100 Most Common French Words [+ Examples of How They Are Used] (2024)

According to Stuart Webb, professor of applied linguistics at the University of Western Ontario, the most effective approach to learning a new language is to learn the 800 to 1000 most frequent lemmas in a given language.

A lemma is a root word and all its inflections: for example, write, wrote, and written form a lemma, or word family.

So what are the most common phrases or words in French, you may wonder? No need to search the web for them, we have done the work for you! Here is a list of the 100 most common French words that we have curated to help you take your French skills to the next level.

The must-know French words to start with

After learning how to greet people (basic French vocabulary), one of the first things we enjoy when learning a new language is to be able to talk about the simple situations in our life, like going to school or to work, for instance. Here are a few common nouns to get you started.

Examples:

• Je pars au travail tous les jours à 8h du matin = I leave for work every day at 8 am.
• J’aime les livres = I love books.
• Une amie est venue me voir = A friend came to see me.

French pronouns

Try having a conversation without using pronouns… It’s impossible, right? That’s why they belong in this list of most frequently used French words.

Examples:

• Il aime son chat = He likes his cat / Il aime ses chats = he likes his cats.
• Elle a parlé de ses voyages à l’étranger = She talked about her trips abroad.
• Il dit sa phrase = He says his sentence.

Popular French adjectives

When you want to describe something like the clothes you bought, or a person you just met, or even your feelings, you need adjectives. Check out this list of the most common French adjectives.

To keep things simple, we only indicated the regular, singular forms here.

Examples:

• Mon vieux pull bleu est en mauvais état= My old blue pullover is in bad shape.
• Il est heureux = He is happy / Elle est heureuse = She is happy.

In the second example, you can see a variation in the spelling (and pronunciation) of heureux. To become conversational in French, you will need to learn these inflections. It can be hard to do that on your own, especially when facing irregular forms that may not make sense to you.

Working with a French tutor is one of the best options to learn about the nuances of the French language. Not only do they know the language, but they also have the experience and patience to explain these nuances to you.

French adverbs, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions

These words are the cement that helps you build French sentences. They are pretty straightforward, and unlike other elements of French, the vast majority don’t inflect.

Examples:

Je suis arrivé à Paris après midi et j’ai garé ma voiture devant l’ambassade d’Espagne.

= I arrived in Paris after noon and I parked my car in front of the Spanish embassy.

Useful French verbs

How do you say “I love traveling” or “I’m going home”? Verbs are at the heart of any sentence you make, and, without them, our sentences wouldn’t make much sense! So we have created a list with the most common ones in French to get you going.

Examples:

Elle écoute de la musique et elle lit pendant qu’elle voyage.

= She listens to music and she reads while she travels.

How to learn these 100 most common French words?

Need a few tips to help you memorize these words effectively? We got you covered!

• Study for 30 minutes every day: learning a little every day is more effective than studying one big block of time a week.
• Use flashcards: create them online with Quizlet or go the DIY way. In any case, make it fun, that’s the best way to learn!
• Try to find a learning buddy and quiz each other:To help you find the right person, check our guide on how to do a language exchange.

Basic rules to learn French

Genders in French

French nouns have two genders: they can be masculine (masc.) or feminine (fem.). Always learn the gender of a noun, because it impacts words like articles and adjectives. For instance, “grand” (tall) becomes “grande” in the feminine form, and “vieux” (old) becomes “vieille”.

You can learn about French articles (and more) in our guide on how to learn French online.

French possessive pronouns

French possessive pronouns are a bit trickier than English ones because they inflect depending on the gender of the noun that follows.

The gender of the owner does not matter, but the gender of the noun affects the possessive pronoun. Whether the noun that follows is in the singular or plural form also matters.

Take the pronoun “he” in English: “his” is the only possessive pronoun you can use with it. The same goes with “she” and “her”. But in French, “il” (he) is associated with “son”, “sa”, and “ses” (his), depending on the gender and singular/plural form of the noun.

Good news, though: “elle” also works with “son, “sa” and “ses”, so you don’t have to learn a long list of possessive pronouns!

We will give you a few examples to illustrate this in the section dedicated to French pronouns.

French verbs

French verbs also follow inflections, and some are irregular. The only way to know how to conjugate them is… to learn them by heart. We have some advice to help you learn effectively so you don’t waste time.

We recommend you to:

• Bookmark a French conjugation website for easy access: Have a look at schoLINGUA, C’est facile ! or conjugation-fr.com for instance.
• Start by studying the present tense (présent de l’indicatif), then the compound past (passé composé) and the future (futur simple): once you have these pinned down, you will be able to handle most situations.

Final advice

Our fourth tip to help you learn these most common French words is to just use them without fearing making mistakes. As stressed by polyglot and linguist Matthew Youlden in his TED talk, mistakes are part of the language learning process. When you make an error, people can correct you, and that largely contributes to your progress.

Finally, maximize your time and effort with our last tip: find a French tutor through Preply‘s dedicated platform. Choose a tutor who fits your needs and personality and start your journey to becoming conversational in French!

Conclusion

In conclusion, learning the most common words in French is an essential step towards becoming proficient in the language. By familiarizing yourself with these words, you can effectively communicate in various everyday situations and lay a solid foundation for further language learning.

It is important to note that while learning these common words is a valuable starting point, language acquisition is a dynamic and ongoing process. Expanding your vocabulary, practicing pronunciation, and immersing yourself in the French language through listening, speaking, reading, and writing are essential for progressing further.

So, whether you plan to visit a French-speaking country, connect with French speakers, or simply expand your linguistic horizons, mastering these common French words will undoubtedly enhance your language skills and open doors to exciting new opportunities.

Remember, as you embark on your French language journey, perseverance, practice, and a sense of curiosity will be your greatest allies. Bonne chance! (Good luck!)