Y vs Ygreck in impératif

Marilyn C.Kwiziq community member

Y vs Ygreck in impératif

In the imperative, what is the rule for pronouncing the letter vs the letter sound ? I’ve heard both and don’t understand the difference. 

Asked 1 year ago
CécileNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Hi Marilyn,

I agree with Maarten that 'i grec' is only said for the letter -y when chanting the alphabet or spelling out a word.

In -

Allez-y ! Go!

the -y is pronounced -i 

Hope this helps!

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Marilyn, I am not sure I understand your question, but you would never pronounce the name of the letter ‘y’, when you mean the pronoun ‘y’ (pronounced similarly to French ‘i’ in words). 

You pronounce the letter only when doing the alphabet, or spelling words etc

If you have heard someone pronounce ‘igrec’ for the pronoun, it was wrong. 

Listen to the pronunciation of ‘ on y va’ in attached lesson, and you will hear the correct pronunciation.

 On can mean either we/one/people (French Subject Pronouns)

Y vs Ygreck in impératif

In the imperative, what is the rule for pronouncing the letter vs the letter sound ? I’ve heard both and don’t understand the difference. 

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