100 basic French vocabulary words every beginner should know

Key takeaways

• Learn basic French vocabulary in useful groups, not as a random list. Start with greetings, people, numbers, places, food, and verbs.
• French nouns have gender, so learn each noun with un, une, le, or la from the beginning.
• Short phrases like je voudrais, c’est combien, and où est help you speak before you know much grammar.
• A tutor helps you pronounce silent letters, link words naturally, and use these words in real conversations.

Basic French vocabulary should start with words you will say every day: greetings, polite phrases, people, places, food, time, numbers, question words, and high-use verbs. This guide gives you 100 beginner basic French words and phrases with plain English meanings and learner-friendly pronunciation.

To turn these words into real speaking practice, work with a French tutor who can correct pronunciation, gender, and word order as you use the vocabulary in sentences.

How should beginners use this basic French vocabulary list?

Use this basic French vocabulary list as a speaking toolkit, not a memorization test. Learn the French word, say it out loud, then place it inside a short phrase you might need in a cafe, hotel, lesson, or first conversation.

The pronunciation spellings below are simple approximations for English speakers. They will not replace hearing French from a real speaker, especially with nasal sounds such as bon, un, and pain. In French, a normally silent final consonant sometimes links to the next word when that word begins with a vowel sound, a sound connection called liaison.

French nouns also have grammatical gender, meaning every noun is masculine or feminine regardless of whether it refers to a person. That is why you will see un café, un croissant (masculine) but une eau, une soupe (feminine) throughout this guide. Learn each noun with its article from the start, not separately.

What French greetings and polite words should beginners learn first?

Start with greetings and polite words because they open nearly every French exchange, from entering a bakery to meeting a colleague. Saying bonjour before anything else is not optional politeness in France. It is a social rule. Skip it and the shopkeeper, waiter, or receptionist will notice.

No.	French	Pronunciation	English
1	Bonjour	bon-zhoor	Hello, good morning
2	Bonsoir	bon-swahr	Good evening
3	Salut	sah-loo	Hi, bye
4	Au revoir	oh ruh-vwahr	Goodbye
5	À bientôt	ah byen-toh	See you soon
6	S’il vous plaît	seel voo pleh	Please
7	Merci	mehr-see	Thank you
8	Merci beaucoup	mehr-see boh-koo	Thank you very much
9	De rien	duh ryen	You are welcome
10	Pardon	pahr-don	Pardon, sorry
11	Excusez-moi	ehk-skew-zay mwah	Excuse me
12	Oui	wee	Yes
13	Non	non	No
14	D’accord	dah-kor	Okay, agreed
15	Je ne comprends pas	zhuh nuh kom-pron pah	I do not understand

The salut trap. A common beginner mistake is using salut with everyone. Salut is casual, like saying “hey” in English. Use it with friends, classmates, or peers. Use bonjour with a teacher, shopkeeper, hotel worker, or anyone you do not know well. The dividing line: if you are not sure, bonjour is always safe.

When does bonjour become bonsoir?

There is no fixed clock rule, but most speakers switch to bonsoir around 6 p.m. or when the sky gets dark. If you are at a 5 p.m. dinner reservation, either greeting works.

Here is how these words sound inside real exchanges:

• Walking into a boulangerie: Bonjour, un croissant, s’il vous plaît.

Hello, a croissant, please.

• Leaving a shop: Merci beaucoup. Au revoir.

Thank you very much. Goodbye.

• Asking a stranger for help: Excusez-moi, je ne comprends pas.

Excuse me, I do not understand.

Practice these openings with an online French tutor and ask which greeting fits a hotel lobby, a friend’s party, and a phone call with a landlord.

Which French people and pronoun words help you build sentences?

People words and pronouns let you talk about yourself, your family, and the person in front of you. Learn these early because they appear inside simple sentences like je suis étudiant (I am a student) and elle est ici (she is here).

No.	French	Pronunciation	English
16	Je	zhuh	I
17	Tu	tew	You, informal
18	Vous	voo	You, formal or plural
19	Il	eel	He, it
20	Elle	ehl	She, it
21	Nous	noo	We
22	Ils	eel	They, masculine or mixed
23	Elles	ehl	They, feminine
24	Un homme	un ohm	A man
25	Une femme	ewn fahm	A woman
26	Un enfant	un on-fon	A child
27	Un ami	un ah-mee	A male friend
28	Une amie	ewn ah-mee	A female friend
29	La famille	lah fah-mee	The family
30	Le professeur	luh pro-feh-suhr	The teacher

The tu vs. vous decision. French has two words for “you,” and using the wrong one sends a strong social signal. Tu is singular and informal: use it with friends, children, and people your own age in casual settings. Vous is formal singular or any plural “you.” In first meetings, service situations, and classrooms, use vous. If the other person says On peut se tutoyer? (Can we use tu with each other?), they are inviting you to switch.

Here is the practical test: if you would use a first name in English, tu is usually fine. If you would use Mr. or Ms., use vous.

Build small sentences from this set:

• Je suis un ami. (I am a friend.)
• Elle est professeur. (She is a teacher.)
• Vous êtes le professeur? (Are you the teacher?)

Notice how un ami and une amie sound exactly the same. You only hear the difference through the article: un vs. une. That is why learning nouns with their articles matters so much in spoken French.

If tu and vous feel awkward in conversation, ask an online French teacher to role-play a first meeting with a colleague vs. a casual chat with a friend so the choice becomes instinctive.

What French numbers and time words should you know early?

Numbers and time words help you pay at a register, schedule a meeting, confirm a hotel check-in, and understand opening hours. Learn them aloud because French numbers often sound very different from how they look to an English speaker. Cinq looks like it should rhyme with “zinc,” but it sounds like “sank.”

No.	French	Pronunciation	English
31	Zéro	zay-roh	Zero
32	Un	un	One
33	Deux	duh	Two
34	Trois	trwa	Three
35	Quatre	katruh	Four
36	Cinq	sank	Five
37	Six	sees	Six
38	Sept	set	Seven
39	Huit	weet	Eight
40	Neuf	nuhf	Nine
41	Dix	dees	Ten
42	Aujourd’hui	oh-zhoor-dwee	Today
43	Demain	duh-man	Tomorrow
44	Hier	yehr	Yesterday
45	Maintenant	man-tuh-non	Now
46	Le matin	luh mah-tan	The morning
47	L’après-midi	lah-preh mee-dee	The afternoon
48	Le soir	luh swahr	The evening
49	Une heure	ewn uhr	One hour, one o’clock
50	À quelle heure	ah kel uhr	At what time

Pronunciation warning for six, huit, and dix. These three French numbers change pronunciation depending on what comes after them. Six alone or at the end of a phrase sounds like “sees.” But in six personnes (six people), the x is silent and it sounds like “see pehr-son.” This catches beginners off guard in real conversations.

Put these words into situations you will actually face:

• Paying at a market: C’est combien? Neuf euros. (How much is it? Nine euros.)
• Confirming a reservation: À quelle heure? À huit heures le matin. (At what time? At eight in the morning.)
• Making plans with a friend: Aujourd’hui ou demain? (Today or tomorrow?)

Which French food and drink words are useful right away?

Food and drink vocabulary gives beginners their fastest real-world victory. Ordering a coffee and a croissant in French requires only five or six words, no verb conjugation charts, and no grammar theory. You walk in, you speak, you get food.

No.	French	Pronunciation	English
51	Un café	un kah-fay	A coffee
52	Un thé	un tay	A tea
53	Une eau	ewn oh	A water
54	Un jus	un zhew	A juice
55	Du lait	dew leh	Milk
56	Du pain	dew pan	Bread
57	Un croissant	un krwah-son	A croissant
58	Un fromage	un fro-mahzh	A cheese
59	Une soupe	ewn soop	A soup
60	Une salade	ewn sah-lad	A salad
61	Un sandwich	un sand-weesh	A sandwich
62	Du riz	dew ree	Rice
63	Du poulet	dew poo-leh	Chicken
64	Du poisson	dew pwah-son	Fish
65	L’addition	lah-dee-syon	The bill

The je voudrais ordering frame. Je voudrais (I would like) is the single most useful polite phrase for beginners. Add any food noun after it and you have a complete, polite order:

• Je voudrais un café et un croissant, s’il vous plaît. (I would like a coffee and a croissant, please.)
• Je voudrais une eau et une salade. (I would like a water and a salad.)
• L’addition, s’il vous plaît. (The bill, please.)

Gender practice built into your meal. Cafe ordering doubles as gender training. Notice the pattern: un café, un thé, un croissant, un sandwich (masculine), but une eau, une soupe, une salade (feminine). Du appears before uncountable masculine nouns: du pain, du riz, du poulet. There is no shortcut for knowing gender. You learn it word by word, and ordering food gives you repeated, low-pressure practice.

If ordering is your main goal, save the guide on how to order a coffee in French for your next practice session.

Rehearse a full cafe order with French tutors online so you hear the difference between un, une, and du in natural speech and get corrected before you try it at a real counter.

What French travel and city words help in real situations?

Travel and city words solve problems. When you are lost, need a bathroom, or want a train ticket, these 15 words combined with où est (where is) and je voudrais (I would like) cover most of what you need.

No.	French	Pronunciation	English
66	La gare	lah gahr	The train station
67	L’aéroport	lah-ay-roh-por	The airport
68	Le métro	luh may-troh	The subway
69	Le bus	luh boos	The bus
70	Un billet	un bee-yeh	A ticket
71	Un taxi	un tak-see	A taxi
72	L’hôtel	loh-tel	The hotel
73	La chambre	lah shahmbr	The room
74	La rue	lah rew	The street
75	La place	lah plas	The square
76	Le magasin	luh mah-gah-zan	The store
77	La pharmacie	lah fahr-mah-see	The pharmacy
78	Les toilettes	lay twah-let	The restroom
79	À gauche	ah gohsh	To the left
80	À droite	ah drwaht	To the right

Two sentence patterns that handle most travel situations:

Pattern 1, asking where something is: Où est + la/le/l’ + place.

• Où est la gare? (Where is the train station?)
• Où sont les toilettes? (Where are the restrooms?)

Pattern 2, asking for something: Je voudrais + un/une + thing.

• Je voudrais un billet. (I would like a ticket.)
• Je voudrais une chambre. (I would like a room.)

The sticky-note map drill. Print or draw a simple town map with a gare, a métro, an hôtel, a pharmacie, and a magasin. Point to each and say Où est la gare? then answer La gare est à droite. Switch to different locations. This gives you directional vocabulary and question structure in one exercise, and it works alone or with a tutor.

For longer trip phrases covering airports, hotels, and restaurants, the guide to French phrases for travel adds useful language beyond single words.

Prepare travel role-plays with a French language tutor before a trip, especially directions, train tickets, hotel check-in, and asking for help when you do not understand the response.

Which basic French verbs and question words give you speaking power?

Six verbs and seven question words let you build hundreds of beginner sentences. This final group of 20 words is where basic French vocabulary turns into basic French speaking.

No.	French	Pronunciation	English
81	Être	ehtr	To be
82	Avoir	ah-vwahr	To have
83	Aller	ah-lay	To go
84	Faire	fehr	To do, to make
85	Vouloir	voo-lwahr	To want
86	Pouvoir	poo-vwahr	To be able to
87	Je suis	zhuh swee	I am
88	J’ai	zhay	I have
89	Je vais	zhuh veh	I go, I am going
90	Je veux	zhuh vuh	I want
91	Je voudrais	zhuh voo-dreh	I would like
92	Où	oo	Where
93	Quand	kon	When
94	Comment	koh-mon	How
95	Pourquoi	poor-kwah	Why
96	Combien	kom-byen	How much, how many
97	Quoi	kwah	What
98	Qui	kee	Who
99	C’est	seh	It is, that is
100	Il y a	eel yah	There is, there are

Why these six verbs matter more than any others. Être (to be), avoir (to have), aller (to go), faire (to do/make), vouloir (to want), and pouvoir (to be able to) appear in almost every real conversation. You do not need to memorize full conjugation tables right now. Learn the je form of each verb and you have a working first-person toolkit:

• Je suis américain. (I am American.)
• J’ai un billet. (I have a ticket.)
• Je vais à l’hôtel. (I am going to the hotel.)
• Je voudrais une chambre. (I would like a room.)
• Je peux parler anglais? (Can I speak English?)

Question words as conversation starters. Pair any question word with a simple noun or c’est and you have a real question:

• C’est combien? (How much is it?)
• C’est quoi? (What is it?)
• Il y a un métro? (Is there a subway?)
• Où est la pharmacie? (Where is the pharmacy?)
• Quand est le train? (When is the train?)

These combinations are how you survive your first week in a French-speaking city. Je voudrais + noun handles ordering and requesting. Où est + place handles navigation. C’est combien handles shopping. And je ne comprends pas (from word 15) handles everything else.

How do you study these 100 words without forgetting them?

Study this list in short speaking sets, not long reading sessions. The goal is to move each word from recognition (you understand it when you see it) to production (you say it without hesitation when you need it).

The 10-5-1 method. Each day, take 10 new words, build 5 sentences, and do 1 mini role-play. The role-play forces you to combine words from different sections, which is what real speech demands.

Day	Word group	Role-play scenario
1	Words 1-15: greetings and polite phrases	Walk into a bakery, greet the baker, order, thank them, leave
2	Words 16-30: people and pronouns	Introduce yourself and describe one family member to a new neighbor
3	Words 31-50: numbers and time	Call a restaurant and confirm a reservation time
4	Words 51-65: food and drink	Order a full meal at a cafe, ask for the bill
5	Words 66-80: travel and city	Ask a stranger for directions to the train station and the pharmacy
6	Words 81-100: verbs and questions	Ask a hotel receptionist five questions using où, quand, combien, comment
7	All 100 words	Hold a 3-minute beginner conversation that uses greetings, an order, a question, and a goodbye

The traffic-light notebook. Use three colors in your notes:

• Blue for words you say easily.
• Yellow for words you understand but hesitate on.
• Red for words you avoid or forget.

The key: red words need phrases, not repetition. If la pharmacie keeps slipping, do not just repeat la pharmacie ten times. Build a chain: Où est la pharmacie? La pharmacie est à droite. Je vais à la pharmacie maintenant. Putting the word inside different sentence frames creates multiple memory paths instead of one.

Why a tutor accelerates this process. Self-study builds recognition. Speaking with a real person builds production. The gap between those two is where most beginners stall. A tutor catches pronunciation errors you cannot hear yourself, corrects gender mistakes in real time, and pushes you to respond without translating from English first.

For a longer weekly structure that adds listening and grammar alongside vocabulary, the French study plan guide helps you organize everything into a sustainable routine.

Bring your red-word list to a session with online French tutors and ask for a focused correction round that turns passive vocabulary into words you can say without freezing.

Ready to use basic French vocabulary in real conversation?

These 100 words become useful when you say them to a real person, hear the response, and adjust. That feedback loop, where a tutor catches your silent-letter mistakes, corrects un vs. une in real time, and pushes you to answer a question without pausing to translate, is what moves vocabulary from a list on a screen to words you own.

A French tutor can focus an entire session on your weakest vocabulary group, whether that is cafe orders, travel directions, or the tu vs. vous decision.

Learn French faster with personalized guidance from qualified French tutors trusted by over 10 million learners worldwide. Book a trial lesson and practice the beginner French words you want to use first.

FAQ

Is this basic French vocabulary list enough for a first conversation?

Yes, if you use full phrases instead of single words. Focus on bonjour, je suis, j’ai, je voudrais, où est, c’est combien, merci, and au revoir. Those eight items alone cover greetings, introductions, ordering, asking for directions, and saying goodbye.

Should I learn French nouns with le and la?

Always. French nouns have grammatical gender, and every noun is either masculine or feminine. Learning un café instead of just café means you already know the gender when you need it in a sentence.

What is the easiest French phrase for ordering food?

Je voudrais (I would like) followed by any noun. Say je voudrais un café, je voudrais une eau, or je voudrais l’addition, s’il vous plaît. It works in cafes, restaurants, bakeries, and hotels.

How many French words should a beginner learn per day?

Ten useful words per day is a practical target. Pair each word with one sentence so you practice recall, pronunciation, and usage together instead of just reading.

Why do French words sound different when spoken quickly?

French words connect in speech through a process called liaison, where a normally silent final consonant links to the next word if it begins with a vowel sound. For example, les amis sounds like “lay-zah-mee” because the s in les links to the a in amis.