Even though there are no difficulties with the open and the closed e, we would like to have a look at the graphemes of the closed e, because here we have e,
é.
(The sound of the closed e is like the one in bed.)
Closed e
nez
(nose)
pied
(foot)
poignée
(fist)
messieurs
(gentlemen)
Now the question is why there is sometimes an e and sometimes
é. And to our surprise, there is a system in this as you will see in the following.
1) If the first letter of the word is an é, it is pronounced as closed e.
