An Introduction to French Pronunciation

The Vowels in Detail 57
The pronunciation /e/ occurs in the following circumstances:
(i) when the spelling is é (including ée, és and ées), er or ez,
e.g. chanté(e)(s), chanter, chantez /ʃete/, pré /pre/, chaussée
/ʃose/, léger /leʒe/, nez /ne/;
(ii) in the words pied /pje/, and clef (also spelt clé) /kle/;
(iii) in the verb ending -ai, e.g. ( je) finirai /finire/, ( je)
mangeai /meʒe/;
(iv) in the words quai /ke/, and gai /ge/.
Elsewhere, the pronunciation is /ε/, notably:
(v) when the spelling is e, è or ê followed by one or more
consonants, except as indicated in (i) above, e.g. sujet /syʒε/,
billet /bijε/, ( je) mets, (il ) met /mε/, aspect /aspε/, est /ε/,
après /aprε/, prêt /prε/;
(vi) when the spelling is ai, aî, except as indicated in (iii)
and (iv) above, e.g. balai /balε/, vrai /vrε/, mai /mε/, ( je) sais,
(il ) sait /sε/, ( je) fais, (il ) fait /fε/, ( je) vais /vε/, ( je) disais,
(elle) disait, (ils) disaient /dizε/, ( je) finirais, (elle) finirait
/finirε/, français /fresε/, laid, lait /lε/, s’il vous plaît /silvuplε/,
jamais /ʒamε/.
If the above ‘rules’ are followed, then we have pairs differentiated
only by the distinction /e/ ~ /ε/ (~ = ‘contrasting with’),
such as pré /pre/ ~ prêt /prε/ and the following:
/e/ /ε/
poignée /pwae/ poignet /pwaε/
jouer /ʒwe/ jouais, jouet /ʒwε/
fée /fe/ fait /fε/
aller, allée /ale/ allais, allait /alε/
gai, gué /ge/ guet /gε/
Note however that there is a widespread and increasing
tendency for /e/ to be substituted for /ε/ in stressed open
syllables, e.g. (to take up some of the words listed under (v)
and (vi) above) billet /bije/, après /apre/, balai /bale/, ( je) sais
/se/, ( je) disais /dize/, français /frese/. This means, among
other things, that the first person singular of the conditional,