# Double letter endings in French **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546 "2025-01-28T19:40:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/1 "2025-01-28T19:40:09Z")
The French language is notable for its dependence on whether certain final letters in words are part of the pronunciation. I was taught the mnemonic CaReFuL for the four consonants that always had to be pronounced. That was a long time ago. I found myself wondering if French had any words ending in double letters, presumably loan words, and if so how they were treated. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/2 "2025-01-28T19:44:46Z")
I don’t speak French but I did just try a few words in the Google Translation search and the word Stress seems to be the same in both languages. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/3 "2025-01-28T20:15:50Z")
It’s probably not what you’re thinking of (because it seems you mean double consonants), but plenty of French words end in _-ée_. There’s even one with a triple e: _créée_, a feminine-gender version of the past participle of the verb “to create”. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/4 "2025-01-28T21:01:35Z")
“Watt” (as in the unit of electrical power) is the same word in English and French. ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/5 "2025-01-28T21:17:45Z")
Certain Arabic words like _hajj_. Also _football_ and probably some other -ball games. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/6 "2025-01-28T21:24:33Z")
How are stress and watt and football pronounced? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/7 "2025-01-28T21:50:41Z")
AFAIK, “watt” is pronounced the same. “Putt” also appears to be the same word in both languages, but I have no clue how the French would pronounce that “u” sound. > [@kk\_fusion](#): > > Certain Arabic words like _hajj_ And _djinn_. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/8 "2025-01-28T22:46:02Z")
Excluding -ee, I found a number of words borrowed from English, some of which have been mentioned above. Those that fit the bill including the word bill itself (mostly Quebec, in the sense of an invoice to pay), boss, basketball, bull (meaning “bulldozer”), business, express, football, hall, jazz, pull (meaning “pullover sweater”), and stress. For the most part, they’re not pronounced exactly the same as their English equivalents, but as near as you can reasonably expect. As far as I can tell, none of the double final consonants are silent in French. In addition to watt, there is at least one other international unit that fits the bill: maxwell. I couldn’t track down the pronunciation in French, but I wouldn’t expect the -ll to be silent. There is one word derived from Alsatian German I found that fits the bill: schlass (meaning “drunk” or “tired”). The final -ss is not silent. There is another word schlass, spelled and pronounced the same, but derived from the English word slash; it’s a slang word for a knife. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/9 "2025-01-28T22:49:46Z")
Thanks all for the information. My guess would have been that double consonants would be an exception to the rule, so I’m glad to see that confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/10 "2025-01-28T22:51:34Z")
Another loanword in French with a double consonant at the end is kaputt. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/11 "2025-01-29T00:30:44Z")
I’m not going to check all their pronunciations, but I found bunch more using a longer word list than the one I used earlier: aa, antistress, appenzell, atoll, baseball, bicross, bill, birr, bizness, blaff, bluff, boss, boycott, brinell, brrr, bull, business, call, chafii, chott, criss, croskill, cross, cyclocross, djamaa, djemaa, djinn, drill, edelweiss, express, finn, fitness, fizz, football, full, gauss, gigawatt, glass, gneiss, graff, grill, grrr, guguss, guss, hall, hammerless, handball, hectowatt, igloo, immelmann, impresarii, jass, jazz, judd, kilowatt, krill, kriss, landammann, loess, mandrill, markkaa, mastiff, maxwell, megawatt, mess, miss, mistress, motoball, motocross, nell, off, pff, pitbull, pschitt, psitt, pull, putt, riff, riss, rufiyaa, scenarii, schlamm, schlass, schnouff, schuss, scull, sensass, shrapnell, skiff, sniff, softball, speiss, staff, stamm, stemm, stewardess, strass, stress, tarantass, tell, terawatt, topless, torball, torii, torr, toss, troll, tubeless, twill, velocross, watt, yass, zoo ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/12 "2025-01-29T01:56:39Z")
Interesting that such a large percentage come from English. There’s a smattering from German, apparently, and a small number from other languages. How many of these have been approved by the Académie Française and how many are slang or street terms they would spit - or maybe pschitt - on? ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/13 "2025-01-29T07:44:23Z")
Does épée (a type of sword, used in fencing) count? It is French, but the é acute may matter. ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/14 "2025-01-29T09:29:18Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > aa, antistress, appenzell, atoll, baseball, bicross, bill, birr, bizness, blaff, bluff, boss, boycott, brinell, brrr, bull, business, call, chafii, chott, criss, croskill, cross, cyclocross, djamaa, djemaa, djinn, drill, edelweiss, express, finn, fitness, fizz, football, full, gauss, gigawatt, glass, gneiss, graff, grill, grrr, guguss, guss, hall, hammerless, handball, hectowatt, igloo, immelmann, impresarii, jass, jazz, judd, kilowatt, krill, kriss, landammann, loess, mandrill, markkaa, mastiff, maxwell, megawatt, mess, miss, mistress, motoball, motocross, nell, off, pff, pitbull, pschitt, psitt, pull, putt, riff, riss, rufiyaa, scenarii, schlamm, schlass, schnouff, schuss, scull, sensass, shrapnell, skiff, sniff, softball, speiss, staff, stamm, stemm, stewardess, strass, stress, tarantass, tell, terawatt, topless, torball, torii, torr, toss, troll, tubeless, twill, velocross, watt, yass, zoo I’ve skimmed over the list and it seems that 1. they’re all borrowings ; 2. the final double letters are always pronounced. And I have no idea what at least 25% of those words mean… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/15 "2025-01-29T09:33:17Z")
Then there was Mistinguett, who dropped the final -e from her stage name because she thought it had more pizzaz that way. ---
**Author:** ![FrenchDunadan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frenchdunadan/32/5449_2.png) [@FrenchDunadan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrenchDunadan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/16 "2025-01-29T15:13:20Z")
> [@Moonrise](#): > > And I have no idea what at least 25% of those words mean… Me neither ! the only double final letter that remains silent is (IMHO) -ée. Which are the feminine form of an adjective ending in -é (like in "daté/datée) . The pronunciation is identical, only the written form differ. “Une épée” comes from the ancient French “espee”. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/17 "2025-01-29T15:28:12Z")
Looking at it, a good part of those words are used only in canadian-french and not in France. Lots of loaned words from other languages too. Personally, there are less than 20 words on that list that I would commonly use in french (from France). And, like, guguss and guss aren’t used in France, it’s written “gugusse” and “gus”. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/18 "2025-01-29T15:41:06Z")
The borrowings from English are pronounced roughly as in English, except that the final syllable is usually stressed and the vowels aren’t quite the same. One form of the verb créer, to create, is créée, which ends in a triple letter combo. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/19 "2025-01-29T15:49:59Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > One form of the verb créer, to create, is créée, which ends in a triple letter combo. Psst…third post. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2025, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546/20 "2025-01-29T15:52:11Z")
Oops, I have been _ninjaé_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/double-letter-endings-in-french/1013546.md?page=2)