loanwords or regional words, 'Ou' is used to represent the /w/ sound;
- vowels are A, E, I, O, U, sometimes Y;
- semi-vowels are Y, rarely W (except regionally, for instance in Belgium);
- used diacritic marks are acute (´), grave (`), circumflex (^), diaeresis (¨), and the cedilla. The most frequent combinations are: à é è ù ç â ê î ô û ë ï ü. The diacritics have no impact on alphabetical order.
See also
