Bon appétit !

Enjoy your meal!

Breakdown of Bon appétit !

• bon appétit: enjoy your meal

Questions & Answers about Bon appétit !

How do you pronounce Bon appétit !?

A good approximation is boh-nah-pay-TEE.

More precisely in French IPA, it is /bɔ.na.pe.ti/.

A few pronunciation points:

• bon does not sound like English bon in bonnet
• the on in bon is nasal when the word stands alone, but in this phrase it links into the next word
• appétit has the stress pattern of French, which is much flatter than English, with a slight emphasis at the end
• the final t in appétit is silent

So if you want a natural learner-friendly version, boh-nah-pay-tee is a solid start.

Why do I hear an n sound between bon and appétit?

That is because of liaison.

In French, some normally silent final consonants are pronounced when the next word begins with a vowel sound. Since appétit begins with a-, bon links to it:

• bon
  • appétit
• pronounced together as bo-na-pé-ti

This linking is very normal and expected in this expression.

Why is it bon and not bonne?