but in French, there are a lot of letters that are no longer pronounced in most environments but are pronounced in certain cases.

For example, "the friend" (male) is l'ami, short for le ami, but no one says or even writes that anymore.

However, "the friends" is les amis, pronounced "le-zami."

"Do you have?" is avez vous?, prounounced "aveh-vu," but "you have" is vous avez, pronounced "vu zaveh."

"She has" is elle a "el a," but "does she have?" is a-t-elle?, in which the "ghost" of the old way of saying "she has" (elle at) shows up.

"We have seen" is nous avons vu ("nu zavo~ (nasal n) vü), but "we have seen it" is nous l'avons vu ("nu lavo~ vü).

"I have seen" is j'ai vu ("zhey vü" but "I have seen it" is je l'ai vu" ("zhe lay vü".

It would be hopeless if it weren't for the archaic spelling and the rules about which letters drop when and which ones are elided onto the next word.