Accent Aigu

• This is the "acute" accent. It appears over the letter E and slopes from the upper right to the lower left on top of the letter. The presence of this accent indicates a shift in the pronunciation of that vowel. Instead of a softer E, the vowel should instead sound like the vowel in the English word "lay."
  
  

Accent Grave

• The accent grave looks similar to the accent aigu, except it runs the opposite direction over the top of the letter. This accent appears over A, E or U in French. Usually, this character is seen over top of the letter A or U when two words are spelled exactly the same. The accent is used to distinguish between two words, even though they otherwise appear the same.
  
  

Umlaut or Dieresis

• The umlaut appears in many languages, including French. It appears as two little dots over top of the vowel it is used on. In French it is also referred to as the "accent trema." In French, it is used over the letters E, I and U. The umlaut appears only when two vowels appear next to each other in a word. It indicates that the speaker should pronounce a separate sound for each of those vowels.
  
  

Circumflex

• The circumflex is unique among the accent marks used in French because it appears at times over all the vowels. The circumflex looks like a small peak above the letter, with the apex above the center of the letter and two lines angling down to each side. This mark signifies a word that has been altered throughout history. If a word is derived from another language, and one of the original letters is removed in the French word, it will be marked with a circumflex. This mark does not change pronunciation.