Sing along: Three little cats in French

Three little cats (Trois petits chats) is a traditional French song that is usually sung in pairs in the playground.

You can practise your French pronunciation with this fun song:

Did you notice anything unusual about this song?

The song is made up of random objects connected by similar sounds. The last syllable of the last word in each verse sounds like the first syllable of the next.

The song doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it helps with the pronunciation of different sounds in French.

Phonemes are the different sounds that make up a language. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound.

There are ten key French phonemes in this song. Try practising them out loud.

il and ill after a vowel

These letters make the English y sound.

chapeau de paille – straw hat

paille – straw

paillasson – doormat

om, on

These sounds are called nasal sounds as you say them through your nose. If a vowel is followed by m or n in French, then it becomes nasal and you don’t say the m or the n.

Put your mouth in the position to say o as in the French word orange and then allow the air to come down your nose.

paillasson – doormat

u, û

This letter makes a sound not found in English. Form your lips as though you are going to whistle, then say the sound for the letters ee in English.

somnambule – sleepwalker

bulletin – report

in, im

in is a nasal sound.

It sounds more like the English an in ran.

Put your mouth in the position to say an, then allow the air to come down your nose.

bulletin – report

tintamarre – racket, din

r, rr

This letter makes a sound which is not in the English language. It sounds as if you are gargling water.

tintamarre – racket, din

mare – pool

ou, oû, où

These letters make a sound not found in English. Purse your lips tightly like a chimpanzee to say this sound.

boue – mud

bout – end

e before two consonants

This sounds like the e in the English word egg.

ficelle – string

selle – saddle

ch

In French ch sounds like the English for sh.

selle de cheval – horse saddle

chapeau de paille – straw hat

eu, œ, œu

These letters make a sound not found in English.

Imagine you have seen something unpleasant, open your mouth a little and sound disgusted.

Terre de Feu – Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire)

feu de bois – wood fire

oi, oî

To make the sound for these letters, say an English w and a sound as in apple to make wa.

bois ton lait – drink your milk

trois petits chats – three little cats

Did you know?

In France, this song is usually sang as a hand-clapping song in the playground.

Why not try saying the rhyme and clapping along at the same time in pairs?