ch / tz

Ch and Tz

Level 1

Read ch like the English ch, and read a final tz like s.

How It Works

Two more pairs of letters stand for one sound each.

LettersSounds likeExamples
chthe ch in “church”un chic (a little bit), nuèch (night), lach (milk)
tzan s sound at the end of a wordparlatz (you speak), avètz (you have), anatz (you go)

Ch is the same sound at the start and at the end of a word. A reader of French should not read it as the French ch of chat.

Tz ends the second person plural, the form you use with vos (see the entry on tu and vos). You will see it in polite questions such as Cossí anatz? The t and the z make one ending, so write both.

Examples (5)

  1. un chic

    a little bit

    Ch is one sound, like the ch in “church”.

  2. nuèch

    night

    Ch can end a word.

  3. lach

    milk

    Ch at the end of a word.

  4. Parlatz occitan?

    Do you speak Occitan?

    The ending -tz sounds like s.

  5. Cossí anatz?

    How are you?

    The polite form ends in -tz.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing x instead of ch, as in the Catalan xic.

    xic
    chic

    Occitan writes ch in words where Catalan writes x, as in chic and xic.

  • Ending the vos form with ts.

    parlats
    parlatz

    The ending is always -tz.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ch / tzLevel 1Ch and Tz

Learn This First

Ch and tz are letter pairs, so the single letters of the alphabet come first.