Liaisons in French is what makes it so difficult to understand for a foreigner and make him doubt about his listening skills in French. Liaison are complicated because there are several rules and exceptions. You will find here a recap of what you must remember to be right most of the time!

Liaisons

First, there are three types of liaisons:

• Compulsory ones.
• Forbidden ones.
• Optional ones.

The most common liaisons are :

Rate in use	Liaison type	Example	can be written
50%	[z]	Elles arrivent. Tu prends deux œufs ? Achetez-en deux.	s as in ils ont x as in deux enfants z as in allez-y
49%	[n]	Un enfant sage. J’en appelle à votre bon sens. On a dit bonjour.	n as in on allait
Less than 1%	[t]	Un petit appartement. Quand il a plu, la route est glissante. Prend-il de la viande ?	d as in quand ils sont partis t as in ont-ils trouvé ?
Less than 1%	[p]	Vous êtes trop aimable.	p written p as in trop aimable
Less than 1%	[r]	Il habite au dernier étage.	r written r as in dernier étage.

Because you are smart forget the optional, focus on forbidden liaison and compulsory liaison.

-rules reminder:

Required	Examples	Forbidden	Example
After pronouns	Vous_avez	Full names	Robert a 15 ans.
Numbers and nouns	Deux_amis	After et	Avant et après
One syllable preposition	Chez_eux	Before Onze et oui	Il y avait onze personnes Il a dit oui
After determiners	Mon_ami	Before aspirated H	En haut
After proceeding adjectives	Un grand_arbre	After plural and singular nouns	La maison est jolie
After some one syllable adverbs	De plus_en plus	Before de letter a	Comment est-elle?