Transcript of the video

In French, the rule is that before the M, B and P, the N becomes M when written.

So that's the Mbappé rule.

Bonjour tout le monde, I hope you're well and ready for another French video.

Today, we're going to talk about spelling. It's not a subject I usually tackle on my channel. But a few days ago, I read a very interesting article which explained that a teacher, who works in a school with children, has invented a very good trick to help children stop making a certain spelling mistake.

I thought it would be interesting to see this tip with you, to share it with you so that you too can improve your French spelling.

It's true that French is a very complicated language to learn, let alone write well. So it's always good to have a few tips and mnemonics to help you write well in French.

The trick this teacher came up with was the Mbappé rule. Mbappé, as in soccer player Kylian Mbappé.

You certainly know him, he plays in the French soccer team that was world champion at the last World Cup, and he also plays for Paris Saint-Germain, PSG being the soccer club for the city of Paris.

Why the Mbappé rule? In French, there's a spelling rule for certain words where the N turns into an M when written.

When you write the words, it's an M and not an N as you might think.

Examples include the words a lamp, a fireman, the verb to take, a mushroom or a room.

When we write them, we put an M and not an N.

In French. The rule is that before the M, B and P, the N becomes M in writing.

So that's the Mbappé rule.

Whenever you're in doubt about the spelling of a French word with the "on" or "en" sound, think of soccer player Kylian Mbappé to remind yourself of this rule, M-B-P.

That before these three letters in French, the N becomes M.

Of course, in French, there are always exceptions, so there are four words that are exceptions to this Kylian Mbappé rule.

The word bonbon is spelled with an N.

The word bonbonne, the same spelled with an N.

The adverb nonetheless.

And then the fourth exception, it's really very difficult. It's the word "overweight". When you're overweight, it means you're a little overweight, a few kilos overweight.

The difficulty is that this word, in embonpoint, is that just before the first B, it's an M. So we respect the MBP rule. But in front of the P, we keep the N. I don't know why, but that's the way it is with this word. The rule applies to one part of the word, but not to the other part.

That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this rule. I thought it was a great tip invented by this teacher, so I wanted to share it with you.

If you liked this video and you'd like to see other videos where we talk about spelling and where I share tips on how to write French without spelling mistakes, don't hesitate to share it in the comments.

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See you soon.