The 20 Most Common French Words (2024)

FAQs

Is 5000 words enough to speak French? ›

The more words you know, the better. In fact, it's estimated that you need to know around 5,000 words to be fluent in French, although native speakers will often know up to 30,000! That's a lot of words, making vocabulary learning a bit of a numbers game.

According to the BBC article I cited above, if you know the most common 800 to 1,000 word variants in your target language, you can already understand at least 75 percent of that language as it's used by native speakers.

1. Bonjour (bohn-zhoor) “Bonjour” is the French equivalent of “Hello” in English. The French love it when tourists greet them in their native language. You will receive warmer smiles when you greet them with a “Bonjour” as opposed to a “Hi” or “Hello”.

Assuming an average speaking speed of 125 to 150 words per minute, it would take approximately 6:30 to 8 minutes to speak 1,000 words. However, it's important to note that this is just an estimate and actual speaking times may vary depending on the voice actor's individual speaking speed and the nature of the script.

Even Ziad Fazah – who is considered to be one of the most skilled living polyglots – is said to be able to speak 15 languages fluently without any preparation, with his proficiency in the others being unknown.

Repetition Is The Key: When it comes to studying French vocabulary fast, consistency and repetition are essential points to consider. When you spend time to learn new French words, your brain will store them in its short term memory. Only the constant repetition will help you to save them in your long term memory.