French word for learning

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.

Learning vocabulary is a crucial component of learning any new language. If you are facing difficulties in learning French, start with memorizing different vocabulary words. These words can develop your confidence to speak French in public.

Gradually adding different words to your vocabulary list can improve your command of the French language. Adding different words to speech can also improve your confidence to speak French in public.

When you start learning a new language, you must begin developing your vocabulary list by adding words that define your surroundings. The things available in our immediate surroundings are a great tool to learn French.

If you want to learn French online, get enrolled in italki’s learning lessons. These lessons are organized by the best and most professional French tutors, who will help you improve your French vocabulary, common French verbs, French pronunciation, etc.

Let’s start with some of the basic French words that describe the places where we live. These words explain specific rooms and spaces in our households.

• La maison — the house
• La salle — the room
• La cuisine — the kitchen
• La salle à manger — the dining room
• Le bureau — the office
• Le salon — the living room
• La chambre — the bedroom
• La salle de bain — the bathroom (this room may not include a toilet)
• Les toilettes — the bathroom (this room includes a toilet, sometimes exclusively)
• Le sous-sol — the basement
• Le grenier — attic
• La porte — the door
• La fenêtre — the window
• Le couloir — the hall
• L’escalier — the stairs
• Le mur — the wall
• Le sol — the floor
• Le plafond — the ceiling

You can add any of the above words with je suis dans… (I am in…) to complete the sentence. For example: Je vais au sous-sol (I am going to the basement).

French words related to rooms in the house

• Le bureau — the desk
• L’ordinateur — the computer
• L’étagère — the bookshelf
• Le livre — the book
• La télévision — the television
• Le canapé / le sofa — the couch
• La chaise — the chair
• La lampe — the lamp
• Le rideau — the curtain
• Le réfrigérateur — the fridge
• Le four — the oven
• La cuisinière — the stove
• L’évier — the sink
• La table — the table
• Le lit — the bed
• L’oreiller — the pillow
• La commode — the dresser
• L’horloge — the clock
• La douche — the shower
• La toilette — the toilet
• La brosse à dents — the toothbrush
• Le dentifrice — the toothpaste
• Le tapis — the rug
• Le miroir — the mirror
• La téléphone — the telephone

With the object words listed above, you could ask, qu’est-ce que c’est? (What exactly is this?)

Simply begin a phrase with c’est… (it is) and name the object, including its article (le, la, or l’).

Basic French words related to Food & Drinks

Following are some of the basic French words related to food and drinks. No matter if you are hungry or thirsty, you can use these French words to order a drink for you.

• Le restaurant — the restaurant
• Le café — the cafe / coffee
• Le thé — the tea
• Le jus — the juice
• Le lait — the milk
• Le vin — the wine
• La bière — the beer
• L’eau — water
• La fruit — the fruit
• La pomme — the apple
• La banane — the banana
• L’orange — the orange
• La fraise — the strawberry
• Le raisin — the grape
• Les légumes — the vegetables
• La salade — the salad
• La carotte — the carrot
• La pomme-de-terre — the potato
• Le tomate — the tomato
• La laitue — lettuce
• Le champignon — mushroom
• La viande — meat
• Le poisson — fish
• Le poulet — chicken
• Le bœuf — beef
• Le petit-déjeuner — breakfast
• Le déjeuner — lunch
• Le dîner — dinner
• Le repas — meal
• Le goûter — snack
• L’assiette — plate
• Le couteau — knife
• La fourchette — fork
• La cuillère — spoon
• La tasse — cup

You can make French sentences by using these food words. Just use the phrase je mange de… (I am eating…) and add any of the words above to tell others what you are eating.

For drinking, use the phrase je bois de… (I am drinking…) and add any of the words above to tell others what you are drinking.

For example:

• Je mange de la fruit (I eat fruit).
• Je bois du thé (I drink tea).

Vocabulary related to school or work

• L’école — the school
• Le crayon — the pencil
• Le stylo — the pen
• Le cahier — the notebook
• La salle de classe — the classroom
• La calculatrice — the calculator
• La matière scolaire — the school subject
• L’histoire — history
• La géographie — geography
• La musique — music
• Les sciences — the sciences
• Les mathématiques — mathematics
• Le sport — sports
• Le français — French
• L’anglais — English
• Les notes — grades (marks)
• Le professeur / la professeure — the teacher
• L’étudiant(e) / l’élève — the student

French vocabulary related to career

• La compagnie — the company
• L’emploi — the job
• Le travail — the work
• Le dentiste — the dentist
• L’écrivain — the writer
• Le médicin — the doctor (medical)
• Le serveur / la serveuse — the waiter / waitress
• L’avocat — the lawyer
• Le caissier / la caissière — the cashier
• L’ingénieur(e) — the engineer
• Le mécanicien / la mécanicienne — the mechanic
• Le plombier / la plombière — the plumber
• Le pompier / la pompière — the firefighter
• Le policier / la policière — the police officer
• L’architecte — the architect
• Le travailleur / la travailleuse — the worker
• Le boulanger / la boulangère — the baker
• Le boucher / la bouchère — the butcher
• Le coiffeur / la coiffeuse — the hairdresser

For example:

Je suis plombier (I am a plumber).

Vocabulary words related to places

• La ville — the city
• La campagne — the countryside
• La ferme — the farm
• Le parc — the park
• La rivière / le fleuve — the river
• L’arbre — the tree
• La fleur — the flower
• Le bâtiment — the building
• La tour — the tower
• Le bureau de poste — the post office
• La bibliothèque — the library
• La librairie — the bookstore
• La boulangerie — the bakery
• La pharmacie — the pharmacy
• L’hôpital — the hospital
• Le marché / le supermarché — the market / supermarket
• Le cinéma — the movie theatre
• La banque — the bank
• L’église — the church
• Le musée — the museum
• La gare — the train station
• Le trottoir — the sidewalk
• La rue — the street

For example:

Je vais au supermarché (I am going to the supermarket).

French words to describe yourself and other related things

You can use following words to describe yourself and the things around you.

• Grand(e) — big
• Petit(e) — small
• Chaud(e) — hot
• Froid(e) — cold
• Intelligent(e) — smart
• Fâché(e) — angry
• Triste — sad
• Heureux / heureuse — happy
• Drôle — funny
• Jeune — young
• Vieux / vieille — old
• Nerveux / nerveuse — nervous
• Beau / belle — beautiful
• Facile — easy
• Difficile — hard
• Effrayé(e) — scared
• Ennuyé(e) — bored
• Ennuyeux / ennuyeuse — boring
• Étrange — strange
• Fort(e) — strong
• Possible — possible
• Impossible — impossible
• Sportif / sportive — athletic

For example:

La maison est grande (The house is big).

Vocabulary words related to animals and nature

• Le chien — dog
• Le chat — cat
• Le lapin — rabbit
• Le lion — lion
• Le cheval — horse
• La vache — cow
• Le requin — shark
• Le singe — monkey
• Le cochon — pig
• L’oiseau — bird
• La souris — mouse
• La tortue — turtle
• Un canard — duck
• Un crapaud — toad
• Une grenouille — frog
• Le soleil — the sun
• La pluie — the rain
• Le vent — the wind
• La neige — the snow
• Le nuage — the cloud
• L’éclair — the lightning
• La tonnerre — the thunder
• L’orage — the storm
• La montagne — the mountain
• La plage — the beach
• La forêt — the forest
• La terre — soil / the earth
• La colline — the hill
• Le lac — the lake
• L’océan — the ocean

Common French verbs

The most common -er verbs are as follows:

• Parler — to speak
• Aimer — to like
• Chanter — to sing
• Danser — to dance
• Fermer — to close
• Demander — to ask
• Étudier — to study
• Regarder — to watch
• Visiter — to visit (a place)
• Habiter — to live
• Jouer — to play
• Laver — to wash
• Penser — to think
• Utiliser — to use
• Trouver — to find
• Manger — to eat

Common -ir verbs include the following:

• Finir — to finish
• Bâtir — to build
• Choisir — to choose
• Remplir — to fill
• Grandir — to grow
• Grossir — to gain weight
• Obéir — to obey
• Punir — to punish
• Réfléchir — to reflect
• Réussir — to succeed / pass

Here are the most common -re verbs:

• Vendre — to sell
• Attendre — to wait
• Détendre — to relax
• Entendre — to hear
• Fondre — to melt
• Descendre — to go down
• Pendre — to hang
• Perdre — to lose
• Prétendre — to claim
• Répondre — to respond

Conclusion

Now you have around 200 plus basic French words ready to get added to your vocabulary list. Practice these words on regular basis. Watch French podcasts, and videos and read French text. This exercise will help you minimize some of the major confusions, such as confusions related to tout vs. tous.

Memorize some of these words daily. Be consistent in your learning approach. You must allocate one hour of your day to learn these words and you will eventually see a huge development in your French pronunciation and vocabulary.

Learning French vocabulary is your gateway to speaking French. The most common words and include are Bonjour (hello), Comment allez-vous? (how are you?), merci beaucoup (thank you very much), de rien (you’re welcome) and au revoir (goodbye). The page offers several learning tips, 50+ basic words as well as vocabulary lists by topic.

Here’s a list of most common French vocabulary words:

• Oui Yes
• Non No
• Merci Thank you
• De Rien You’re welcome
• Bonjour ! Hello!
• Au revoir ! Goodbye!
• Salut ! Hi!
• Comment allez-vous ? How are you (formal)
• Comment ça va ? How’s it going?
• Et toi/vous? And yourself?
• Enchanté! Nice to meet you!
• Ravi de vous connaître! Nice to meet you!
• Je m’appelle My name is
• Comment vous appelez-vous ? What is your name?
• Pardon! Sorry!
• Excusez-moi! Excuse me!

This page offers a list of most common French words.

Tips for mastering French vocabulary

1) Consider some good online courses

One of the best ways to prepare yourself for taking on French vocabulary is to try an online course. These courses do a great job teaching the reading and sound systems and present the vocabulary in a very logical way.

Over the years I’ve come to know Camille from Frenchtoday.com and highly recommend her course, A Moi Paris course for beginners.

2) Master pronunciation and reading first

One of my biggest tips for all new students for learning French vocabulary is actually master reading and pronunciation first. The reason is that if you’re on shaky ground reading and pronouncing words you will never make yourself understood.

In addition, once you get the reading rules down, you will be able to make better connections between different words and have the ability to take on new words at a faster pace.

To master pronunciation you may consider looking into French Today’s Secrets Of French Pronunciation course.

The French accents are a big mystery for many beginner students. Many people don’t know how to read the accents and completely ignore them.

Knowing how to read the accents correctly is very important. Our French accents page is a wonderful resource for learning to read the accents.

3) Mastering Gender: A lifelong challenge

One of the biggest challenges for learning French vocabulary is remembering that each noun has an assigned masculine or feminine gender.

Unlike Spanish where feminine nouns simply take an -a, you cannot assume that all feminine nouns in French take an -e.

Mastering gender in French is lifelong process so don’t give up if you have a hard time remembering which words are masculine and which are feminine.

This page on our site covering French nouns gender rules gives common spelling endings for masculine and feminine words with lots of example words and exceptions.

4) Look for similarities between French and English

A very high percentage of the French and English languages overlap. Almost all words related to areas of high educational arears such as science, medicine, politics and philosophy overlap.

When learn French words take the time to ask yourself if there’s an English word that is related . This can help you memorize faster.

For example, un pantelon in French means pants. The English words is embedded in the French word!

Here’s a fun one: The French word “éviter” means to avoid? How do you remember this? In English if something is “inevitable” it’s “unavoidable”.

5) Other tips for learning French Vocabulary

There are many other ways to learn French vocabulary that are much less traditional but highly effected.

One way is to simply watch French movies and series on Netflix. Pause the video when you come to a word that you want to remember, look it up and add it to your list.

Lingopie is a tool similar to Netflix that steams languages with both French and English subtitles simultaneously.

The app has a tool for creating vocab list. I feel that Lingopie is a great took for building vocab at a very rapid rate.

French vocabulary words for survival in France

Before traveling to France it would be a great idea to get a grasp of basic survival words. Here are a few words and phrases you absolutely must learn.

Asking directions

While on your trip you will inevitably find yourself in situations where you have to ask directions. Try your hardest to ask in French! Here’s a longer list covering vocabulary for asking directions.

• Où est ? Where is ?
• Où est la gare ? Where is the train station?
• Où sont ? Where are ?
• Où se trouve ? Where is ?
• Où sont les toilettes ? Where’s the restroom.

Basics for taking an Uber or taxi

Knowing a few works or phrases can come in very handy when taking an Uber or taxi. Here’s a longer list covering taxi vocabulary.

• Je vais à . I’m going to .
• Voici l’adresse. Here’s the address.
• Allez tout droit. Go straight ahead.
• Tournez ici. Turn here.
• C’est à droite/gauche. It’s to the right/left.
• Je descends ici. I’ll get off here.

A few words for expressing language difficulties

It’s very likely that you’ll find yourself in situations where you have a hard time making yourself understood and understanding what’s being said to you. Here are a few phrases you can use in these conversations.

• Je suis desolé! I’m sorry!
• Je ne comprends pas. I don’t understand.
• Répétez s’il vous plaît. Please repeat.
• Parlez lentement, s’il vous plaît. Speak slowly please.
• Je ne parle pas français. I don’t speak French.
• Comment dit-on _ en français? How do you say _ in French?
• Parlez-vous anglais ? Do you speak English?

Vocabulary for shopping

A wonderful way to practice speaking French is to go into stores and chat with sales people. On this page you can find a much longer list of vocabulary and phrases for shopping.

• Je cherche_. I’m looking for_.
• Combien coûte ? How much does cost?
• C’est combien ? How much is it?
• C’est trop grand. It’s too big.
• C’est pas petit. It’s too small.
• Avez-vous ma taille ? Do you have my size?
• Acceptez-vous une carte de credit? Do you accept a credit card?

Eating in restaurant

Knowing some restaurant words and phrases will come in very handy when you When you go to a restaurant in France. On this page you can find a longer list of restaurant vocabulary.

• Je voudrais . I would like?
• Je prends . I’ll take .
• Avez-vous ? Do you have?
• Je suis allergique à _. I’m allergic to _.
• L’addition s’il vous plaît. The bill, please.

Talking about family

At a certain point during your trip you’ll most likely find yourself talking about your family. This page offers a much more extensive list of family vocabulary.

• La famille family
• Je suis marié(e). I am married.
• Je suis célibataire. I am single.
• Êtes-vous marié? Are you married?
• Êtes-vous célibataire? Are you single?
• J’ai un(e) enfant/J’ai des enfants. I have a/several kids.
• Mon mari My husband
• Mon épouse My wife
• J’ai un frère. I have a brother.
• J’ai une soeur. I have a sister.

French slang

While it’s not totally necessary to know French slang for a trip to France, it’s nice to know a few works. The following is a very short list of French slang or, “argot”. You can find a must more comprehensive list on our French slang page.

• Un mec guy
• Une meuf a woman
• Bof! So-so
• J’sais pas I don’t know
• Le fric money
• Kiffer to like
• Un bordel mess
• Une balle euro
• Une clope cigarette

A few useful phrases

There are some phrases you absolutely must know. I’ve listed out the bare essentials here with explanations. This page offers an extensive list of French expressions.

Merci beaucoup

It is essential that you know how to say and use merci beaucoup before your trip. Merci beaucoup translates to thank you very much.

Beaucoup is pronounced “bo-koo”. Be sure to keep your mouth loose and relaxed while pronouncing the ‘koo’ sound.

S’il vous plaît vs. s’il te plaît

It’s very important to know how to say please in French. Both s’il vous plaît and s’il te plaît both mean please but there’s a key difference to understand.

S’il vous plaît is formal and you must use it with strangers or people older than yourself. Use s’il te plaît for only with people you know or those in your peer group.

Je ne sais pas

This is a must-know phrase that means “I don’t know”. It will come in very handy when somebody asks you a question and you don’t know the answer.

Don’t confused this with “je ne connais pas”. This also means I know know but it’s used when referring to people or places that you might know.

Je vous en prie and je t’en prie

The phrase je vous en prie is also exremely useful and common in France. It’s impossible to translate directly into English.

While it literally means, I beg of thee, you can use it to mean your’re welcome. Also, if a wait person was showing you to your seat he or she might say, je vous en prie as you’re taking your seat.

On translation of je vous en prie is you’re welcome. You can also say de rien to mean you’re welcome.

J’aime, je n’aime pas

J’aime and je n’aime pas trnalsate to both I like and I don’t like. These phrases will come in very handy when you’re trying to express your tastes to your hosts.

You can use these when talking about just about anything. For example, J’aime le steak. Je n’aime pas la salade. I like the steak. I don’t like the salad.

French vocabulary word lists by topic

The following table offers over 100 French vocabulary word lists:

A
Airplane	Animals	Acronyms And Abbreviations
Airport	Anatomy	Approximate Numbers
Architecture	Art	Astronomy
B
Baby	Banking	Bar
Baseball	Basketball	Bathroom
Beauty	Bedroom	Biology
Breakfast	Business	Books & Print Media
But
C
Christmas	Construction	Cruise
Camping	Chemistry	Classroom Commands
Climate Change	Clothing	Colors
Computer	Cooking	Countries
Covid 19	Cycling	Card & Board Games
Cheers	Coffee	Common Nouns
D
DIY	Drinks	Daily Routine
Days of the Week	Dining Room	Dog Breeds
Doctor	Directions	Dates
E
Economics	Education	Essential Words
Emergency	Environment	Equestrian
F
Flowers	Farm	Fast Food
Fishing	Fitness	Fractions
Family	Feelings	Five Senses
Flavors	Food	Furniture
French Words Used in English
G
Gardening	Gardening	Golf
Greetings
H
Hobbies	Haircut	Halloween
Hardware Store	Holidays	Health & Illnesses
Homes & Spices	Home	Hospital
How Much	Happy Birthday	Hungry
Hanukkah
I
Injury, First Aid	Insects	I Love You
J
Jewelry	Jobs
K
Kitchen
L
Landscapes	Law	Lazy
Living Room
M
makeup	Months	Music
Musical-Instruments	Marriage	Martial Arts
Math	Meals	Motorcycle
Music Theory
N
Languages	Nationalities	Nature
Numbers 1-100
O
Ordinal Numbers	Ordering Food / Restaurant	Okay
Office	Online Lessons Vocab
P
Parts of the Body	Parts of the Car	Parts of the Day
Physical Descriptions	Politics	Post Office
Personal Information	Personalities	Personalities
Pharmacy	Photography	Physics
Punctuation Marks
Q
Quantity
R
Really	Religion	Rocks, Minterals
Rooms
S
School	Shopping	Soccer
Sports	Sailing	School Subjects
Science	Sewing	Shapes
Shops and Businesses	Sightseeing	Skiing
Supermarket	Swimming	Seasons
T
Telephone	Thanksgiving	Time Words
Telling Time	Tennis	Theater
Tools	Trees
V
Valentine’s Day
W
Weather	Weights & Measures	Where
Wine
Z
Zodiak (Astrology) Signs

Become an expert in French vocabulary!
Our friend, Camille, at Frenchtoday.com has also done a wonderful job covering French vocabulary. One of the major benefits is that her French vocabulary lists provide audio samples as well as cultural tips. We’d also like to suggest the book Practice Makes Perfect, Complete French All-in-One, which as a very comprehensive vocabulary section.

Discover more:

• Guide to the French alphabet
• How to say “hello” in French
• How to say “goodbye” in French
• Ways to saying “Yes” in French
• Ways of saying “No in French

More resources:

• Frenchtoday.com – vocab lists
• Practice Makes Perfect French Vocabulary
• Vocabulaire en Dialogues (Intermediate)