Students of French are usually baffled by accents. There are just so many of them (unlike in Spanish) and they point in all sorts of different directions. How can any one remember which ones to stick where?

You could always guess. Every time you write a composition in French, you could just scatter a load of accents across the page and hope that some of them are right.

Or you could digest the few following tips. It won't guarantee a perfect understanding or a sure-fire instinct of when to use them. (A glance at a French teenager's personal web page will tell you that such things take a while to acquire.) But if you understand the purpose of each accent, you'll be well on the way. You'll also know where not to stick an accent, as well as how to pronounce French words.

Only the circumflex (^) can be used on any vowel. The other ones are more restricted, as the guide shows. The guide also shows what the accent achieves. (Note: the English words included as pronunciation guides are very approximate.)

  l'accent aigu
(acute accent)
used on
é
 CHANGES PRONUNCIATION
A neutral e, as in cheveux [*] (or in Eng. between) becomes
a closed e, as in préféré [e] (or as in Eng. eight)

 

  l'accent circonflexe
(circumflex)
used on
â
 CHANGES PRONUNCIATION
Makes the a sound more open (makes it sound longer)
e.g.:  ami [a], compared with  
        âme [*]

ê

 CHANGES PRONUNCIATION
Turns a neutral e, as in cheveux [*] (or in Eng. between) into
an open e, as in être [*] (or in Eng. echo) (like è)
î
 GRATUITOUS
ô
 CHANGES PRONUNCIATION
Turns an open o, as in bol [*] (or in Eng. ball) into
a closed o, as in contrôle [o] (or in Eng. toll)
û
 CHANGES MEANING (no change in pronunciation)
Distinguishes identical-looking words in written French:
e.g.: du ('from'/'some'), compared with
       dû (past participle of 'devoir')
  The acute accent (´) and the circumflex (^) are both commonly a sign of a letter (often an 's') that has dropped out of the word, but which remains in the English equivalent. You can work out the meanings of unfamiliar words this way. Try replacing the accented letter with an 's' in the following words, for example:
école
épice
état
or inserting an 's' into the following:
château
bête
hôte
(This is useful for deciphering reading passages.)

 

  l'accent grave
(grave accent)
used on
à
 CHANGES MEANING (no change in pronunciation)
Distinguishes identical-looking words in written French:
e.g.: a (present tense of 'avoir'), compared with
       à (preposition)
è
 CHANGES PRONUNCIATION
Turns a neutral e, as in cheveux [*] (or in Eng. between) into an open e, as in pièce [*] (or in Eng. echo) (like ê)
ù
 CHANGES MEANING (no change in pronunciation)
Distinguishes identical-looking words in written French:
e.g.: ou ('or'), compared with
       où ('where')

  la cédille
(cedilla)
used on
ç
(before a, o, u only)
 CHANGES PRONUNCIATION
Softens a c so that it is pronounced like ss [s] instead of k [k] e.g.: ça [sa], compared with
       caca [kaka]
  Note: the letter c is always already soft before e and i (centre, cinéma), so there is never a cedilla before these.

  le tréma
(dierisis)
used on
ë ï ü
 CHANGES PRONUNCIATION
Breaks up a diphthong (two vowels pronounced as one sound) into two separate sounds
e.g.: naïf (naa-eeff), compared with
       naissance (neh-ssance)

In fact, it should be noted that this guide is not foolproof. The French language (and pronunciation) have changed much since accents were first created (several centuries ago), and the rules about accents haven't kept up.

Some distinctions in the language (such as the difference in pronunciation between an î and an i) dropped out some time ago, while others (such as the difference between an â and an a) are on their way out.

A few years ago a law was passed abolishing 'useless' circumflexes, those that neither change pronunciation nor mark a difference in meaning, but the new rules have mostly been ignored.