An accent mark may change the sound of a letter, the meaning of a word, replace a letter that existed in old French, or have no perceivable effect at all. Accents are used only on vowels and under the letter c.
An accent aigu ( 
) is only used on an e (é) and produces the sound ay, as in “day.” It may also replace an s from old French. When you see this letter, replace the é with an imaginary s to see if its meaning becomes more evident.
é tranger = stranger
An accent grave (`) may be used on an à or ù where it causes no sound change, or on an è, producing the sound of eh as in the e in “get.”
An accent circonflexe (∧) may be placed on any vowel but causes no perceptible sound change. It, too, often replaces a “s” from old French, which may give a clue to the meaning of the word.
forêt = forest
A cédille ( 
) is placed under a “c” (ç), to create a soft (s) sound before the letters a, o, or u.
ç a (sah)
A tréma ( 
) is placed on the second of two consecutive vowels to indicate that each vowel is pronounced independently.
Noël (noh‐ ehl)