Oral Vowel + Nasal Consonant

In French, vowels that appear before a pronounced nasal consonant are never nasalized.  The opposite is true in English: vowels are nasalized before nasal consonants.  In the following section, keep your finger lightly along the side of your nose.  If you don't feel vibrations, you're doing the vowel correctly.

How do you know whether to pronounce a nasal vowel or an oral vowel?  Look at the spelling: if you see a vowel, followed by one or two nasal consonants (like m, n, or gn) and then another vowel, you've got an oral vowel plus nasal consonant combination. Make sure, when you pronounce these words, that you don't vibrate your nose on the vowel.