Learn French

French Word of the Day

LanguageDaily — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:57:28 +0000

This page features a new French word every day. Memorizing new French vocabulary on a regular basis will keep you on track to French language mastery.

French Word 1

French Word 2

French Word of the Day

1000 Most Common French Words

LanguageDaily — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:07:43 +0000

When starting to learn French, it is always a good idea to memorize the most common words first. This will enable you to understand many more situations than if you were leaning your French vocabulary from random sources. Here’s the list of most common French words along with their English translation. Note that some words in the list perform a similar function and can be grouped into a single entry with a higher combined rank. These words include:

un, une and des – the French equivalents for a, an and some

le, la, l’ and les – the French equivalents for the

mon, ma and mes – the French equivalents for my

t’ and te – the French equivalents for you, yourself

Most Used French words 1-50

Rank	Audio	French word	English translation	Part of speech
1.		être	to be; being	verb, auxiliary verb, noun
2.		avoir	to have	verb, auxiliary verb
3.		je	I	personal pronoun
4.		de	of, from, by, than, in, with (see #28)	preposition
5.		ne	not	adverb
6.		pas	not; step, pace	adverb, noun
7.		le	the; him, it (refering to a masculine singular noun) (see #8, 15, 18)	definite article, personal pronoun
8.		la	the; her, it (refering to a feminine singular noun) (see #7, 15, 18)	definite article, personal pronoun
9.		tu	you	personal pronoun
10.		vous	you, yourself	personal pronoun
11.		il	he, it	personal pronoun
12.		et	and	conjunction
13.		à	in, to, with	preposition
14.		un	a, an; one (used before a masculine singular noun) (see #26, 31)	indefinite article
15.	—	l’	the (used instead of ”le” or ”la” before nouns that begin with a vowel) (see #7, 8, 18)	definite article, personal pronoun
16.		qui	who, whom; that, which	relative pronoun, interrogative pronoun
17.		aller	to go	verb
18.		les	the; them (referring to a plural noun) (see #7, 8, 15)	definite article, personal pronoun
19.		en	in, into, to, as	preposition, personal pronoun, adverb
20.		ça	this, that (see #203)	demonstrative pronoun
21.		faire	to do, make	verb
22.		tout	all, everything, any; very, quite	adjective, indefinite adjective, indefinite pronoun, adverb, noun
23.		on	we, you	personal pronoun
24.		que	that; what; which	relative pronoun, interrogative pronoun
25.		ce	this, that (see #73, 99, 201)	demonstrative pronoun, demonstrative adjective
26.		une	a, an; one (used before a feminine singular noun) (see #14, 31)	indefinite article
27.		mes	my (used before plural nouns) (see #50, 108)	possessive adjective
28.	—	d’	of, from, by, than, in, with (used before a vowel or mute h) (see #4)	preposition
29.		pour	for	preposition
30.		se	himself, herself, themselves (see #60)	personal pronoun
31.		des	some (used before a plural noun) (see #14, 26)	indefinite article
32.		dire	to say, tell	verb, noun
33.		pouvoir	can, to be able to	verb, noun
34.		vouloir	to want	verb
35.		mais	but	conjunction
36.		me	me, myself	personal pronoun
37.		nous	we, us	personal pronoun
38.		dans	in, into	preposition
39.		elle	she, it (refers to a feminine singular noun)	personal pronoun
40.		savoir	to know	verb
41.		du	(de + le/les) = of the, from the	definite article
42.		où	where, that	relative pronoun, interrogative pronoun
43.	—	y	it, there	personal pronoun
44.	—	t’	you, yourself (shortened form used before a vowel)	personal pronoun
45.		bien	well, very; good	adverb, noun
46.		voir	to see	verb
47.		plus	more	adverb
48.		non	no	adverb
49.		te	you, yourself	personal pronoun
50.		mon	my (used before a masculine singular noun) (see #27, 108)	possessive adjective

The frequency list is based on original work of Boris New, Christophe Pallier, 2001 L’équipe de Lexique.
The voice is by Vion Nicolas, a speaker from Région Parisienne, living in Paris. Thanks to Vion Nicolas for making audio recordings available. Audio copyright © Vion Nicolas 2006 CC-BY.

Index of most common French words

French Names for Girls

Elisabeth — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:22:31 +0000

Whether you are contemplating a French baby name or need one for your French class, this page provides over 100 French first names to choose from. It includes popular French names for girls, their meanings and closest English equivalents. Some of the names on the list originate from Old French (e.g. Emma, Florence, Jacqueline) while others are common choices when naming a baby nowadays. Whatever your circumstances, the table below will be helpful on your way to picking the best French name and finding the meaning behind it.

Top French names for girls are:
Emma, Lea, Manon, Clara, Chloe, Camille, Sarah, Oceane, Jade

Old French girls’s names that gain popularity:
Adèle, Adeline, Alice, Ameline, Bernadette, Florence, Raina

French name	English version	Meaning
Adèle	Adela	good humor
Adélaïde	Adelia	noble sort
Adrienne	Adriana	Adriatic sea, dark
Agathe	Agatha	good, honorable
Agnès	Agnes	pure, holy
Aimée	Amy	dearly loved
Alexandrie	Alexandria	defender of mankind (from male Alexandre)
Alice	Alice	noble, exalted
Amélie	Amelia	hard working
Anastasie	Anastasia	resurrection
Andréa	Andrea	brave (from male Andrew)
Anne	Ann	grace, favour
Anouk	Anna	grace, favour
Antoinette	Antoinette	beyond praise
Arielle	Abrielle, Ardelle	lion of God
Astrid	Astri	fair, beautiful goddess
Audrey	Audrey	noble strength
Aurélie	Arlea	golden
Aurore	Aurora	dawn
Bella	Bella, Della	beautiful
Belle	Belle	fair, lovely
Bernadette	-	brave as a bear
Cadence	Cadence, Darence	rhythmic
Camille	Camilia	altar server
Capucine	-	cowl, cape, hood
Caroline	Caroline	song of happiness
Catherine	Catherine	pure
Cécile	Cecilia	sixth child; blind
Céline	-	sky, heaven
Chantal	-	place of stones
Charlotte	Charlotte	tiny and feminine (from male Charles)
Christelle	-	crystal
Chloe	-	blooming
Clara	Clara	clear, bright
Christiane	-	follower of Christ
Christine	Christine	follower of Christ
Claire	Clara	clear, bright
Claude	Claudia	lame
Clémence	-	merciful, mild, gentle
Colette	-	victory of the people
Constance	Constance	steadfast
Corinne	-	maiden
Danielle	Danielle	God is my Judge
Denise	Denise	God of wine
Diane	Diane	divine
Dominique	Dominica	lord
Dorothée	Dorothy	gift of God
Édith	Edith	riches or blessed + war
Éléonore	Eleanor	shining light
Élisabeth	Elisabeth	consecrated to God
Élise	Elisa	God is my oath
Ella	Ella	all
Élodie	-	wealthy, riches
Emma	Emma	whole, completeness
Emile	Emily	industrious
Emmanuelle	Emmanuelle	God is among us
Florence	Florence	blossoming, flourishing
Françoise	Frances	Frenchwoman
Frédérique	Frederica	peaceful ruler
Gabrielle	Gabrielle	woman of God
Hélène	Helen	bright one
Henriette	Henrietta	homeland, rich, powerful
Inès	Inez	pure, chaste
Isabelle	Isabel	God is my oath
Jacqueline	Jacqueline	Yahweh may protect (from male Jacques)
Jeanne	Joan, Jane	Yahweh is gracious
Jeannine	Janine	Yahweh is gracious
Joséphine	Josephine	Yahweh will add another son
Julie	Julia	downy, youthful
Juliette	Juliette	Jupiter’s child, downy
Lauren	Laura	laurel, bay
Lorraine	Lorraine	laurel, from Lothair’s Kingdom
Louise	Louise	fame, loud, fighter (from male Louis)
Lucie	Lucy	bright, born at daybreak
Madeleine	Madeline	of Magdala, tower
Margaux	Margot	pearl
Marianne	Mariana	Maria + Anna
Marie	Mary	bitter
Marine	Marina	of the sea
Marthe	Martha	lady
Mathilde	Mathilda	mighty in battle
Michelle	Michelle	gift from God (from male name Michael)
Monique	Monica	wise
Nathalie	Nathalie	born on Christmas
Nicole	Nicole	victory of the people (from male name Nicholas)
Noelle	-	birthday (from male Noel)
Noémie	Naomi	sweetness, my delight
Océane	Oceana	ocean, father of the water nymphs
Olivie	Olivia	olive tree
Patricia	Patricia	noblewoman
Paulette	Paula	little, humble
Pauline	Pauline	little, humble
Pénélope	Penelope	duck, thread, web, voice
Raina	Laina	queen
Renée	Renee	born again
Sabine	Sabina	Sabine woman, catlike
Simone	Simona	she who hears
Sophie	Sophia	wisdom
Stéphanie	Stephanie	crown, wreath
Susanne	Susan	lily
Sylvie	Sylvia	woman of the woods
Thérèse	Theresa	hunger, harvest, guardian
Valentine	Valentina	healthy, strong
Valérie	Valerie	healthy, strong
Véronique	Veronica	bearer of victory
Victoire	Victoria	victory
Virginie	Virginia	virgin
Zara	Sarah	princess, lady
Zoé	Zoe	life

Please note that this table includes only French female names. If you are looking for a male name you need to check out a page dedicated to French baby names for boys.

Compare French to Romance Languages

Elodie — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:55:24 +0000

This page will help you compare French with other Romance languages based on a Swadesh list for French, Italian and Spanish. A Swadesh list is simply a list of the most important words with their basic meanings, named after its inventor Morris Swadesh. Although the Swadesh list was originally created as a linguistic tool to compare how similar the languages from the same language family are, you will find it to be a useful tool when learning French as a foreign language on your own. It will help you compare French to other Romance languages and learn the most common lemmas.

A Swadesh list comes in two flavors — one with 207 meanings, the other with 100 meanings. A shorter Swadesh list includes the minimum set of the most important lemmas, while the longer version of the list may include a few old-fashioned and less common words. The list below includes the most basic French words (lemmas) along with their English, Italian and Spanish translations. Learning the French words on the Swadesh list will help you to get a better idea about how the French language is related to other Romance languages.

Rank	English word	French translation	Italian translation	Spanish translation
1	I	je	io	yo
2	you, thou	tu, vous	tu	tu, Usted
3	he	il	lui, egli	el
4	we	nous	noi	nosotros
5	you	vous	voi	vosotros, Ustedes
6	they	ils, elles	loro, essi	ellos, ellas
7	this	ceci	questo	este
8	that	cela	quello	ese, aquel
9	here	ici	qui, qua	aqui, aca
10	there	là	la	ahi
11	who	qui	chi	quien
12	what	quoi	che	que
13	where	où	dove	donde
14	when	quand	quando	cuando
15	how	comment	come	como
16	not	ne…pas	non	no
17	all	tout	tutto	todo
18	many	plusieurs	molti	muchos
19	some	quelques	alcuni	algunos
20	few	peu	pochi	poco
21	other	autre	altro	otro
22	one	un	uno	uno
23	two	deux	due	dos
24	three	trois	tre	tres
25	four	quatre	quattro	cuatro
26	five	cinq	cinque	cinco
27	big	grand	grande	grande
28	long	long	lungo	largo
29	wide	large	largo	ancho
30	thick	épais	spesso	gordo
31	heavy	lourd	pesante	pesado
32	small	petit	piccolo	pequeno
33	short	court	corto	corto
34	narrow	étroit	stretto	estrecho
35	thin	mince	sottile	delgado,flaco
36	woman	femme	donna	mujer
37	man (adult male)	homme	uomo	hombre
38	man (human being)	homme	uomo	hombre
39	child	enfant	bambino	nino
40	wife	femme, épouse	moglie	esposa, mujer
41	husband	mari, époux	marito	esposo, marido
42	mother	mère	madre	madre
43	father	père	padre	padre
44	animal	animal	animale	animal
45	fish	poisson	pesce	pez, pescado
46	bird	oiseau	uccello	pajaro
47	dog	chien	cane	perro
48	louse	pou	pidocchio	piojo
49	snake	serpent	serpente	serpiente
50	worm	ver	verme	gusano
51	tree	arbre	albero	arbol
52	forest	forêt	foresta	bosque
53	stick	bâton	bastone	palo
54	fruit	fruit	frutta	fruta
55	seed	graine	seme	semilla
56	leaf	feuille	foglia	hoja
57	root	racine	radice	raiz
58	bark	écorce	corteccia	corteza
59	flower	fleur	fiore	flor
60	grass	herbe	erba	hierba
61	rope	corde	corda	cuerda
62	skin	peau	pelle	piel
63	meat	viande	carne	carne
64	blood	sang	sangue	sangre
65	bone	os	osso	hueso
66	fat (n.)	graisse	grasso	gordo
67	egg	œuf	uovo	huevo
68	horn	corne	corno	cuerno
69	tail	queue	coda	cola
70	feather	plume	piuma	pluma
71	hair	cheveu	capelli	cabello
72	head	tête	testa	cabeza
73	ear	oreille	orecchio	oreja
74	eye	œil	occhio	ojo
75	nose	nez	naso	nariz
76	mouth	bouche	bocca	boca
77	tooth	dent	dente	diente
78	tongue	langue	lingua	lengua
79	fingernail	ongle	unghia	una
80	foot	pied	piede	pie
81	leg	jambe	gamba	pierna
82	knee	genou	ginocchio	rodilla
83	hand	main	mano	mano
84	wing	aile	ala	ala
85	belly	ventre	pancia	barriga
86	guts	entrailles	intestino	tripas
87	neck	cou	collo	cuello
88	back	dos	schiena	espalda
89	breast	sein, poitrine	petto	pecho
90	heart	cœur	cuore	corazon
91	liver	foie	fegato	higado
92	drink	boire	bere	beber, tomar
93	eat	manger	mangiare	comer
94	bite	mordre	mordere	morder
95	suck	sucer	succhiare	chupar
96	spit	cracher	sputare	escupir
97	vomit	vomir	vomitare	vomitar
98	blow	souffler	soffiare	soplar
99	breathe	respirer	respirare	respirar
100	laugh	rire	ridere	reir
101	see	voir	vedere	ver
102	hear	entendre	udire, sentire	oïr
103	know	savoir	sapere	saber
104	think	penser	pensare	pensar
105	smell	sentir	odorare, annusare	oler
106	fear	craindre, avoir peur	temere	temer
107	sleep	dormir	dormire	dormir
108	live	vivre	vivere	vivir
109	die	mourir	morire	morir
110	kill	tuer	uccidere	matar
111	fight	se battre	combattere	pelear
112	hunt	chasser	cacciare	cazar
113	hit	frapper	colpire	golpear
114	cut	couper	tagliare	cortar
115	split	fendre	dividere, separare	partir
116	stab	poignarder	pugnalare	apunalar
117	scratch	gratter	graffiare	aranar, rascar
118	dig	creuser	scavare	cavar
119	swim	nager	nuotare	nadar
120	fly (v.)	voler	volare	volar
121	walk	marcher	camminare	caminar
122	come	venir	venire	venir
123	lie	s’étendre	distendersi	echarse
124	sit	s’asseoir	sedere	sentarse
125	stand	se lever	stare in piedi	estar de pie
126	turn	tourner	girare	voltear
127	fall	tomber	cadere	caer
128	give	donner	dare	dar
129	hold	tenir	tenere	sostener
130	squeeze	serrer	spremere	apretar
131	rub	frotter	strofinare	frotar
132	wash	laver	lavare	lavar
133	wipe	essuyer	asciugare	limpiar
134	pull	tirer	tirare	tirar
135	push	pousser	spingere	empujar
136	throw	jeter	tirare	tirar
137	tie	lier	legare	atar
138	sew	coudre	cucire	coser
139	count	compter	contare	contar
140	say	dire	dire	decir
141	sing	chanter	cantare	cantar
142	play	jouer	giocare	jugar
143	float	flotter	galleggiare	flotar
144	flow	couler	fluire	fluir
145	freeze	geler	gelare	helar
146	swell	gonfler	gonfiare	hincharse
147	sun	soleil	sole	sol
148	moon	lune	luna	luna
149	star	étoile	stella	estrella
150	water	eau	acqua	agua
151	rain	pluie	pioggia	lluvia
152	river	rivière	fiume	rio
153	lake	lac	lago	lago
154	sea	mer	mare	mar
155	salt	sel	sale	sal
156	stone	pierre	pietra	piedra
157	sand	sable	sabbia	arena
158	dust	poussière	polvere	polvo
159	earth	terre	terra	tierra
160	cloud	nuage	nuvola	nube
161	fog	brouillard	nebbia	niebla
162	sky	ciel	cielo	cielo
163	wind	vent	vento	viento
164	snow	neige	neve	nieve
165	ice	glace	ghiaccio	hielo
166	smoke	fumée	fumo	humo
167	fire	feu	fuoco	fuego
168	ashes	cendres	ceneri	cenizas
169	burn	brûler	bruciare	quemar
170	road	route	strada	camino
171	mountain	montagne	montagna	montana
172	red	rouge	rosso	rojo
173	green	vert	verde	verde
174	yellow	jaune	giallo	amarillo
175	white	blanc	bianco	blanco
176	black	noir	nero	negro
177	night	nuit	notte	noche
178	day	jour	giorno	dia
179	year	an, année	anno	ano
180	warm	chaud	caldo	calido
181	cold	froid	freddo	frio
182	full	plein	pieno	lleno
183	new	nouveau	nuovo	nuevo
184	old	vieux	vecchio	viejo
185	good	bon	buono	bueno
186	bad	mauvais	cattivo	malo
187	rotten	pourri	marcio	podrido
188	dirty	sale	sporco	sucio
189	straight	droit	diritto	recto
190	round	rond	rotondo	redondo
191	sharp	tranchant, pointu	aguzzo, affilato	agudo, afilado
192	dull	émoussé	noioso	romo
193	smooth	lisse	liscio	suave
194	wet	mouille	bagnato	mojado
195	dry	sec	asciutto, secco	seco
196	correct	juste, correct	corretto	correcto
197	near	proche	vicino	cerca
198	far	loin	lontano	lejos
199	right	à droite	destra	derecha
200	left	à gauche	sinistra	izquierda
201	at	à	a	a, en
202	in	dans	in	en
203	with	avec	con	con
204	and	et	e	y
205	if	si	se	si
206	because	parce que	perche	porque
207	name	nom	nome	nombre

French Months of the Year

Philippe Moulin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:00:05 +0000

This lesson will teach you how to say the months of the year in French. The names of the months are considered to be international words. They are fairly similar in French and English languages and should be easy for you to learn. Note that in French, the months are not capitalized unless they occur in the beginning of a sentence. Besides that, all months in French are masculine.

Audio	French word	English translation	Pronunciation
	janvier	January	zhah(n)-vyay
	février	February	fay-vree-yay
	mars	March	mahrs
	avril	April	ah-vreel
	mai	May	meh
	juin	June	zhwa(n)
	juillet	July	zhwee-eh
	août	August	oo or oot
	septembre	September	sehp-tah(n)br
	octobre	October	ohk-tohbr
	novembre	November	noh-vah(n)br
	décembre	December	day-sah(n)br

French Prepositions Used with Months

In order to say that something is going to happen “in” a certain month, French speakers use the preposition “en”, which is pronounced as [ah(n)]. If you’d like to say that something has been happening “since” a certain month, the preposition “depuis” should be used. The table below gives a few examples:

Audio	French word	English translation	Pronunciation
	en janvier	in January	ah(n) zhah(n)-vyay
	en mai	in May	ah(n) meh
	en octobre	in October	ah(n) ohk-tohbr
	en novembre	in November	ah(n) noh-vah(n)br
	depuis	since	duh-pwee
—	depuis décembre	since December	duh-pwee day-sah(n)br
	un mois	a month	uh(n) mwah
	une année	a year	ewn ah-nay
	un an	one year	uhN nahN

*French pronunciation of months of the year by Vion Nicolas. Speaker from Paris region, France.
Audio recordings distributed under CC 2.0 France

Review the French Calendar Terms

Watch the video below to review the French months of the year. Repeating the new words once again will help you better memorize your new French vocabulary.

Useful French Phrases and Expressions

Elisabeth — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:54:32 +0000

Whether you are an aspiring Francophile (lover of French) or need to learn a few French phrases for a vacation in a French-speaking country, this page will teach you some of the most useful French words and phrases. You may want to memorize them all or pick just a few that seem to be most interesting and practical. Whatever your decision, taking some time to learn these common phrases will give you more choice and confidence when communicating with native French speakers, as well as classmates in your French class. The phrases in the table are accompanied with pronunciation guides and English translations.

While studying the phrases below, it may be a good idea to occasionally consult your French-English dictionary and look up the definitions of individual words. You will discover that literal English translations are quiet different from the original French phrases. Dedicating a little extra time to word-by-word translations will help you to better memorize the phrases, achieve deeper understanding, and get some insight into how sentences are structured in French.

French phrase	Pronunciation	English translation
Bonjour	bohn-zhoor	Hello. (literally: good day)
Je m’appelle…	zhuh mah-pehl	My name is… (literally: I call myself)
Comment vous appelezvous?	kohn-mahn voo zah-play voo	What is your name?
Parlez lentement.	par-lay lehn-ta-mohn	Please speak slowly.
Je ne comprends pas.	zhuh nuh kohn-prahn pah	I don’t understand.
Merci	mehr-see	Thank you.
De rien.	dah ree-ehn	You’ re welcome
Excusez-moi.	ehk-kew-zay mwah	Excuse me.
Je t’aime.	zhuh-tehm	I love you. (informal)
Je veux être avec toi.	zheh-vehr-eht-trah-ah-vehk-twah	I want to be with you.
Comment allez-vous?	kom-mohn tah-lay voo	How are you? (formal or plural)
Je suis de…	zhuh swee duh	I am from…
Je voudrais…	zhuh voo-dreh	I would like…
Salut!	sah-loo	Hi! / Bye! (informal)
Ça va?	sah vah	How are you? (informal)
Où est-ce que se trouve…?	oo escuh suh troov	Where is…?
Combien coûte-t-il?	bee en coo teel	How much does it cost?
S’il vous plaît.	see voo play	Please.
Ne t’en fais pas.	nuh tawn feh pah	Don’t worry. (informal)
Ne vous en faites pas.	nuh voo zawn fett pah	Don’t worry. (formal)
Non.	nohn	No.
D’accord	dah-core	OK
Je ne comprends pas.	jhuhn kom-prohn pah	I don’t understand.
Avez-vous…	ah-way voo	Do you have…
Parlez-vous anglais?	pahr-lay voo ahn-leh	Do you speak English?
Qu’est-ce que vous avez dit?	kehs-kuh voo ah-vay dee	What did you say?
Qu sont les toilettes?	oo sahn lay twah-leht	Where are the bathrooms?
Ce n’est pas grave.	suh neh pah grahv	No problem.
Je vais bien.	zhuh vay bee-ahn	I’m fine.
Allons-y!	ah-lohn-zee	Let’s go!
Tu parles anglais?	tew parl on-glay	Do you speak English? (informal)
Je ne sais pas.	zheh-nuh say pah	I don’t know.
Au revoir.	oh-reh-vwar	Goodbye.

Famous French quotations

In addition to basic words and phrases, you might want to have a couple quotes and sayings under your belt. We are working on separate lessons with French quotations, sayings and slang expressions. In the meantime, here are some inspirational quotes for you to enjoy.

Le genie est une longue patience.

Genius is patience.

- Buffon

C’est une grande habileté que de savoir cacher son habilité.

It takes great skill to hide the fact that you have great skill.

- Rochefoucauld

Le travail éloigne de nous trois grands maux: l’ennui, le vice et le besoin.

Work delivers us from three great evils: boredom, vice and want.

- Voltaire

Les homes ne croient jamais les autres capables de ce qu’ils ne le sont pas eux-mêmes.

People never believe others capable of doing that which they themselves are not capable of doing.

- De Gondi

Les grandes pensées viennent du coeur.

The greatest thoughts come from the heart.

- Marquis de Vauvenargues

L’homme n’est point fait pour méditer, mais pour agir.

Man was not made to meditate, he was made to act.

- Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Learn French Numbers — Cardinal numbers

Philippe Moulin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:48:20 +0000

French numbers come in handy in a variety of situations. You will need them when saying your age, asking and telling time, writing down a phone number, and many other situations. The table below provides the translation and pronunciation of all the French numbers you will need to put together any amount from zero to billion. The first twenty numbers are fairly easy and many of them serve as a foundation for larger numbers. If you need a quick reference on how to say a simple number like 12, 50 or 100 then you will be able to find it directly in the table. Putting together more complex combinations like 952 or 5078 requires that you understand new rules and patterns. The table includes several examples that will help you to figure out the patterns and put together the desired numbers in French.

Counting from 1 to 10

Audio	Number	French	Pronunciation
	0	zéro	[zay-ro]
	1	un	[uh(n)]
	2	deux	[duh]
	3	trois	[trwah]
	4	quatre	[kahtr]
	5	cinq	[sa(n)k]
	6	six	[sees]
	7	sept	[seht]
	8	huit	[weet]
	9	neuf	[nuhf]
	10	dix	[dees]

Counting from 11 to 20

Audio	Number	French	Pronunciation
	11	onze	[oh(n)z]
	12	douze	[dooz]
	13	treize	[trehz]
	14	quatorze	[kah-tohrz]
	15	quinze	[ka(n)z]
	16	seize	[sehz]
	17	dix-sept	[dee-seht]
	18	dix-huit	[dee-zweet]
	19	dix-neuf	[dee-znuhf]
	20	vingt	[va(n)]

More French numbers

Number	French	Pronunciation
21	vingt et un	[va(n) tay uh(n)]
30	trente	[trah(n)t]
40	quarante	[kah-rah(n)t]
50	cinquante	[sa(n)-kah(n)t]
60	soixante	[swah-sah(n)t]
70	soixante-dix	[swah-sah(n)t-dees]
71	soixante et onze	[swah-sah(n)t ay oh(n)z]
72	soixante-douze	[swah-sah(n)t-dooz]
80	quatre-vingts	[kahtr-va(n)]
81	quatre-vingt-un	[kahtr-va(n)-uh(n)]
82	quatre-vingt-deux	[kahtr-va(n)-duh]
90	quatre-vingt-dix	[kahtr-va(n)-dees]
100	cent	[sah(n)]
101	cent un	[sah(n) uh(n)]
200	deux cents	[duh sah(n)]
300	trois cents	[trwah sah(n)]
400	quatre cents	[kahtr sah(n)]
500	cinq cents	[sa(n)k sah(n)]
600	six cents	[sees sah(n)]
700	sept cents	[seht sah(n)]
800	huit cents	[weet sah(n)]
900	neuf cents	[nuhf sah(n)]
943	neuf cent quarante-trois	[nuhf sah(n) kah-rah(n)t trwah]
1000	mille	[meel]
2000	deux mille	[duh meel]
3000	trois mille	[trwah meel]
4000	quatre mille	[kahtr meel]
5000	cinq mille	[sa(n)k meel]
million	un million	[uh(n) meel-yoh(n)]
billion	un milliard	[uh(n) meel-yahr]

Pronunciation of French numbers by Bouillaguet Flora.
Audio recordings: Copyright© 2007 Bouillaguet Flora, Vion Nicolas CC-BY

Days of the Week in French

Philippe Moulin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:27:13 +0000

This lesson will teach you how to say the days of the week in French (Les Jours de la Semaine). All days of the week in French end in “-di” with the exception of Sunday. And you will find it easy to remember their gender because they are all masculine. Unlike in English, French days of the week are not capitalized unless they are placed in the beginning of a sentence. It’s also worthwhile to mention that French calendars normally start on Monday rather than Sunday.

Audio	French word	English translation	Pronunciation
	lundi	Monday	luh(n)-dee
	mardi	Tuesday	mahr-dee
	mercredi	Wednesday	mehr-kruh-dee
	jeudi	Thursday	zhuh-dee
	vendredi	Friday	vah(n)-druh-dee
	samedi	Saturday	sahm-dee
	dimanche	Sunday	dee-mah(n)sh

*French pronunciation of days of the week by Labé. French standard accent, west of France.
Audio recording distributed under CC-SA-3.0

If you want to know what day is today, the following phrase will be helpful:

Quel jour est-ce aujourd’hui?
What day is it today? [kehl zhoor ehs oh-zhoor-dwee]

In order to say that something happened “on” a certain day in French, you need to use the indefinite article “le” (masculine) in front of the day of the week. For example:

Le vendredi, je m’amuse.
On Fridays, I have fun.

Le mercredi je cuisine.
On Wednesday, I cook.

More French Words for Scheduling and Planning

Below you will find several more French words and phrases that will help you to talk about schedules and calendar events in French.

French word	English translation	Pronunciation
fin de semaine	weekend	fin deh suh-mehn
jour de congé	day off
jour de travail	working day
demain	tomorrow	duh-ma(n)
aujourd’hui	today	oh-zhoor-dwee
hier	yesterday	yehr
cette semaine	this week	seht suh-mehn
la semaine prochaine	next week	lah suh-mehn proh-shehn
la semaine dernière	last week	lah suh-mehn dehr-nyah
un jour	a day	uh(n) zhoor
une semaine	a week	ewn suh-mehn
un mois	a month	uh(n) mwah
un an	a year	uh(n) nah(n)

Review the French Days of the Week

Watch the video below to review the French days of the week. Repeating new words once again will help you memorize the new French vocabulary for good.

Colors in French language

Philippe Moulin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:44:50 +0000

Learning colors in French (Les Couleurs) really isn’t that difficult. You’ll find that you’ll be able to name all the primary colors in no time. Whether you’d like to prepare for a shopping spree in a French-speaking country or looking for the pronunciation of colors related to genders (pink for girls, blue for boys) this lessons has the answers you need. Whatever your reason, learning French words for colors is a fun way to increase your essential French vocabulary and get the hang of a few basic grammar concepts.

	noir	black [nwahr]
	blanc	white [blahN]
	rouge	red [roozh]
	bleu	blue [bluh]
	vert	green [vehr]
	orange	orange [oh-rahNzh]
	jaune	yellow [zhon]
	marron	brown (of object)
	brun	brown (of hair, skin, eyes) [bruhN]
	violet	violet
	rose	pink [roz]
	gris	gray [gree]
	beige	beige [behzh]
	mauve	purple [mov]
	couleur	color [koo-luhr]
	les couleurs	colors [lay koo-luhr]

Unlike in English, the words for colors appear after nouns in French. So if you were to say “pink shirt” in French the proper word order would be “shirt pink”.

Light and Dark Shades of the Color

There are two useful words that will enable you to describe the shade of a color — clair for light and foncé for dark. Simply add the desired modifier to the name of a color to describe a new shade as shown in the examples below.

	bleu clair	sky-blue
	bleu foncé	dark-blue, navy
	vert foncé	dark-green

The good news is that colors formed with the help of clair and foncé don’t follow the rules of agreement. In other words, there is only one form to use in all possible situations. For example, if you wanted to say “he has light blue eyes” in French you would have to use the dictionary form of the color bleu without any changes: il a les yeux bleu clair.

Agreement with Nouns and Pronouns

If you look into your French dictionary you will notice that all words for colors are adjectives. An adjective is a word that describes nouns and pronouns. In French language, all adjectives agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the nouns and pronous that they modify. For instance, if you wanted say that you have blue eyes (eyes = yeux – masculine plural) then you’d have to select the matching masculine plural form of the color blue (bleus). You may want to dedicate more time to practicing the agreement of adjectives with the words that they describe. The following table will help you to learn many different forms that words for colors assume depending on whether they modify masculine, feminine, singular or plural nouns and pronouns. You will find that some colors are much easier to learn then the rest as they have exactly the same form in all genders and numbers.

Color	Masculine sing.	Feminine sing.	Masculine plural	Feminine plural
black	noir	noire	noirs	noires
white	blanc	blanche	blancs	blanches
red	rouge	rouge	rouges	rouges
blue	bleu	bleue	bleus	bleues
green	vert	verte	verts	vertes
orange	orange	orange	orange	orange
yellow	jaune	jaune	jaunes	jaunes
brown	marron	marron	marron	marron
violet	violet	violette	violets	violettes
pink	rose	rose	roses	roses
gray	gris	grise	gris	grises

Review French Colors

Watch the video below to hear the colors pronounced in French. Repeating the French names of colors once again will help you memorize the new French vocabulary for good.

Learn the French Alphabet

Elisabeth — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:11:46 +0000

There are two aspects to learning the French alphabet (L’alphabet français) – learning the letters and their names, and learning the sounds which are represented by letters, accent marks, and letter combinations. This lesson will teach you how to pronounce the names of the 26 letters of the French alphabet. The French sound inventory is explaned in a lesson on French pronunciation where you will learn about French vowels, consonants, accent marks, and essential pronunciaiton rules.

The French alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. It consists of the same 26 letters as the modern English alphabet, however many letters are pronounced differently. Knowing the letter names will come in handy when you need to recite an alphabet or spell each letter in a word individually as if you were in a spelling bee contest. The table below shows proper letter names.

French letter	Letter name	IPA transcription
Aa	ah	/a/
Bb	beh	/be/
Cc	seh	/se/
Dd	deh	/de/
Ee	uh	/ə/
Ff	eff	/ɛf/
Gg	zheh	/ʒe/
Hh	ahsh	/aʃ/
Ii	ee	/i/
Jj	zhee	/ʒi/
Kk	kah	/ka/
Ll	ell	/ɛl/
Mm	em	/ɛm/
Nn	en	/ɛn/
Oo	oh	/o/
Pp	peh	/pe/
Qq	koo	/ky/
Rr	air	/ɛʀ/
Ss	ess	/ɛs/
Tt	teh	/te/
Uu	ooh	/y/
Vv	veh	/ve/
Ww	doobl-veh	/dubləve/
Xx	eeks	/iks/
Yy	ee-grek	/igrək/
Zz	zed	/zɛd/

French accents

In addition, the base Latin letters are extended in French with accent marks and ligatures. There are five accent marks used in written French. The accents are used to change the sounds of the French letters, graphically distinguish words whose spelling would otherwise be the same, or indicate an S that existed in old French. Each accent mark can be applied only to certain letters. The accents are required on small letters, but they are often omitted on capital letters.

Accent	Letters used	Examples
acute accent ´ (accent aigu)	é only	éléphant: elephant
grave accent ` (accent grave)	è, à, ù	fièvre: fever, là: there où: where
circumflex ˆ (accent circonflexe)	â, ê, î, ô, û	gâteau: cake, être: to be, île: island, chômage: unemployment, dû: past participle of devoir
diaeresis ¨ (tréma)	ë, ï, ü, ÿ	Noël: Christmas, maïs: corn, aigüe: acute(fem)
cedilla ¸ (cédille)	ç only	français: French

French ligatures

Æ æ – formed from the letters a and e. It is used to spell Latin and Greek borrowings like tænia and ex æquo.

Œ œ – a ligature of o and e. It is most prominent in the words cœur (“heart”), sœur (“sister”), œuf (“egg”) and œil (“eye”), in which it represents the sound /œ/ or /ø/. French also uses œ in direct borrowings from Latin and Greek. So, “cœliac” in French is cœliaque. In such cases, the œ is pronounced /e/. In some words, e.g. phénix, the œ is changed to a more French é.