French Words and Phrases to Know: The Beginner's Shortlist
The basic French words and phrases that carry you furthest - by category, by frequency, and with example sentences you can actually use.
There is a quiet truth about vocabulary that nobody tells beginners: the words you need are not evenly distributed. Around 1,000 high-frequency words cover roughly 80% of everything you hear in spoken French, and the first 100 words alone account for around half of all spoken French. Pick your first words badly and you spend months on vocabulary that rarely shows up. Pick them well and every word you learn earns its keep. This is the shortlist - the French words and phrases worth knowing first, organised the way a beginner actually meets them.
The greetings and courtesy words you use every day
- Bonjour - Hello / Good morning
- Bonsoir - Good evening
- Salut - Hi / Bye (informal)
- Au revoir - Goodbye
- À bientôt - See you soon
- Bonne journée - Have a good day
- Merci - Thank you
- Merci beaucoup - Thank you very much
- S'il vous plaît - Please (formal)
- S'il te plaît - Please (informal)
- De rien - You're welcome
- Excusez-moi - Excuse me (formal)
- Pardon - Sorry / Excuse me
- Oui - Yes
- Non - No
- D'accord - OK / Agreed
- Peut-être - Maybe
The question words
Question words are the absolute backbone of conversation - learn these seven and you can ask almost anything.
- Qui - Who: Qui est-ce? (Who is it?)
- Que / Qu'est-ce que - What: Qu'est-ce que tu veux? (What do you want?)
- Où - Where: Où sont les toilettes? (Where are the toilets?)
- Quand - When: Quand arrives-tu? (When do you arrive?)
- Pourquoi - Why: Pourquoi pas? (Why not?)
- Comment - How: Comment ça va? (How's it going?)
- Combien - How much / how many: Combien ça coûte? (How much does it cost?)
Pronouns - the small words that carry sentences
- Je - I
- Tu - You (informal)
- Il - He / It
- Elle - She / It
- On - One / We (informal)
- Nous - We
- Vous - You (formal / plural)
- Ils - They (m)
- Elles - They (f)
- Moi - Me
- Toi - You (informal)
- Mon / Ma / Mes - My
- Ton / Ta / Tes - Your (informal)
- Son / Sa / Ses - His / Her
Numbers you actually need
- Zéro, un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq - 0-5
- Six, sept, huit, neuf, dix - 6-10
- Vingt - 20
- Trente - 30
- Quarante - 40
- Cinquante - 50
- Soixante - 60
- Soixante-dix - 70 (literally "sixty-ten")
- Quatre-vingts - 80 (literally "four twenties")
- Quatre-vingt-dix - 90 (literally "four twenties-ten")
- Cent - 100
- Mille - 1,000
- Premier / Première - First (m/f)
- Deuxième - Second
Time and days
- Aujourd'hui - Today
- Hier - Yesterday
- Demain - Tomorrow
- Maintenant - Now
- Bientôt - Soon
- Plus tard - Later
- Lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi - Monday-Friday
- Samedi, dimanche - Saturday, Sunday
- Le matin - Morning
- L'après-midi - Afternoon
- Le soir - Evening
- La nuit - Night
- L'heure - The hour / the time
- Quelle heure est-il? - What time is it?
Food and drink
- L'eau - Water
- Le pain - Bread
- Le fromage - Cheese
- Le vin - Wine
- La bière - Beer
- Le café - Coffee
- Le thé - Tea
- Le lait - Milk
- Le sucre - Sugar
- Le sel - Salt
- Le poivre - Pepper
- La viande - Meat
- Le poisson - Fish
- Le poulet - Chicken
- Les légumes - Vegetables
- Les fruits - Fruits
- Le petit-déjeuner - Breakfast
- Le déjeuner - Lunch
- Le dîner - Dinner
Places
- La maison - The house / home
- L'hôtel - The hotel
- Le restaurant - The restaurant
- Le café - The café
- La boulangerie - The bakery
- Le supermarché - The supermarket
- La pharmacie - The pharmacy
- L'hôpital - The hospital
- La gare - The train station
- L'aéroport - The airport
- Les toilettes - The toilets
- La rue - The street
- La ville - The city / town
- Le pays - The country
Basic adjectives
- Bon / Bonne - Good (m/f)
- Mauvais / Mauvaise - Bad (m/f)
- Grand / Grande - Big / tall
- Petit / Petite - Small
- Beau / Belle - Beautiful
- Joli / Jolie - Pretty
- Nouveau / Nouvelle - New
- Vieux / Vieille - Old
- Chaud / Chaude - Hot
- Froid / Froide - Cold
- Cher / Chère - Expensive / Dear
- Facile - Easy
- Difficile - Difficult
Connector words that make sentences flow
- Et - And
- Ou - Or
- Mais - But
- Parce que - Because
- Donc - So / Therefore
- Alors - Then / So
- Si - If
- Comme - Like / As
- Avec - With
- Sans - Without
- Pour - For
- Avant - Before
- Après - After
- Pendant - During
Phrases to know - everyday combinations
- Comment ça va? - How's it going?
- Ça va, et toi? - I'm fine, and you?
- Je m'appelle... - My name is...
- Enchanté(e) - Nice to meet you
- Je viens de... - I come from...
- J'habite à... - I live in...
- Je voudrais... - I would like... (the polite request)
- C'est combien? - How much is it?
- Je ne sais pas - I don't know
- Je ne comprends pas - I don't understand
- Parlez-vous anglais? - Do you speak English?
- Un peu - A little
- Pas du tout - Not at all
- Tout à fait - Exactly / Absolutely
- À votre santé / Santé - Cheers (formal/informal)
How to remember all this
Reading this list once produces almost no retention. What works is daily, short, spaced practice - testing yourself on the French word with the English hidden, getting it right or wrong, and trusting the schedule to bring back the ones you forgot. Vocabingo handles the scheduling automatically: each word is reviewed at increasing intervals (tomorrow, then a week, then two weeks, then a month) so retention compounds without you ever having to cram. In three weeks of ten-minute daily sessions you can have this entire list locked in - far more than most beginners manage in a year of textbook study.
What to learn after this list
Once these foundational words are automatic, the next 500 most-frequent French words will give you genuine conversational range. After 1,000 you can hold real conversations with patience from your partner. After 2,000 you can read a French newspaper. The trajectory is logarithmic: each new word matters less than the one before it. Which is why the words on this list - the highest-frequency ones - are the most valuable French vocabulary you will ever learn.
“You do not need many words to think clearly. You need the right ones.”