Circumflex in French
Okay kiddo, have you ever seen the little hat-looking symbol on some French words? That's called a circumflex! It's a way to change how a word is pronounced and sometimes changes the meaning of the word too.
For example, the word "être" (to be) without a circumflex is pronounced "ehtr" (like "air" but without the "ah" sound at the beginning). But if we add a circumflex to the "e" like this "ê", it changes to "et-ra" (the "a" is pronounced like "ah" in "father").
Another example is the word "mûr" (ripe) without a circumflex is pronounced "mur" (like "moor" but without the "ah" sound at the beginning), but with a circumflex it becomes "muur" (with a longer "oo" sound) and it means "wall" instead of "ripe".
So you see, the circumflex can be a little tricky but it's just a way to make the French language more fun and interesting!
For example, the word "être" (to be) without a circumflex is pronounced "ehtr" (like "air" but without the "ah" sound at the beginning). But if we add a circumflex to the "e" like this "ê", it changes to "et-ra" (the "a" is pronounced like "ah" in "father").
Another example is the word "mûr" (ripe) without a circumflex is pronounced "mur" (like "moor" but without the "ah" sound at the beginning), but with a circumflex it becomes "muur" (with a longer "oo" sound) and it means "wall" instead of "ripe".
So you see, the circumflex can be a little tricky but it's just a way to make the French language more fun and interesting!