paix / pain: the nasal vowel in pain
CEFR A1
paix
/pɛ/
peace
pain
/pɛ̃/
bread
What tells the two sounds apart
- /ɛ/Open oral vowel without deliberate nasal airflow.
- /ɛ̃/Nasal vowel; do not close with the tongue to make n.
Why it is hard
The letters ain do not have the sound they have in English pain. French pain has one nasal vowel, without a separate final n; alternate it with oral paix.
Le pain est dans ma main.
To practise
- main/mɛ̃/hand
- bain/bɛ̃/bath
- lait/lɛ/milk
- mais/mɛ/but