3 Vowel Sounds II 4 Nasal Vowels 5 Accents 6 Consonants 7 Final Consonants 8 Liaison printable version fff Liaison The letters s, x, z, t, d, n and m , normally silent when at the end of a word, are often pronounced when the next word begins with a vowel. As already mentioned, h is silent. The words beginning with h that are of latin origin act as if they begin with a vowel and liaison occurs. When liaison occurs with the letters n and m , they are pronounced and the vowel is denazalised. With elision the opposite of liaison occurs - sounds normally pronounced become silent.
French orthography marks elaision by replacing the vowel with an apostrophe and combining the words.
The word si is elided only before the masculine pronouns il and ils. The word quelque is elided only before un .