In French, there are different ways to write the « o » sound. Here they are :
- « o » may be written « au » like in Australie, au bord de l’eau, auriculaire, maux, pauvre, restaurant, automatique
Australie : Australia, au bord de l’eau : at the water’s edge, auriculaire : little finger, maux : pains, pauvre : poor, restaurant : restaurant, automatique : automatic
- It may be written « eau » like in bateau, eau, beau, seau, veau, manteau
bateau : boat, eau : water, beau : beautiful, seau : bucket, veau : calf, manteau : coat
- And it may be written « o » like in horizon, moto, horrible, photo, paquebot
horizon : horizon, moto : motorbike, horrible : horrible, photo : photo, paquebot : ocean liner
Sometimes, it can have what we call « un accent circonflexe » like in hôpital. Why ? usually because it is the lost mark of a « s » that has disappeared.
Hôpital comes from the word hospital. You find it back in the word « hospitalité »(hospitality).
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