French Phrases: Basic French words and phrases

The following pages contain some basic French phrases and French words that will be useful in particular to travellers or those starting out on a French course.

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 Audio is currently available for topics marked Audio pronunciation available.
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 A similar list of Spanish phrases is available on our sister site.

Quick index:  Adjectives Audio pronunciation available  Body  Colours Audio pronunciation available  Clothes  Computers  Directions  Education  Family Audio pronunciation available  Finance  Food/menu Audio pronunciation available  Greetings Audio pronunciation available  Health  Hobbies Audio pronunciation available  Holidays  House  Jobs  Letters/e-mails  Money  Months  Music  People  Place names  Pronouns  School  Shopping  Sport  Time Audio pronunciation available  Transport

Basic French vocabulary and phrases

These pages contain essential French phrases and vocabulary that will be useful across many situations. If you are just starting out with French, start here!

Greetings in French Audio pronunciation available
How to say hello, see you later etc.
Function Words: some Basic French words
Some of the common little 'function' words (prepositions, pronouns etc) that provide the 'glue' for making sentences.
Basic French adjectives Audio pronunciation available
Some basic adjectives of French such as big, small, nice etc.
 French adjectives wordsearch
 French adjectives crossword
French nouns denoting people Audio pronunciation available
Words for members of the family and other basic French words relating to people.
 French wordsearch: people and family
Colours in French Audio pronunciation available
A list of basic French colour adjectives, plus more advanced information on complex colour names and colour modifiers.
 French colours wordsearch
 French colours crossword
Subject pronouns in French
The French words for I, you, he, she etc
Common French verb forms
A list of the most frequently occurring French verb forms, with their English meanings plus links to full conjugation tables. This list gives you a quick way of finding the English meaning of some basic French verbs.
Object pronouns in French
The French words for me, him, her etc.
Basic clothing terms in French
Generic clothing terms plus terms for describing the material of clothes.
US place names in French
How to say where you come from: the French names of US cities and states.

French phrases for particular situations

Hobbies and pastimes in French Audio pronunciation available
Simple phrases for describing leisure activities such as watching TV, listening to CDs etc. A separate page also looks at musical instruments in French.
Getting around town in French
Names of places, buildings and asking directions in French. Now available in Spanish
Around the house in French
Names of parts of the house (room and furniture) in French, plus how to talk about doing the housework in French.
Shopping in French
Names of shops and useful words and phrases for use inside the shop. Kerching!
NEW! Shopping wordsearch
Holidays
How to talk about your holidays in French: say where you went, what you did, and what went wrong...
Basic food vocabulary
Names of basic meats, fishes, seafood and fruits and vegetables.
NEW! Fruit and vegetables wordsearch
French menu terms
Understand the 'fancy' words that turn a mundane piece of fish into a blanquette of citronated paving stone.
Sport vocabulary in French
Useful vocabulary and phrases for talking about sport in French, plus a page of special vocabulary for talking about the Olympic Games in French.
Christmas in French
Some vocab for talking about trees, prezzies and other Christmassy stuff...
The human body in French
Names of parts of the body in French.
Jobs and professions in French
Names of common job titles in French, split into various categories.
Taking transport in French
French transport phrases for getting around by taxi, coach, train etc., with a section on taking the train in France.
Computers and the Internet
Some French phrases for asking about Internet access, as well as specific facilities such as printing documents, accessing your penstick etc.
Money
How to change and deal with money in French, covering issues such as paying by credit card.
Time expressions in French
How to say phrases such as see you tomorrow in French, plus items such as names of days of the week; on the following page, we also look at the French for months and seasons.
Health
School subjects in French
List of school and university subjects:
 educational establishments in French.
 phrases for talking about school and education
Writing a letter or e-mail in French
A look at standard letter openings and closures, plus useful vocabulary for writing a business letter in French.
Types of French businesses
Some terminology used to describe different types of company and business in French.
French finance terms
Various terms connected with investment and taxation.
French sales and marketing terms
Terms connected with sales, marketing/advertising and distribution.

Technical terms

 French chemistry terms

Watch this space...!

New pages will be added to this section on a regular basis!



Page written by Neil Coffey. Copyright (c) Javamex UK 2008. All rights reserved.

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