French word for france

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The name France comes from Latin Francia («land of the Franks»).

Originally it applied to the whole Empire of the Franks, extending from southern France to eastern Germany. Modern France is still called Frankreich in German and similar names in some other Germanic languages (such as Frankrijk in Dutch), which means «Frank Reich», the Realm of the Franks.

Background[edit]

Gaul[edit]

Before being named France, the land was called Gaul (Latin: Gallia; French: Gaule). This name continued to be used even after the beginning of the reign of the Franks’ Kings Clovis I, Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, and Charlemagne. In fact, for as long as the cultural elites of Europe used Latin predominantly, the name Gallia continued to be used alongside the name France. In English usage, the words Gaul and Gaulish are used synonymously with Latin Gallia, Gallus and Gallicus. However the similarity of the names is probably coincidental; the English words are borrowed from French Gaule and Gaulois, which appear to have been borrowed themselves from Germanic walha-, the usual word for the non-Germanic-speaking peoples (Celtic-speaking and Latin-speaking indiscriminately) and the source for Welsh in English. The Germanic w is regularly rendered as gu / g in French (cf. guerre = war, garder = ward, Guillaume = William), and the diphthong au is the regular outcome of al before a following consonant (cf. cheval ~ chevaux). Gaule or Gaulle can hardly be derived from Latin Gallia, since g would become j before a (cf. gamba > jambe), and the diphthong au would be incomprehensible; the regular outcome of Latin Gallia would have been * Jaille in French.[3][4]

Today, in modern French, the word Gaule is only used in a historical context. The only current use of the word is in the title of the leader of the French bishops, the archbishop of Lyon, whose official title is Primate of the Gauls (Primat des Gaules). Gaul is in the plural in the title, reflecting the three Gallic entities identified by the Romans (Celtica, Belgica, and Aquitania). The adjective gaulois (Gallic) is still sometimes used when a French person wants to stress some idiosyncrasies of the French people entrenched in history, such as nos ancêtres les Gaulois («our ancestors the Gauls»), a phrase sometimes used in French when one wants to assert his own identity. During the Third Republic, the authorities often referred to notre vieille nation gauloise («our old Gallic nation»), a case in which the adjective gaulois is used with a positive connotation. The word gallicisme is used sometimes in linguistic to express a specific form to the French language. In English, the word Gaul is never used in a modern context. The adjective Gallic is sometimes used to refer to French people, occasionally in a derisive and critical way, such as «Gallic pride». The Coq Gaulois (Gallic rooster in English) is also a national symbol of France, as for the French Football Federation. Astérix le Gaulois (Asterix, the Gaul) is a popular series of French comic books, following the exploits of a village of indomitable Gauls.

In Greek, France is still known as Γαλλία (Gallia). In Breton, meanwhile, the word Gall means «French»,^[1][2] and France is Bro C’hall^[3] through Breton initial mutation; the second most common family name in Brittany is Le Gall, which is thought to indicate descendants of the inhabitants of Armorica from before the Bretons came from Britain, literally meaning «the Gaul».^[4] The word can be used to refer to the French nationality, speakers of French and/or Gallo; an archaic word sense also indicated the generic «foreigner»;^[1][2] the derivative galleg means «French» as an adjective and the French language as a noun. In Irish, meanwhile, the term gall originally also referred to the inhabitants of Gaul, but in the ninth century it was repurposed as «generic foreigner» and used to refer to Scandinavian invaders; it was used later in the twelfth century for the Anglo-Normans.^[5]

Francia[edit]

Under the reign of the Franks’ Kings Clovis I, Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, and Charlemagne, a country that included most of modern France and modern Germany was known as Kingdom of Franks or Francia. At the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the Frankish Empire was divided in three parts: West Francia (Francia Occidentalis), Middle Francia and East Francia (Francia Orientalis).

The rulers of Francia Orientalis, who soon claimed the imperial title and wanted to reunify the Frankish Empire, dropped the name Francia Orientalis and called their realm the Holy Roman Empire (see History of Germany). The history of the Franconian Empire lives on today in place names such as Frankfurt or Franconia (Franken in German). The kings of Francia Occidentalis successfully opposed this claim and managed to preserve Francia Occidentalis as an independent kingdom, distinct from the Holy Roman Empire. The Battle of Bouvines in 1214 definitively marked the end of the efforts by the Holy Roman Empire to reunify the old Frankish Empire by conquering France.

Since the name Francia Orientalis had disappeared, there arose the habit to refer to Francia Occidentalis as Francia only, from which the word France is derived. The French state has been in continuous existence since 843 (except for a brief interruption in 885–887), with an unbroken line of heads of states since the first king of Francia Occidentalis (Charles the Bald) to the current president of the French Republic (Emmanuel Macron). Notably, in German, France is still called Frankreich, which literally means «Reich (empire) of the Franks». In order to distinguish it from the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, France is called Frankreich, while the Frankish Empire is called Frankenreich.

The name of the Franks itself is said to come from the Proto-Germanic word *frankon which means «javelin, lance». Another proposed etymology is that Frank means «the free men», based on the fact that the word frank meant «free» in the ancient Germanic languages. However, rather than the ethnic name of the Franks coming from the word frank («free»), it is more probable that the word frank («free») comes from the ethnic name of the Franks, the connection being that only the Franks, as the conquering class, had the status of freemen.

In a tradition going back to the 7th-century Chronicle of Fredegar, the name of the Franks itself is taken from Francio, one of the Germanic kings of Sicambri, c. 61 BCE, whose dominion extended all along those lands immediately joining the west-bank of the Rhine River, as far as Strasbourg and Belgium.^[6] This nation is also explicitly mentioned by Julius Caesar in his Notebooks on the Gallic War (Commentarii de Bello Gallico).

The name of the former French currency, the franc, comes from the words engraved on the coins of the Frankish King, Rex Francorum, meaning «King of the Franks» or «Roi des Francs» in French.

France[edit]

In most of the Romance languages, France is known by the word «France» or any of its derivatives, for example Francia in Italian and Spanish. This is also the origin of its name in English, «France», which derived from Old French.

In most of the Germanic languages (though notably not in English), France is known as the historical «Land of the Franks», for example Frankreich (Reich of the Franks) in German, Frankrijk (Rijk of the Franks) in Dutch, Frankrike (Rike of the Franks) in Swedish and Norwegian, Frankrig in Danish.

Meanings of the name France[edit]

The name «France» (and its adjective «French») can have four different meanings which it is important to distinguish in order to avoid ambiguities. Its origin is the Germanic word «frank» which means «free» and is also a male name.

Political meaning[edit]

In a first meaning, «France» means the whole French Republic. In that case, «French» refers to the nationality, as it is written on the French ID card: «Nationalité : française».

The etymology and meaning of the word «France» and «French» have had strong bearings in the abolition of slavery and serfdom in France.

Indeed, in 1315, king Louis X issued an edict reaffirming that slavery was illegal in France by proclaiming that «France signifies freedom», that any slave setting foot on (metropolitan) French ground should be freed.^[7]

Centuries later, this decree served as the basis for a group of crusading lawyers at the parlement of Paris, many of whom were members of the Society of the Friends of the Blacks, winning unprecedented emancipation rights in a series of cases before the French revolution, which (temporarily) led to the complete abolition of slavery on French overseas territories and colonies in 1794 ^[8] until Napoleon, propped up by the plantation lobbies, re-introduced slavery in sugarcane-growing colonies.^[9]

Geographical meaning[edit]

In a second meaning, «France» refers to metropolitan France only, meaning mainland France.

Historical meanings[edit]

In a third meaning, «France» refers specifically to the province of the Île-de-France (with Paris at its centre) which historically was the heart of the royal demesne. This meaning is found in some geographic names, such as French Brie (Brie française) and French Vexin (Vexin français). French Brie, the area where the famous Brie cheese is produced, is the part of Brie that was annexed to the royal demesne, as opposed to Champagne Brie (Brie champenoise) which was annexed by Champagne. Likewise, French Vexin was the part of Vexin inside Île-de-France, as opposed to Norman Vexin (Vexin normand) which was inside Normandy.

In a fourth meaning, «France» refers only to the Pays de France, one of the several pays (Latin: pagi, singular pagus) of the Île-de-France. French provinces were typically made up of multiple pays, which were the direct continuation of the pagi set up by the Roman administration during Antiquity. The Île-de-France included the Pays de France, Parisis, Hurepoix, French Vexin, and others. The Pays de France is the fertile plain located immediately north of Paris which supported one of the most productive agriculture during the Middle Ages and helped to produce the tremendous wealth of the French royal court before the Hundred Years’ War, making possible among other things the emergence of the Gothic art and architecture, which later spread all over western Europe^{[citation needed]}. The Pays de France is also called the Plaine de France («Plain of France»). Its historic main town is Saint-Denis, where the first Gothic cathedral in the world was built in the 12th century, and inside which the kings of France are buried. The Pays de France is now almost entirely built up as the northern extension of the Paris suburbs.

This fourth meaning is found in many place names, such as the town of Roissy-en-France, on whose territory is located Charles de Gaulle Airport. The name of the town literally means «Roissy in the Pays de France«, and not «Roissy in the country France». Another example of the use of France in this meaning is the new Stade de France, which was built near Saint-Denis for the 1998 Football World Cup. It was decided to call the stadium after the Pays de France, to give it a local touch. In particular, the mayor of Saint-Denis made it very clear that he wanted the new stadium to be a stadium of the northern suburbs of Paris and not just a national stadium which happens to be located in the northern suburbs. The name is intended to reflect this, although few French people know this story and the great majority associates it with the country’s name^{[citation needed]}.

Other names for France[edit]

In Hebrew, France is called צרפת (Tzarfat). In Māori, France is known as Wīwī, derived from the French phrase oui, oui (yes, yes).^[10]. In modern Greek, France is still known as Γαλλία (Gallia), derived from Gaul.

See also[edit]

• List of country-name etymologies

References[edit]

Do you know how many words there are in the French language? Come on, have a guess.

Most French dictionaries list around 60,000. But Le Grand Robert, one of the most prominent resources, gathers more than 100,000 words for a total of 350,000 different meanings.

Sounds overwhelming? Keep in mind that even native French speakers know merely a fraction of that! To start having basic conversations, you only need a few hundred basic French words for beginners. 

Further down the line, you’ll be considered “proficient” in French upon reaching around 5,000 words. That’s only about 5% of the whole collection.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! In this article, we’ll list all of the French beginner words that will allow you to handle many everyday situations, whether you want to talk, listen, or both.

You only need a few words to start a conversation and make friends.

Table of Contents

1. Pronouns
2. Verbs
3. Numbers
4. Nouns
5. Conjunctions
6. Adjectives
7. Adverbs
8. Le mot de la fin

1. Pronouns

Let’s start our list of beginner French words with the most useful pronouns you should learn as you begin your studies.

At first, all you’re gonna need are the personal subject pronouns (“she,” “you,” “we,” and so on). As you move forward, you’ll quickly add some more to your arsenal.

→ To learn all about this topic, from the general rules to the 10 main categories of French pronouns, make sure to visit our complete guide on FrenchPod101.com.

1 – Personal Subject Pronouns

Personal subject pronouns replace the subject of a sentence.

• Sophie parle français. (“Sophie speaks French.”)
• Elle parle français. (“She speaks French.”)

Person	French pronoun	English
1st person sg.	je, j’	I
2nd person sg.	tu / vous	you (casual / formal)
3rd person sg.	il, elle, on	he, she, one
1st person pl.	on / nous	we (casual / formal)
2nd person pl.	vous	you
3rd person pl.	Ils, elles	they

2 – Impersonal Pronouns

When a sentence doesn’t have a clear subject, let’s stay vague and impersonal:

ça, ce, c’ (“it”)

• Ça fait mal. (“It hurts.”)
• Ce n’est pas vrai. (“It is not true.”)
• C’est important. (“It is important.”)

il (“it”)

• Il est temps. (“It’s time.”)
• Il pleut. (“It’s raining.”)

3 – Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used with reflexive verbs. For example:

• se lever (“to stand up”)
• se promener (“to stroll”)
• s’habiller (“to get dressed”)

Person	French pronoun	Example
1st person sg.	me, m’	Je me lève. (“I stand up.”)
2nd person sg.	te, t’	Tu te lèves. (“You stand up.”)
3rd person sg.	se, s’	Elle s’habille. (“She gets dressed.”)
1st person pl.	nous	Nous nous préparons. (“We’re getting ready.”)
2nd person pl.	vous	Vous vous rasez. (“You shave.”)
3rd person pl.	se	Ils se promènent. (“They are strolling.”)

4 – Interrogative Pronouns

• Qui ? (“Who?”)
  Qui est là ? (“Who’s there?”)

• Où ? (“Where?”)
  Où es-tu ? (“Where are you?”)
• Quand ? (“When?”)
  On commence quand ? (“When do we start?”)

• Quoi ? (“What?”)
  
  On fait quoi ce soir ? (“What are we doing tonight?”)

• Pourquoi ? (“Why?”)
  
  Pourquoi tu ris ? (“Why are you laughing?”)

5 – Indefinite Pronouns

• tout (“everything”)
• rien (“nothing”)
• quelque chose (“something”)

• tout le monde (“everybody”)
• personne (“nobody”)
• quelqu’un (“somebody”)

Elle se réveille. (“She wakes up.”)

2. Verbs

Here’s a list of the 50 most useful French verbs for beginners. Of course, depending on whether you’re studying, visiting, or working in France, you might have different needs. But this is a good place to start in any case!

→ For all the information you’ll need on regular verb groups (-ER and -IR), irregular verbs, and reflexive verbs, be sure to have a look at our full article on FrenchPod101.com.

être

to be

avoir

to have

aller

to go

vouloir

to want

pouvoir

to be able to / can

devoir

to have to / must

falloir	to be necessary
This verb is only conjugated in the third person, with the impersonal pronoun il (“it”). In this case, it means “it is necessary that.” Il faut partir à l’heure. (“We must leave on time.”) Il faut que je parte. (“I have to go.”)

faire

to do

dire	to say / to tell

parler

to talk / to speak

aimer

to like / to love

mettre

to put / to place

remettre

to put back

poser

to put down / to ask

prendre

to take / to catch / to capture

donner

to give

savoir

to know

entendre

to hear

voir

to see

demander

to ask / to request

répondre

to answer / to reply

chercher

to look for

trouver

to find / to discover

retrouver

to regain / to meet up

rendre

to return / to give back / to make

venir

to come

passer

to pass / to go / to come

croire

to believe / to think

montrer

to show

commencer

to begin / to start

continuer

to continue / to keep going

penser

to think

comprendre

to understand / to include

rester

to stay / to remain

attendre

to wait

partir

to leave

arriver

to arrive / to happen

suivre

to follow

revenir

to come back

connaître

to know

compter

to count

permettre

to permit / to allow

s’occuper

to take care of

sembler

to seem

lire

to read

écrire

to write

devenir

to become / to turn into

décider

to decide

tenir

to hold

porter

to carry / to wear

Just add a few tenses and you can talk about anything!

3. Numbers

As a beginner, you really won’t need much as far as counting and numbers go. In most situations, you can get by with only small numbers; I’d not go further than 1 to 10 for now.

→ Should you need more digits, you could check out our article on French numbers. You’ll find everything you need to count from zero to infinity! It’s available for free on FrenchPod101.com.

• 0        Zéro
• 1        Un
• 2        Deux
• 3        Trois
• 4        Quatre
• 5        Cinq
• 6        Six
• 7        Sept
• 8        Huit
• 9        Neuf
• 10       Dix

4. Nouns

As a beginner, your basic French vocabulary arsenal should consist of the most common nouns in various categories. Knowing these alone will allow you to communicate basic ideas in a pinch. 

French nouns can be masculine or feminine, and you can generally determine which gender a word is based on the ending. However, because you don’t want to think about it in the middle of a conversation or get tricked by exceptions, the best way to learn nouns is to always use the article.

• Train Un train (“A train”)
• Voiture Une voiture (“A car”)

In the following list, I’ll mention the article for each word. In case the plural is irregular, I will include that as well. For every other word, the general rules apply.

• Un train, des trains (“Train, trains”)
• Une voiture, des voitures (“Car, cars”)
• Un mois, des mois (“Month, months”)

For more information on the gender and plural of French nouns, we just happen to have a detailed article on FrenchPod101.com.

1 – Time

une heure

an hour

une minute

a minute

un jour

a day

un mois

a month

un an / une année	a year
An is mainly used with numbers, as in: J’ai 20 ans. (“I’m 20 years old.”) Deux fois par an (“Twice a year”) Année is used in most other cases:  L’année prochaine (“Next year”) Chaque année (“Every year”)

un lundi

Monday

un mardi

Tuesday

un mercredi

Wednesday

un jeudi

Thursday

un vendredi

Friday

un samedi

Saturday

un dimanche

Sunday

un matin

morning

un midi

noon

un après-midi

afternoon

un soir

evening

une nuit

night

2 – Places

un monde

world

un pays

country

un endroit

place

une mer

sea

une forêt

forest

une montagne

mountain

un magasin

shop

3 – Technology & Internet

un téléphone

phone

un écran

screen

un ordinateur

computer

internet

internet

4 – Home

une maison

house

une porte

door

une fenêtre

window

une cuisine

kitchen

une chambre

bedroom

des toilettes

toilets / restroom

5 – City & Transport

une voiture

car

un bus

bus

un train

train

un avion

plane

un taxi

taxi / cab

un vélo

bicycle

une ville

city

une rue

street

une avenue

avenue

une route

road

6 – People

une mère

mother

un père

father

Maman

Mom

Papa

Dad

une femme

woman / wife

un homme

man

un mari

husband

un frère

brother

une sœur

sister

une famille

family

une copine

girlfriend

un copain

boyfriend

un fils

son

une fille

daughter

un ami

friend

7 – Body

une tête

head

un œil / des yeux

eye / eyes

une bouche

mouth

un nez

nose

une oreille

ear

des cheveux

hair

un bras

arm

une main

hand

8 – Food

une table

table

une assiette

plate

un verre

glass

de l’eau

water

un fruit

fruit

un légume

vegetable

un café

coffee

du pain

bread

9 – Work & Studies

un étudiant

student

une école

school

un docteur

doctor

un vendeur

salesman / vendor / seller

un professeur

professor

10 – Conversation

une question

question

une réponse

answer

un mot

word

une phrase

phrase / sentence

une idée

idea

There is always a bit of time to review vocabulary lists.

5. Conjunctions

There’s a LOT to say and explain about conjunctions, but luckily, you don’t need to use many of them when you start learning French.

→ Later on, though, have a look at our complete guide on French conjunctions to learn everything about how to list things, express conditions, state consequences, and much more.

• et (“and”)
  Un chat et un chien (“A cat and a dog”)
• ou (“or”)
  De l’eau ou du vin (“Water or wine”)
• si (“if”)
  
  Si tu veux venir (“If you want to come”)

• parce que (“because”)
  
  Je mange parce que j’ai faim. (“I eat because I’m hungry.”)

• mais (“but”)
  Un peu mais pas trop (“A bit, but not too much”)

• pour (“for” / “to” / “so that”)
  J’apprends le français pour voyager. (“I learn French to travel.”)
  
  C’est pour toi. (“It’s for you.”)

• par (“by” / “out of” / “with” / “using” / “through”)
  Je suis aidé par un expert. (“I’m helped by an expert.”)
  Je passe par Paris et Bordeaux. (“I go through Paris and Bordeaux.”)

Un chat et un chien (“A cat and a dog”)

6. Adjectives

French adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. In this table, you’ll find both genders in the format [ Masculine – Feminine ], as they can get quite irregular. If you see only one, it just means that the masculine and feminine forms are identical.

Plurals, on the other hand, are rather predictable and follow the general rules of the French plural.

→ You might want to check out a more detailed article on French adjectives for more grammar info and examples.

bon – bonne

good / right / correct

mauvais – mauvaise

bad / wrong / incorrect

facile

easy

difficile

difficult / hard

nouveau – nouvelle

new

cher – chère

expensive

grand – grande

large / big / tall / great / major

gros – grosse

big / fat

petit – petite

small / little

long – longue

long

court – courte

short

rapide

fast / quick

lent – lente

slow

chaud – chaude

hot / warm

froid – froide

cold

premier – première

first

dernier – dernière

last / final / latest

même

same

autre

other

différent – différente

different

seul – seule

only / alone / lonely

meilleur – meilleure

best / better

pire

worst

beau – belle

handsome / beautiful

moche

ugly

fort – forte

strong / high / important

gentil – gentille

nice / kind

fou – folle

crazy / mad

content – contente

glad

malade

sick / ill

important – importante

important

noir – noire

black

blanc – blanche

white

bleu – bleue

blue

rouge

red

sucré – sucrée

sweet

salé – salée

salty

délicieux – délicieuse

delicious

Cette tarte est délicieuse ! (“This tart is delicious!”)

7. Adverbs

If you need a reminder on what adverbs are, how they’re formed, and where to place them in a sentence, I would recommend a pit stop at our extensive article on French adverbs.

1 – When

tard

late

tôt

early

bientôt

soon

hier

yesterday

aujourd’hui

today

demain

tomorrow

avant

before

après

after

2 – How Often

jamais

never

trop

too much

souvent

often

toujours

always

peut-être

maybe

aussi

as well / too / also

3 – Where

ici

here

là

there

partout

everywhere

dedans

inside

dehors

outside

4 – How

bien

well

mal	badly / poorly

vite

quickly

5 – How Much

vraiment

truly / really

tout	all / everything

rien

nothing

beaucoup

many / much / a lot

seulement

only

peu	little / few

très	very / really

plus

more

moins

less

Il a très faim ! (“He’s really hungry!”)

8. Le mot de la fin

In this guide, you’ve learned more than 200 of the most useful French words for beginners: pronouns, verbs, nouns, adjectives, and all that jazz. As you keep learning French, you might find it handy to have them all conveniently gathered in one place.

Can you think of any more words you might need to know as you start your language learning journey? Let us know in the comments and we’ll get back to you!

Make sure to explore FrenchPod101.com, as we have plenty of free resources to help you practice your grammar and learn more basic French words and structures. Our vocabulary lists are another great way to learn and review the pronunciation of new words.

Remember that you can also use our Premium PLUS service, MyTeacher, to get personal 1-on-1 coaching with your own private teacher. They can help you practice with beginner words and more. In addition to providing you with assignments, personalized exercises, and recorded audio samples, your teacher will review your work and help improve your pronunciation. 

Happy learning on FrenchPod101!

About the Author: Born and bred in rainy Northern France, Cyril Danon was bouncing off various jobs before he left everything behind to wander around the wonders of the world. Now, after quenching his wanderlust for the last few years, he’s eager to share his passion for languages.