pronunciation

I feel a bit of a fool having to ask this: could anyone tell me how to pronunce %26#39;Invalides%26#39;.

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aaaan--vah--leed

The %26quot;a%26quot; vowel of the first syllable is pronounced like that in %26quot;ant%26quot;. The accent is on the first syllable.

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%26quot;accent is on the first syllable%26quot;

???? - like when you say %26quot;invalid%26quot; in English ??

I always thought the French %26quot;invalides%26quot; was to be with the accent on the %26quot;leeed%26quot;-syllable.

Well, they say you learn as long as you live..... it has to be tested next time in aris.

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aris = Paris

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and I thought it was ahn-vah-leed. I sure am glad I read this fourm..learn something new everyday!

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I don%26#39;t think you emphasize any of the syllables in French, they are supposed to be pronunced without emphasize. This is why the concept of emphasizing on one syllable when pronouncing English is a strange concept for many French.

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Yes, Raphy, you%26#39;re right. Now, if we can just get everyone to learn the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) notating system, we%26#39;ll really be in business. Of course, we%26#39;d have to get TripAdvisor to accept all the special characters in the postings.

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While we are on the subject is it

Pear-iss

or

Pah-ree

our cab driver kept pronouncing the %26quot;S%26quot; but I didn%26#39;t know if he was proniuncing it that way for our benefit, or if that is the way the Parisians pronounce it...

-cris

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%26quot;How ya gonna keep %26#39;em down on the farm, after they%26#39;ve seen Paree?%26quot;

Yep, it%26#39;s Paree, all right. Honest!

Perhaps your taxi driver was not French - or was just trying to make sure his English speaking clients knew what he was talking about...