LVSue

Rex, "e muet" has nothing to do with it. The difference between "neiges éternelles" and "tantes aiment" is grammatical (noun/adj; noun/verb). And if you judge by my example, there would be liaison in both in poetic reading. Yet "rules" say no liaison in either case in normal speech because there is no liaison after an "important" word or phrase. (strong word, stressed word)

ckenb

Jahoulih,

The "rule" about liaisons with the word 'et' means that you never ever pronounce the T of 'et'. You can and do sometimes make the liason with the plural S when it precedes the word 'et'. Mostly in formal styles like poetry, though.

Rex, you can make the liaison of a plural noun to an adjective that follows, as in "les neiges éternelles". But not of a plural noun followed by a verb. As you know, most people are not at all conscious of such rules, and certainly couldn't verbalize them. They just know them intuitively.

A lot of French people make "mistakes" when it comes to liaisons. There's a chef on the Cuisine TV channel here who often says something is "trop-z-élevé", for example, not pronouncing the P of 'trop' but sticking in a Z sound.

jahoulih

Ken, that website also indicates that there's no liaison between "et" or "ou" and the immediately preceding word:

avec les conjonctions " et " et " ou " : " du pain # et # un bon fromage ", " du pain # ou un croissant "

But I think you're right that this rule is not as hard and fast as the rule against liaison of "et" with the following word.

ckenb

Yes, but with those examples (du pain | et | un bon fromage) the "rule" about never making a liaison by pronouncing the last letter of a singular nouns kicks in.

You can make the liaison using the final S of a plural noun though. It's done in formal language, including verse.

Marie007

To Ken,

<<"trop-z-élevé>>

Quelle horreur, lol ! Qui est ce chef ?

To Rex :

LVSue gave you the answer but I can't imagine anybody saying "les tantes-z-aiment"...

<<although... confession time... it was 35 years ago now!)>>

Chut ! Fallait pas le dire ! Cordialement. Marie

lobo_mau

The ultimate in text to speech:
http://vhost.oddcast.com/vhost_minis...s_example.html

The girl is very knowledgeable and speaks several languages and different accents.

Turn on the sound and take care about what you write in the text box.

Have fun

ckenb

The chef I'm talking about is named Eric Léautey. He does a lot of shows on Cuisine TV, which I get as part of my CanalSatellite package.

Marie007

Merci pour la précision, Ken ! Je vais aller dormir, il est tard Marie