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French text to speech

French text to speech, judged on reading

A synthetic voice knows how to pronounce words. Reading French asks for something else: deciding how to say a number, an acronym, a date, a place name. If you are buying French audio without speaking French, here is exactly what to listen for.

Try it freeSee the 75 cases

No card required · 327 voices auditioned one by one · 23 reading languages

The six point test

Run it on any tool, ours included. Every one of these is a specific failure you can have confirmed in ten seconds, which is the point: an adjective cannot be checked.

Numbers

Paste a council vote written 23-11. It must be heard as vingt-trois contre onze, never as vingt-trois tiret onze. Then try a percentage with a comma (1,7 %), a date, and a time. French writes decimals with a comma, and an engine trained mostly on English tends to read the comma as a pause.

Acronyms

SNCF is spelled out letter by letter. ONU is said as a word. CNIL is said as a word too. An engine that treats all three the same way is audible within a second to any French speaker, and it is the single fastest test you can run.

Proper nouns

Take a Breton or Basque place name from your own content, plus one surname of an official you quote often. These are where generic engines fail, and where nothing in a demo will warn you, because demos never contain them.

Liaisons

Les anciens élus must flow as one phrase, not three detached words. This is the hardest thing to fake and the easiest to hear: ask any French speaker to listen to a single sentence, and they will tell you in one pass whether the voice is reading or reciting.

Breathing

A full stop is not a comma, and a parenthetical clause is not a sentence. Listen for whether every pause has the same length. Fixed-duration silences are the signature of a voice that gives every punctuation mark the same treatment, and no amount of text preparation upstream will fix that.

The exact word at the exact second

Ask whether the engine returns word level timings. Without them there is no synced highlighting, no click-to-jump, and no way to fix one sentence without paying to resynthesise the whole article. Many engines that sound good cannot do this at all.

Our own scorecard, failures included

We are not asking you to take our word for it. Here is what our reading layer holds today, category by category, and what it misses.

75traps held out of 75

Measured when this page is rendered, on the same cases as our offline test bench. It cannot be a stale figure: the day a rule breaks, the score drops here the same day.

  • Numbers4/4
  • Dates and times7/7
  • Amounts of money5/5
  • Percentages and units6/6
  • Scores and ranges6/6
  • Ordinals6/6
  • Reference numbers4/4
  • Regulatory references6/6
  • Signs and polarity3/3
  • Titles and abbreviations7/7
  • Roads2/2
  • Paths and handles3/3
  • Acronyms4/4
  • Email and domains2/2
  • Texts left untouched10/10

No case is failing today. That does not mean French is solved: the bench holds what we know how to state as a rule. Homographs, for one, are flagged and not corrected.

The full scorecard

All 75 cases, one by one, with the trap each one sets

You do not need French to use this table. For each case: what a journalist writes, what our engine actually says, and the mistake an engine that does not know French makes instead. Take any line to a French speaking colleague and they will confirm or contradict it in one pass.

The example sentences stay in French, because they are the thing being tested. The middle column is computed while this page renders, not copied in: if a rule breaks, this page shows it before a customer reports it.

Numbers

4 / 4
  • What is writtenIls étaient 12 500 dans la rue.
    What is spokenIls étaient douze mille cinq cents dans la rue.
  • What is writtenLe budget atteint 2,5 milliards.
    What is spokenLe budget atteint deux virgule cinq milliards.
  • What is writtenQuatre-vingts places, dont 81 réservées.
    What is spokenQuatre-vingts places, dont quatre-vingt-un réservées.
  • What is writtenLe texte de 1998 fait foi.
    What is spokenLe texte de mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit fait foi.

Dates and times

7 / 7
  • What is writtenLe 15/07/2026 au matin.
    What is spokenLe quinze juillet deux mille vingt-six au matin.
  • What is writtenLe 01/01/2027 à minuit.
    What is spokenLe premier janvier deux mille vingt-sept à minuit.

    The trap«un janvier»: the first of the month is the only day of the month that takes an ordinal.

  • What is writtenRendez-vous à 21h00.
    What is spokenRendez-vous à vingt et une heures.

    The trap«vingt et un h zéro zéro»: the letter spelled out and the zero minutes recited.

  • What is writtenRéunion à 14h30.
    What is spokenRéunion à quatorze heures trente.

    The trap«quatorze h trente», the abbreviation read instead of expanded.

  • What is writtenL'audience est fixée au 4/09.
    What is spokenL'audience est fixée au quatre septembre.

    The trapA date with no year, the normal form in a diary or a court list, read as a fraction.

  • What is writtenOuverture à 9 h 15.
    What is spokenOuverture à neuf heures quinze.

    The trap«neuf h quinze», the same fault with the typographically correct spacing.

  • What is writtenLe train de 8h45.
    What is spokenLe train de huit heures quarante-cinq.

Amounts of money

5 / 5
  • What is writtenUn billet à 150 €.
    What is spokenUn billet à cent cinquante euros.
  • What is writtenUn ticket à 1 €.
    What is spokenUn ticket à un euro.
  • What is writtenUn budget de 1,5 M€.
    What is spokenUn budget de un virgule cinq million d'euros.

    The trap«un virgule cinq M euros», the magnitude abbreviation left exactly as it stands.

  • What is writtenUne amende de 2 Md€.
    What is spokenUne amende de deux milliards d'euros.

    The trap«deux M D euros», the two letters spelled out one after the other.

  • What is writtenUn prix de 12 $.
    What is spokenUn prix de douze dollars.

    The trapThe symbol swallowed, or read before the number as it would be in English.

Percentages and units

6 / 6
  • What is writtenUne hausse de 67,8 %.
    What is spokenUne hausse de soixante-sept virgule huit pour cent.
  • What is writtenUne pointe à 34,8 km/h.
    What is spokenUne pointe à trente-quatre virgule huit kilomètres-heure.
  • What is writtenUn trajet de 12 km.
    What is spokenUn trajet de douze kilomètres.
  • What is writtenUne hausse de 3 °C.
    What is spokenUne hausse de trois degrés.

    The trap«trois degré C»: the symbol read out and the plural agreement missed.

  • What is writtenIl fait 30° à l'ombre.
    What is spokenIl fait trente degrés à l'ombre.
  • What is writtenUne note de 15/20 au bac.
    What is spokenUne note de quinze sur vingt au bac.

    The trapThe one French slash that is said «sur», and the most frequent one in education coverage.

Scores and ranges

6 / 6
  • What is writtenLe match s'achève sur un 3-1 net.
    What is spokenLe match s'achève sur un trois à un net.

    The trap«trois moins un»: the hyphen taken for a minus sign, and the score turns into a subtraction.

  • What is writtenLe règlement 23-11 s'applique.
    What is spokenLe règlement vingt-trois tiret onze s'applique.

    The trapTreated as a sports score, when the surrounding words say it is a reference.

  • What is writtenIl faut compter 2-3 jours.
    What is spokenIl faut compter deux à trois jours.

    The trap«deux moins trois jours»: the range becomes a negative subtraction.

  • What is writtenÉliminé en 1/8e de finale.
    What is spokenÉliminé en huitième de finale.

    The trap«un sur huit e de finale», the round of the competition read as a division.

  • What is writtenÉliminé en 1/4 de finale.
    What is spokenÉliminé en quart de finale.

    The trap«un slash quatre de finale», the slash pronounced.

  • What is writtenUn ratio de 1/3 des voix.
    What is spokenUn ratio de un tiers des voix.

    The trap«un troisième»: a genuine fraction taken for a competition round, for want of reading the context.

Ordinals

6 / 6
  • What is writtenLa 1re chaîne.
    What is spokenLa première chaîne.
  • What is writtenLe 1er tour.
    What is spokenLe premier tour.
  • What is writtenClassé 2e du groupe.
    What is spokenClassé deuxième du groupe.
  • What is writtenAu IIIe millénaire.
    What is spokenAu troisième millénaire.
  • What is writtenLouis XIV a régné.
    What is spokenLouis quatorze a régné.
  • What is writtenLe chapitre IV du tome II.
    What is spokenLe chapitre quatre du tome deux.

Reference numbers

4 / 4
  • What is writtenLe n°10 français.
    What is spokenLe numéro dix français.

    The trap«n degré dix»: the number sign confused with the one for degrees.

  • What is writtenAppelez le 02 99 12 34 56.
    What is spokenAppelez le zéro deux, quatre-vingt-dix-neuf, douze, trente-quatre, cinquante-six.
  • What is writtenSelon l'article L. 123-4 du code.
    What is spokenSelon l'article L cent vingt-trois tiret quatre du code.

    The trap«L point cent vingt-trois moins quatre»: the full stop read out, the hyphen taken for a minus sign.

  • What is writtenLes 3/4 des habitants.
    What is spokenLes trois quarts des habitants.

    The trap«trois sur quatre», the fraction treated as an arithmetic division.

Regulatory references

6 / 6
  • What is writtenLa directive 2019/882 s'applique.
    What is spokenLa directive deux mille dix-neuf, huit cent quatre-vingt-deux s'applique.

    The trap«deux mille dix-neuf slash huit huit deux»: the slash pronounced and the number spelled digit by digit. This is the European Accessibility Act, so it appears in every article on the subject.

  • What is writtenLe règlement (UE) 2016/679 encadre les données.
    What is spokenLe règlement (UE) deux mille seize, six cent soixante-dix-neuf encadre les données.

    The trapThe most-quoted regulation of the decade, read as a date followed by a division.

  • What is writtenLe décret n° 2019-768 du 24 juillet.
    What is spokenLe décret numéro deux mille dix-neuf tiret sept cent soixante-huit du vingt-quatre juillet.

    The trap«deux mille dix-neuf-768»: the year converted, the number left in digits, and the two glued together.

  • What is writtenLa loi n° 2005-102 fixe le cadre.
    What is spokenLa loi numéro deux mille cinq tiret cent deux fixe le cadre.

    The trapThe same fault, on the founding text of French accessibility law.

  • What is writtenLe règlement d'exécution 2021/1232.
    What is spokenLe règlement d'exécution deux mille vingt et un, mille deux cent trente-deux.

    The trapOne word between the trigger and the number is enough to make an over-strict rule lose the thread.

  • What is writtenEn vertu de l'article 222-13 du code pénal.
    What is spokenEn vertu de l'article deux cent vingt-deux tiret treize du code pénal.

    The trapA code reference with no letter in it: neither score, nor date, nor plain number, so left as it stands.

Signs and polarity

3 / 3
  • What is writtenUne température de -5 °C.
    What is spokenUne température de moins cinq degrés.

    The trapThe sign swallowed: a negative temperature becomes a positive one, and nothing in the audio flags it.

  • What is writtenUn déficit de -2,3 %.
    What is spokenUn déficit de moins deux virgule trois pour cent.
  • What is writtenUne baisse de -4 points.
    What is spokenUne baisse de moins quatre points.

Titles and abbreviations

7 / 7
  • What is writtenM. Dupont a répondu à Mme Martin.
    What is spokenMonsieur Dupont a répondu à Madame Martin.

    The trap«m Dupont» or «em Dupont»: the courtesy title spelled out or swallowed.

  • What is writtenLe Dr Durand et le Pr Legrand.
    What is spokenLe docteur Durand et le professeur Legrand.

    The trapTwo titles read as syllables, in a sentence where they carry the authority.

  • What is writtenVoir p. 12, cf. l'annexe.
    What is spokenVoir page douze, voir l'annexe.

    The trap«pé point douze»: the typographic abbreviation recited letter by letter.

  • What is writtenDes vélos, des trottinettes, etc.
    What is spokenDes vélos, des trottinettes, et cetera.

    The trap«èt cé»: the commonest Latin abbreviation in French, read as an acronym.

  • What is writtenM. Deschamps parle.
    What is spokenMonsieur Deschamps parle.

    The trap«em Deschamps», or the full stop taken for the end of the sentence and the name cut off from its title.

  • What is writtenL'expo est ouverte du mar. au dim.
    What is spokenL'expo est ouverte du mardi au dimanche.

    The trapWeekdays abbreviated the way a listings diary writes them, read «mar» and «dim» as syllables.

  • What is writtenUn coût de 1,2 M€ HT.
    What is spokenUn coût de un virgule deux million d'euros hors taxes.

    The trap«ache té»: the tax-status marker spelled out as though it were an acronym.

Roads

2 / 2
  • What is writtenL'A83 est coupée dans les deux sens.
    What is spokenL'a quatre-vingt-trois est coupée dans les deux sens.

    The trap«a quatre-vingt-trois» swallowed or spelled digit by digit, and the name of the road disappears.

  • What is writtenLa D137 rouvre à la circulation.
    What is spokenLa dé cent trente-sept rouvre à la circulation.

    The trapA secondary road read as though it were a product code.

Paths and handles

3 / 3
  • What is writtenRendez-vous sur wedispatch.fr/tarifs.
    What is spokenRendez-vous sur ouidispatch point fr slash tarifs.

    The trapThe silent path: the address is dictated by halves, so a listener cannot write it down.

  • What is writtenSuivez #Rennes2026 sur les réseaux.
    What is spokenSuivez hashtag Rennes deux mille vingt-six sur les réseaux.

    The trapThe hash swallowed and the year glued to the name, so never converted.

  • What is writtenUn débit de 100 Mo/s.
    What is spokenUn débit de cent mégaoctets par seconde.

    The trapThe slash of a compound unit left as it stands once the unit itself has been expanded.

Acronyms

4 / 4
  • What is writtenLa SNCF annonce.
    What is spokenLa Société nationale des chemins de fer français annonce.

    The trap«sancef», an attempt to read as a word an acronym that French spells out.

  • What is writtenL'ARS a publié.
    What is spokenL'Agence régionale de santé a publié.

    The trap«ars» read as an ordinary word, and never expanded for the listener.

  • What is writtenLe CHU de Rennes.
    What is spokenLe centre hospitalier universitaire de Rennes.

    The trap«chu» read as a French past participle.

  • What is writtenLa PLV du magasin.
    What is spokenLa pé elle vé du magasin.

Email and domains

2 / 2
  • What is writtenÉcrivez à contact@fifa.com.
    What is spokenÉcrivez à contact arobase fifa point com.
  • What is writtenRendez-vous sur wedispatch.fr.
    What is spokenRendez-vous sur ouidispatch point fr.

    The trapThe dot taken for the end of a sentence, and the address cut in two.

Texts to leave untouched

10 / 10

These must come out UNCHANGED. They count in the score like every other case, and this is the most neglected half of the subject: a system that only counted the cases to fix would score better by growing more aggressive, and would damage texts that had nothing wrong with them.

  • What is writtenLe rendez-vous de l'été.
    What is spokenLe rendez-vous de l'été.
  • What is writtenCe dossier est complet.
    What is spokenCe dossier est complet.
  • What is writtenM. J. Deschamps a signé.
    What is spokenM. J. Deschamps a signé.
  • What is writtenIl mesure 3 m de haut.
    What is spokenIl mesure trois m de haut.
  • What is writtenFondée av. la guerre.
    What is spokenFondée av. la guerre.
  • What is writtenLa FIFA se réunit.
    What is spokenLa FIFA se réunit.
  • What is writtenC'est LE rendez-vous.
    What is spokenC'est LE rendez-vous.
  • What is writtenLe MIDI de la France.
    What is spokenLe MIDI de la France.
  • What is writtenSection C du règlement.
    What is spokenSection C du règlement.
  • What is writtenJean-Claude V. a parlé.
    What is spokenJean-Claude V. a parlé.

Think a case is missing? Send it to us : it will join the scorecard, and the figure will move in plain sight.

Who ends up here

Buying French audio in an English speaking team

The decision is usually made by people who will never hear the mistake, and lived with by people who hear nothing else.

Bilingual sites and public bodies

Canadian organisations, EU institutions, Belgian and Swiss publishers: the French version of a page is not a nice-to-have, it is often a legal or contractual obligation. Audio that sounds wrong in one language and right in the other is worse than no audio at all.

International media with a French edition

The English desk owns the tooling decision, the French desk lives with it. One player, one configuration, a different voice per language, and the settings do not fork between the two.

Agencies and product teams shipping for a French client

You need the integration to be boring: a WordPress plugin, an API, or a single script tag. And you need the pronunciation of client-specific names to be fixable once, by them, without a ticket to you.

Where we stand

Quality over volume

What we are not trying to do matters as much as the rest, and is better said now than discovered in month three.

We do not sell characters by the kilo

Most tools compare themselves on the price per million characters. That is a useful number for an invoice and a useless one for a reader: nobody listens to a million characters, they listen to one article. What matters is how many people reach the end, and that is what the product measures.

Fixing beats regenerating

One mispronounced name in the middle of an eight minute article should not cost eight minutes of synthesis. The passage is corrected, the rest of the audio does not move.

Corrections accumulate

The pronunciation lexicon, voices per section, voice rules: every correction you make once applies to everything that follows. A tool that remembers nothing makes you start over every week.

Nothing is collected from your listeners

The player sets no cookie and keeps neither IP address nor fingerprint. Plays are counted, people are not tracked. It is a design decision rather than a setting.

What you can do with it

WordPress sites

The audio is built as you publish, with no extra step for the newsroom.

The WordPress plugin →

Accessibility

Synced text, reading controls, compliance: audio opens your content to people who do not read on screen.

Accessibility →

Sites and applications

A single script tag, the API, or an MCP server to drive it from an assistant.

The documentation →

Choosing well before you commit

Seven questions to ask any vendor, ours included, and a trap test text to take with you.

The seven questions →

Frequently asked

What makes French harder than English for a speech engine?

Not the voice, the reading. Before anything is spoken, the text has to be resolved: how a number is said, whether an acronym is spelled or pronounced, where a liaison belongs, how long a pause lasts. English hides more of these decisions than French does, and most engines are trained predominantly on English.

I do not speak French. How do I evaluate this?

Run the six point test above on your own content, then have one French speaking colleague listen to a single paragraph. One pass is enough: the failures listed here are audible immediately to a native ear, which is precisely why we chose them rather than adjectives.

Does it cover Belgian, Swiss and Canadian French?

Yes. The reading rules (numbers, acronyms, punctuation) are the same, and you choose the voice that suits your readership. The pronunciation lexicon lets you impose local usage on top.

Can I try it for free?

Yes. The free account includes a monthly amount of audio with no card required, and the WordPress plugin downloads without even creating an account.

Which other languages are supported?

23 reading languages in all, from Spanish and German to Hindi, Arabic and Japanese, each with native voices. French is still where the reading work went, and we say so plainly rather than claiming every one of them is equally polished.

Where is the data processed?

Text preparation happens in the European Union, and the player keeps nothing about your listeners. The security page describes the full chain, including the parts that are not European today.

Listen before you decide

Voice one of your own articles and judge on that, not on a demo chosen to sound good.

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