French for play is the verb jouer — conjugated here in full
a regular ER verb conjugated in a free lesson
The word in French for play is the regular ER verb jouer, viewed thoroughly here in the main French tenses, past, present, future, conditional and subjunctives.
For superlearning vocabulary like the French for play — jouer the employment of memory joggers like cartoon pictures showing a silly though memorable scene is extremely effectual.
So, if you want to know how to say play in French, how to express the verb in all the main tenses, here it is.
The 6 Simple Tenses of the conjugated verb jouer — French for play
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Here you’ll learn the conjugations of jouer, which is French for play.
- I play.
- you played.
- he will play.
- we would play.
- they may play.
The Verb Conjugation Tables below for jouer, let you to practise your French verb drills both by PRONOUN (vertically), and by TENSE (horizontally). Do these two sequences lots of times over.
Saying them aloud reading from left to right will drill you on each tense by pronoun I, you, he, we, you, they, tense by tense. This is in keeping with most verb table systems. What is even more powerful about our verb table design is that you can do the drills VERTICALLY down column by column, and that way you learn all the tenses for je, starting with the present, then past, future etc.
Do these several times daily with the different important French verbs and you will soon have them mastered.
| VERB CONJUGATION TABLE jouer | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Tenses jouer | ||||||
| TENSE | je/j’ | tu | il | nous | vous | ils |
| Present Présent play |
joue | joues | joue | jouons | jouez | jouent |
| Past Imperfect Imparfait played |
jouais | jouais | jouait | jouions | jouiez | jouaient |
| Simple Past Passé Simple played |
jouai | jouas | joua | jouâmes | jouâtes | jouèrent |
| Future Futur will play |
jouerai | joueras | jouera | jouerons | jouerez | joueront |
| Conditional Conditionnel would play |
jouerais | jouerais | jouerait | jouerions | joueriez | joueraient |
| Subjunctive Subjonctif may play |
joue | joues | joue | jouions | jouiez | jouent |
| Compound Tenses jouer | ||||||
| Present Perfect Passé Composé have played |
ai joué | as joué | a joué | avons joué | avez joué | ont joué |
| Past Perfect Plus-que-Parfait had played |
avais joué | avais joué | avait joué | avions joué | aviez joué | avaient joué |
| Future Perfect Futur Antérieur will have |
aurai joué | auras joué | aura joué | aurons joué | aurez joué | auront joué |
| Conditional Perfect Conditionnel Passé would have played |
aurais joué | aurais joué | aurait joué | aurions joué | auriez joué | auraient joué |
| Imperative Imperatif play! |
joue | jouons | jouez |
Present Indicative Tense conjugations of jouer the French for play
présent de l’indicatif
je joue
— I play
tu joues
— you play — (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on joue
— he, she, it, one plays
nous jouons
— we play
vous jouez
— you play (formal or plural)
ils, elles jouent
— they play
Imperfect Indicative Tense conjugations of jouer, the French for play
imparfait de l’indicatif
je jouais
— I played
— I was playing
tu jouais
— you played- (familiar or informal)
— you were playing
il, elle, on jouait
— he, she, it, one played
— he, she, it, one was playing
nous jouions
— we played
— we were playing
vous jouiez
— you played- (formal or plural)
— you were playing
ils, elles jouaient
— they played
— they were playing
Simple Past or Past Definite Tense conjugations of jouer, the French for play
passé simple
je jouai
— I played
tu jouas
— you played- (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on joua
— he, she, it, one played
nous jouâmes
— we played
vous jouâtes
— you played- (formal or plural)
ils, elles jouèrent
they played
(The passé simple tense is mainly used in literature and books, and is rarely used in spoken French language).
Future Tense conjugations of jouer, the French for play
futur
je jouerai
— I will play
tu joueras
— you will play (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on jouera
— he, she, it, one will play
nous jouerons
— we will play
vous jouerez
— you will play (formal or plural)
ils, elles joueront
— they will play
Conditional Tense conjugations of jouer, the French for play
conditionnel
je jouerais
— I would play
tu jouerais
— you would play (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on jouerait
— he, she, it, one would play
nous jouerions
— we would play
vous joueriez
— you would play (formal or plural)
ils, elles joueraient
— they would play
Present Subjunctive Tense conjugations of jouer, the French for play
présent de subjonctif
que je joue
— that I may play
que tu joues
— that you may play(familiar or informal)
qu’il, qu’elle, qu’on joue
— that he, she, it, one may play
que nous jouions
— that we may play
que vous jouiez
— that you may play(formal or plural)
qu’ils, qu’elles jouent
— that they may play
The Four Compound Tenses of the French for verb jouer — the verb ‘to play’ in French
Past Participle of jouer is:
joué -played.
Seeing that the past participle is taken and merged with the various conjugations of the verb — to have — avoir, to create the four French compound tenses, its importance is highlighted. Once you have mastered avoir, you have mastered the key to constructing compound verbs in French.
- I have played
- you had played
- he will have played
- we would have played
Compound Past, Present Perfect or Past Indefinite Tense conjugations of jouer — French for play
passé composé
Here’s the French for play conjugated with all the pronouns in the present perfect tense.
j’ai joué
— I have played or I did play or
— I played
tu as joué
— you have played or you did play — (familiar or informal) or
— you played
il, elle, on a joué
— he, she, it, one has play or did play
— he, she, it played
nous avons joué
— we have played or we did play
— we played
vous avez joué
— you have played or you did play (formal or plural) or
— or we played
ils, elles ont joué
— they have played or they did play
— they played
Past Perfect Indicative or Pluperfect Tense conjugations of jouer — play in French
plus-que-parfait de l’indicatif
Here’s the French for -play conjugated with all the pronouns in the past perfect tense.
j’avais joué
— I had played
tu avais joué
— you had played- (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on avait joué
— he, she, it, one had played
nous avions joué
— we had played
vous aviez joué
— you had played (formal or plural)
ils, elles avaient joué
— they had played
Future Perfect or Future Anterior Tense conjugations of jouer, the French for play
futur antérieur
j’aurai joué
— I will have
tu auras joué
— you will have — (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on aura joué
— he, she, it, one will have
nous aurons joué
— we will have
vous aurez joué
— you will have — (formal or plural)
ils, elles auront joué
— they will have
Conditional Perfect Tense conjugations of jouer, the French for play
conditionnel passé
j’aurais joué
— I would have played
tu aurais joué
— you would have played- (familiar or informal)
il, elle, on aurait joué
— he, she, it, one would have played
nous aurions joué
— we would have played
vous auriez joué
— you would have played- (formal or plural)
ils, elles auraient joué
— they would have played
Imperative Tense conjugations of jouer, the French for play
impératif
joue
— play!
jouons
— let’s play!
jouez
— play!
Present Participle
of jouer
jouant — playing
Menu of Conjugated French verbs like jouer the French for play
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Learn the verb in French for play which is jouer conjugated here online.
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Last updated:
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Learning vocabulary is one of the cornerstones of learning French.
By knowing the most common vocabulary, you’ll get better at everyday communication—which gets you closer to interacting with some of the 300 million people who speak French around the world.
In this post, we’ll get you started with more than 250 easy and common French words!
You’ll be well on your way to having a solid base in the French language in no time.
Contents
- Most Common French Words
- Important French Verbs
- French Question Words
- French Household Words
- French Words for Food & Drinks
- French Words for School or Work
- French Words for Making Descriptions
- French Words for Animals & Nature
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Most Common French Words
Let’s start with some essential vocabulary that you’ll end up using a lot in French conversations:
- Bonjour ! — Hello / Good morning!
- Bonsoir ! — Good evening!
- Oui — Yes
- Non — No
- Excusez-moi — Excuse me
- Je suis désolé / Je suis désolée — I’m sorry (with an extra e if you’re female)
- S’il vous plaît — Please
- Merci — Thank you
- À bientôt — See you soon
- Bonne soirée — Good night (when saying goodbye)
- Bonne nuit — Good night (when you’re about to sleep)
- Au revoir — Goodbye
Important French Verbs
Aside from the conversational words and phrases above, you’ve also got to know the absolute most common French verbs:
- Être — to be
- Avoir — to have
- Aller — to go
These verbs are irregular, meaning they don’t follow the same rules of usage (or conjugation) that so-called regular verbs do.
Most French verbs are regular, meaning you only have to learn the endings of their group.
In French, there are three groups of so-called regular verbs, denoted by their infinitive (unconjugated) endings: -er verbs, -ir verbs and -re verbs.
Here are the most common verbs in each group:
-Er Verbs
- 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
-Ir Verbs
- 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 (a test)
-Re Verbs
- Vendre — to sell
- Attendre — to wait
- Détendre — to relax
- Entendre — to hear
- Fondre — to melt
- Descendre — to go down / descend
- Pendre — to hang
- Perdre — to lose
- Prétendre — to claim
- Répondre — to respond
With all these different kinds of verbs, it’s handy to have a verb conjugation tool, like the one from Reverso.
Another option is to study these verbs in action with FluentU, which features authentic French videos with interactive subtitles. Click on any French verb or other word used in the video to see its definition, along with grammar notes and examples.
You can then add new words to flashcards and take personalized quizzes to grow your French vocabulary.
The language learning program is also available on iOS and Android, so you can take your French study with you wherever you go.
French Question Words
Looking for directions? Do you want to know the price of something?
Whatever you do on your trip to France, you’re definitely going to need to ask for help or direction at some point.
Here are some common expressions to help you get around:
- Où ? — Where?
- Qui ? — Who?
- Quoi ? — What?
- Quand ? — When?
- Comment ? — How?
- Pourquoi ? — Why?
- Combien ? — How much? / How many?
Of course, the beauty of learning language is to be able to communicate with native speakers, which means people might also ask you questions!
Key phrases:
- Comment vous appelez-vous ? — What’s your name?
- Je m’appelle… — I’m called…
- Quel âge avez-vous ? — How old are you?
- J’ai…ans — I’m… years old
- Vous venez d’où ? — Where are you from?
- Je suis… — I am…
des États-Unis — from the United States
du Royaume-Uni — from the United Kingdom
d’Espagne — from Spain
d’Allemagne — from Germany
du Canada — from Canada
d’Australie — from Australia
Are you from a country that’s not included on this list? Take a look at this map of the world to learn your country’s name.
French Household Words
It’s crucial to learn the French words that describe the places where we live.
Check out the following common words that denote 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 (may not include a toilet)
- Les toilettes — the bathroom (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
Common words associated with 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 baignoire — the bathtub
- La douche — the shower
- Les toilettes — the toilet
- La brosse à dents — the toothbrush
- Le dentifrice — the toothpaste
- Le tapis — the rug
- Le miroir — the mirror
- Le téléphone — the telephone
French Words for Food & Drinks
Hungry or thirsty? Check out the most common French words for food and drinks.
- 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
- Le 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
- La 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 — the meal
- Le goûter — the snack
- L’assiette — the plate
- Le couteau — the knife
- La fourchette — the fork
- La cuillère — the spoon
- La tasse — the cup
French Words for School or Work
Headed to a French-speaking region for employment or to study? Then the following words are essential!
- 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
The following are common words associated with jobs and work:
- L’entreprise — the company
- L’emploi — the job
- Le travail — the work
- Le dentiste — the dentist
- L’écrivain — the writer
- Le médecin — 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
French Words for Making Descriptions
The following are common words that can be used to describe yourself, others or inanimate things.
- 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
Keep in mind that some adjectives change genders depending on the gender of the noun it describes.
In this list, the masculine forms are given first, with the feminine forms being either those with an added -e or the second form of the adjective.
Interested in more adjectives? Check out how to say common colors in French as well!
French Words for Animals & Nature
The following are common French words that can be used to describe animals or nature.
- Le chien — the dog
- Le chat — the cat
- Le lapin — the rabbit
- Le lion — the lion
- Le cheval — the horse
- La vache — the cow
- Le requin — the shark
- Le singe — the monkey
- Le cochon — the pig
- L’oiseau — the bird
- La souris — the mouse
- La tortue — the turtle
- Un canard — the duck
- Un crapaud — the toad
- Une grenouille — the 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
- Le 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
- La météo — the weather forecast
- Quel temps fait-il ? — What’s the weather?
- Il fait chaud — It is hot
- Il fait froid — It is cold
And just like that, you have 250+ words to bring your French to the next level. Practice these words often and watch your French comprehension and production vastly improve!
Bonne chance ! (Good luck!)
Download:
This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you
can take anywhere.
Click here to get a copy. (Download)
From please and thank you to good morning and good night you’ll have what you need to be polite and win a smile for trying.
French word list for everyday conversation
Here’s a list of common French phrases that will help you communicate whilst travelling in France. Your trip will be much more enjoyable if you have a basic French vocabulary and the locals will appreciate your efforts.
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How to pronounce letter combinations
The following examples show you how to pronounce French letter combinations. The italic examples are the English equivalents.
Measurement Translations
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Colors (US) / Colours (UK)
The below English French translations show a list of colors and there pronunciation with links to French lessons by Lya and FrenchPod101. You can watch all the French videos here: French Colors | Tutorial Videos.
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-
-
Learn French — French Color Vocabulary
2 minutes 43 second tutorial
FrenchPod101 have also created this great French colors vocabulary lesson which shows you how to say 17 colors with pictures.
Time to talk
At some point you will need to know the time or will be asked for the time. These words & phrases will teach you the basics and the lessons below will have you conversing in no time!
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-
What Time Is It? — part 1
10 minutes 31 seconds tutorial
Words & phrases for telling the time
Join Alexa in «What Time Is It? — part 1». Alexa will teach you the basics about how to tell time in French.
-
What Time Is It? — part 2
14 minutes 5 second tutorial
Time Pronunciation
Once you have learnt the basics you can move on a more difficult lesson «What Time Is It? — part 2». Alexa will now show you how to build a sentence for telling the time.
-
Choosing a Delivery Time in France
2 minutes 14 second listening exercise
French Listening Exercise
Now that you have learnt some vocabulary, how about testing yourself with this listening exercise.
Words you may use when talking about the weather
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Free French Lessons
Here are 30 French language lessons that teach you basic french words & phrases.