A2B1 For French speakers

The Silent H Problem: How French Speakers Drop and Add H in English

By Philip Simon · · Updated 26 June 2026

In French, the letter h is mute. You write 'hôtel', 'heure', 'homme', and you say none of those h's. That is fine in French. The problem is that English actually uses /h/ as a real sound, and your French ear has spent its whole life trained to ignore it. So two things happen at once. First, you drop the English h that should be there: 'hold' comes out as 'old', 'heat' as 'eat', 'happy' as 'appy'. Second, you over-correct and add an h where there is none: 'I eat' becomes 'hi heat', 'on the air' becomes 'on the hair'. Linguists call this the drop-and-intrude pattern, and it is very French. A German learner does not do this, because German h is pronounced. This guide shows you exactly where your French puts the h in the wrong place and how to retrain your mouth.

  1. Accept that English /h/ is a breath, not a letter

    In French, h is decoration. You see it, you ignore it. In English, /h/ is a real puff of air from the throat, like fogging a window. Put your hand in front of your mouth and say 'house'. You should feel warm air on the h. If you feel nothing, you just said the French 'ouse'.

    Think of the breath a French person makes when sighing 'haaa' in relief. That breath IS the English h.

  2. Hunt down your dropped h's

    French speakers delete the h at the start of common English words because their instinct says the letter is silent. 'Hold' becomes 'old', 'hill' becomes 'ill', 'heart' becomes 'art', 'house' becomes 'ouse'. These pairs are real English words, so dropping the h changes your meaning completely. Read this list out loud with the breath: hold, hill, heart, house, happy, hungry, home.

    Make minimal pairs your checklist: hold/old, hi/eye, hair/air, heat/eat, hill/ill, hand/and.

  3. Catch the intrusive h you add for safety

    Because you know you tend to drop h's, your French brain over-corrects and sticks an h onto words that begin with a vowel. 'I eat an apple' becomes 'Hi heat han happle'. 'On the air' becomes 'on the hair'. This intrusion is specific to French, where the spelling never tells you when h is sounded, so you guess and guess wrong. Capliez (2023) documented exactly this elision and intrusion in French learners of English.

    If a word starts with a vowel sound, start it soft and open. 'Apple' begins like the 'a' in your French 'à', with no breath at all.

  4. Drill the contrast pairs side by side

    The cure for the French drop-and-intrude is to practise both errors together, because they are two faces of the same habit. Say slowly: 'I eat' (no h) versus 'I heat' (with h). 'Old hold', 'eat heat', 'air hair', 'art heart'. When you can flip the h on and off on purpose, you control it. When it leaks out by accident, your French is still driving.

    Record yourself on your phone. French ears do not hear their own dropped or added h, so you must check with your eyes on the playback.

  5. Watch the French 'h aspiré' carrying over

    French has its own h trick, the 'h aspiré', as in 'le haricot' where you do NOT make liaison. But that is about blocking liaison, not making a sound, so it does not help you produce English /h/. Do not assume your French h knowledge transfers. The only French habit you can reuse is the breath in 'hop là' or a tired 'ho'. Everything else from French spelling will mislead you.

    Forget the silent 'h' of 'homme' and 'heure'. They taught you the wrong reflex for English.

  6. Slow down on h-heavy phrases

    Fast speech is where French speakers lose the h completely. Practise full sentences at half speed: 'He has a huge house here.' That is five h's in a row and a French mouth wants to drop all of them. Then build to normal speed only when every breath is in place. 'How are you?' must start with a real puff, or it becomes 'Ow are you?'

    Tap your hand on the table on every h. The physical beat stops your French rhythm from swallowing the sound.

Common questions

Why do I drop the h in English words like 'house'?

Because in French the letter h is mute. Your reading reflex tells you to skip it, so 'house' becomes 'ouse'. English /h/ is a real breath sound, so you have to consciously add the puff of air back.

Why do I add an h to words that start with a vowel?

This is over-correction. French spelling never tells you when h is pronounced, so once you know English has the sound, you start inserting it everywhere, even on 'eat' and 'apple'. The fix is to start vowel words with a soft open mouth and no breath.

Is the French 'h aspiré' the same as English /h/?

No. The French h aspiré, as in 'le haricot', only blocks liaison. It makes no sound. English /h/ is an actual breathy consonant, so your French h habits will not help you here.

How do I hear if I am dropping or adding h?

Record yourself, because French ears do not notice their own h errors. Listen back and check words like 'hold', 'eat', and 'air' against the on/off pairs hold/old, heat/eat, hair/air.

0

Sources

  1. Realisation, elision and intrusion of /h/ in French learners of English, Espaces Linguistiques, no. 5 (Capliez, M., 2023).

Want this fixed in your own English?

Phil coaches french speakers for interviews and business English, your specific mistakes, not generic lessons.

Book a lesson with Phil