In French, elision (from elide, to leave out or omit) refers to the practise of combining two logically separate words into one for the convenience of pronunication in live conversation. In the French language, this process is sometimes explicit as in

• je aime → j'aime
• entre acte → entr'acte (something done in a theatre production "between acts" while scene changes, etc are made).

However, most cases of elision involve the two articles la and le, and the short pronouns je, me, te, and se when followed by another word beginning with a vowel. Entracte is French for between the acts. It can have the meaning of a pause between two parts of a stage production, synonym to intermission, but is more often used to indicate that part of a theatre production that is performed between acts as an intermezzo or interlude. ...

The term properly applied refers only to changes reflected in the written language. In the case of longer words ending in "e" followed by another word beginning with a vowel, the same phenomenon may happen in the spoken language only, and in that case it is known as liaison (linking), and also involves the pronunication of the otherwise silent final consonant cluster of the first word. For instance in the example given above, entre (between) and acte (act) combine into the established noun entr'acte, a case of elision, but the common phrase entre amis (between friends), is classified as both elision (since the final "e" is ignored) and liaison (since the effective pronunication is the same as if the words were spelled en tramis). Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

It might be further noted that this separation of single syllables into more than one logical word is artificial and does not necessarily reflect the real language. The Académie française preserves and controls the French language to a degree that does not always match the convenience of speakers of the French language, especially those outside Paris. It not uncommon for French speakers, when communicating informally, such as over an instant messaging service, to use the written word ces even when c'est or ses, which have identical sounds but different meanings, are intended, and to make even more drastic spelling adjustments. For instance, in Montréal, a Francophone might tell his/her buddy "chu malade", the actual local idiomatic pronunciation of "je suis malade" (I'm sick), even if they're quite familiar with the forms approved by Académie but take more characters and cost money for space-confined SMS messages on GSM mobile phones The Académie française, or French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. ... {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: Concordia Salus (Salvation through harmony) Ville de Montréal, Québec, Canada Location. ... SMS arrival notification on a Siemens phone Short Message Service (SMS) is a service available on most digital mobile phones (and other mobile devices, e. ... This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers, and should be edited to rectify this. ...

In a reverse instance of the latter, the common form qu'on, formed by elision from que (that) and on ("one", or "it") is sometimes avoided because the identically sounding con, has an obscene meaning.

See also

• Elision — broader discussion of elision in several language -- not including French!