aigu

Everyday

(French) Means «sharp» or «high»; in English it is used in «accent aigu», the acute accent, the little mark sloping up to the right on the letter é. It is not an English word. tree →

In the lessons

In French lessons, the accent aigu is put on e (é) to show it sounds like «ay», as in «café» and «été». To an English ear it sounds like «ay-GOO» (the French u is said with rounded lips). Other French accents are grave (è) and circonflexe (ê).

Examples

• The word «café» has an accent aigu on the e. tree →
• Put an accent aigu on the e in «école». tree →
• An accent aigu slopes up to the right. tree →
• «Été» has two accents aigus. tree →
• The teacher drew an é with an accent aigu. tree →
• Accent aigu makes the e sound like «ay». tree →

Note

French word, not English. In English the mark is called the «acute accent». The French plural is «aigus». Do not confuse it with the grave accent, which slopes the other way (è).