What are some basic French words?
By Ivy do Carmo
Known as the language of love, many people agree that French is a beautiful and romantic language. French is a Romance language that has descended from the Vulgar Latin and is the official language of 29 countries across five continents. Did you know that French is the sixth most widely spoken language in the world? It’s also one of the fastest growing languages in the world, with 220 million native speakers, 72 million partial speakers and 120 million French students.
More and more people are starting to study French or are at least willing to begin. Are you one of them? There are many ways of learning French, from the classic language schools to listening to French music. However, regardless of the method you choose, you have to learn some common French words to get started. In this article, we will go through some basic French words lists, according to their categories.
Greetings in French
We will start by learning some greetings, since these are among the first words a student learn regardless of the language he is studying. It is very important to be familiar with the main greeting and words of courtesy, so that you can start a conversation and show respect when talking to a French speaker.
Salut! – Hello!
Bonjour – Good morning
Bonsoir – Good afternoon / good evening
Bonne nuit – Good night
Au revoir! – Goodbye!
Merci – Thank you
Merci beaucoup – Thank you very much
De rien – You’re welcome
S’il vous plaît – Please
Excusez-moi / Désolé – Sorry
Enchanté(e) – Nice to meet you
Pronouns in French
Other French words that are among the first you should get to know are the personal pronouns. It’s important to know them so you can address other people, conjugate verbs and talk about other people correctly. Here are the personal pronouns in French:
Je – I (1st person)
Tu – you (2nd person)
Il – he, it (3rd person)
Elle – she (3rd person)
Nous – we (1st person plural)
Vous – you (2nd person plural)
Ils – they (3rd person plural, masculine)
Elles – they (3rd person plural, feminine)
*Notice that vous can also be used in the singular form, instead of tu, to indicate politeness.
French articles
We have learned the personal pronouns, that are used to refer to people. What if you want to refer to anything else? Then you have to use the articles. This aspect is a little more complicated than in English, but do not worry – you will get the hang of it with some practice. The French articles are divided into three categories: definite, indefinite and partitive. Let’s get to know a little about each of them:
Definite articles – use them when talking about something specific, when you have already mentioned something or assume it is already known. There are four definite articles in French:
Le – used with masculine singular nouns
Ex: le téléphone (the phone), le lait (the milk)
La – used with feminine singular nouns
Ex: la maison (the house), la patience (the patience)
L’ – used instead of le or la when the following noun begins with a vowel or a mute h
Ex: l’ordinateur (the computer), l’école (the school)
Les – used with plural nouns
Ex: les toilettes (the restrooms), les Français (the French people)
Indefinite articles – use them when referring to an unspecified thing or when mentioning something for the first time. There are three indefinite articles in French:
Un – used with masculine singular nouns
Ex: un chat (a cat), un chien (a dog)
Une – used with feminine singular nouns
Ex: une table (a table), une photo (a picture)
Des – used with plural nouns
Ex: des livres (some books), des oignons (some onions)
Partitive articles – these are articles that do not exist in the English language. They are used with abstract nouns, uncountable nouns (unspecified quantities of food, liquid, etc.), types of sports and instruments. There are five partitive articles in French:
Du – used with masculine singular nouns
Ex: du pain (some bread), du café (some coffee)
De la – used with feminine singular nouns
Ex: de la salade (some salad), de la flûte (the flute)
De l’ – used instead of du or de la when the following noun begins with a vowel or a mute h
Ex: de l’eau (some water), de l’argent (some money)
Des – used with plural nouns
Ex: des pâtes (some pasta), des épinards (some spinach)
De / d’ – replaces all the above in negative sentences
Ex: de lait (any milk), d’amis (any friends)
Time-related French Words
You have already learned some greetings and words of courtesy, as well as the person pronouns and articles in French. In day-to-day conversations, we also use a lot of time-related words, for example to tell a story or to arrange an encounter. Let’s now see some time-related French words, starting by words that refer to some period of the past:
Avant-hier – The day before yesterday
Hier – Yesterday
Hier matin – Yesterday morning
Hier après-midi – Yesterday afternoon
Hier soir – Last night
La semaine dernière – Last week
Le mois dernier – Last month
L’année dernière – Last year
Il y a cinq minutes – Five minutes ago
Il y a une heure – An hour ago
Il y a une semaine – A week ago
Il y a deux semaines – Two weeks ago
Il y a un mois – A month ago
Il y a un an – A year ago
Il y a longtemps – A long time ago
Le jour précédent – In the day before
La semaine précédente – In the week before
Le mois précédent – In the month before
L’année précédente – In the year before
Besides knowing the above words about the past, it is also important to learn some time-related words to talk about the present. The words listed below could be useful, for example, to tell something that has just happened or to describe your routine and habits. Check out some words about the present:
Le matin / dans la matinée – In the morning
L’après-midi / dans l’après-midi – In the afternoon
Le soir / dan la soirée – In the evening
Aujourd’hui – Today
Ce matin – This morning
Cet après-midi – This afternoon
Ce soir – Tonight
Cette semaine – This week
Ce mois-ci – This month
Cette année – This year
Maintenant / alors / ensuite / puis – Now
Plus tôt / avant – Sooner
Plus tard / après – Later
Jamais – Never
Rarement – Rarely
Occasionnellement – Occasionally
Quelquefois / Souvent / fréquemment / normalement – Sometimes
Toujours – Always
Tous les jours / quotidiennement – Every day
Toutes les semaines – Every week
Tous les mois – Every month
Tous les ans – Every year
Since we have enlisted words concerning the past and the present, we could not leave the future out. It is important to learn some common French words that refer to a period of the future, for example to make plans or to talk about future events. Get to know some words about the future below:
Demain – Tomorrow
Demain matin – Tomorrow morning
Demain après-midi – Tomorrow afternoon
Demain soir – Tomorrow night
Après-demain – The day after tomorrow
La semaine prochaine – Next week
Le mois prochain – Next month
L’année prochaine – Next year
Bientôt – Soon
Dans dix minutes – In ten minutes
Dans une heure – In an hour
Dans une semaine – In a week
Dans dix jours – In ten days
Dans trois semaines – In three weeks
Dans deux mois – In ten months
Dans dix ans – In ten years
Le jour suivant / le lendemain – In the next day
La semaine suivante – In the next week
Le mois suivant – In the next month
L’année suivante – In the next year
How To Talk About The Climate in French
It’s also very common to talk about the weather with people you have just met or that you are just getting to know, because the weather is quite a neutral topic. To talk about the climate in French, you will start by saying one out of three things: Il fait, Il y a or just Il and then describing what is the weather like. See the examples below:
Il fait (très) chaud – It is (very) hot
Il fait beau – It is nice out
Il fait frais – It is cool
Il fait (très) froid – It is (very) cold
Il fait humide – It is humid
Il y a du soleil – It is sunny
Il y a des nuages – It is cloudy
Il y a du vent – It is windy
Il y a de la pluie – It is rainy
Il y a de l’orage – It is stormy
Il y a du brouillard – It is foggy
Il y a de la brume – It is misty
Il pleut – It is raining
Il neige – It is snowing
Il gèle – It is freezing
Basic French Words to Travel
Are you planning to travel to a French-speaking country? Then, there are some French words that you must be familiar with to get by while you are there. For example, it is important to know how to say the means of transport and get to know some other words you will definitely see in the airport, the restaurants and other places you may visit. Here are some of them:
Oui – Yes
Non – No
Peut-être – Maybe
Ok – Ok
Bon appétit – Enjoy your meal
Français – French
Anglais – English
La voiture – The car
L’autobus – The bus
L’avion – The plane
Le train – The train
Le ferry – The ferry
Le taxi – The taxi
L’aéroport – The airport
Entrée – Entrance
Sortie – Exit
Sortie de secours – Emergency exit
Poussez – Push
Tirez – Pull
Ouvert – Opened
Fermé – Closed
Toilettes – Restrooms
Hommes – Men
Dames – Women
Libre – Free
Occupé – Occupied
Hors service – Out of service
Privé – Private
Entrée interdite – No entry
Au secours! / à l’aide! – Help!
Attention! – Attention!
À droite – To the right
À gauche – To the left
Droit – Straight ahead
Numbers in French
What if you want to place an order in a restaurant, book a hotel room, buy something in a store or ask for information? In all of these scenarios, you will likely need to use numbers. How about we learn the numbers in French? Here they are:
Zéro – Zero
Un – One
Deux – Two
Trois – Three
Quatre – Four
Cinq – Five
Six – Six
Sept – Seven
Huit – Eight
Neuf – Nine
Dix – Ten
Onze – Eleven
Douze – Twelve
Treize – Thirteen
Quatorze – Fourteen
Quinze – Fifteen
Seize – Sixteen
Dix-sept – Seventeen
Dix-huit – Eighteen
Dix-neuf – Nineteen
Vingt – Twenty
Vingt-et-un – Twenty-one
Trente – Thirty
Quarante – Forty
Cinquante – Fifty
Soixante – Sixty
Soixante-dix – Seventy
Quatre-vingts – Eighty
Quatre-vingt-dix – Ninety
Cent – Hundred
Mille – Thousand
Million – Million
After reading this article, you definitely should have added a lot of new French words to your vocabulary! To help you get the perfect pronunciation and improve your listening skills, be sure to subscribe to get our free language learning guide.