Basic French Words and Phrases for Beginners (With Pronunciation)

The basic French words and phrases a beginner needs first are bonjour (hello), merci (thank you), s’il vous plaît (please), excusez-moi (excuse me) and je ne comprends pas (I don’t understand), plus the numbers one to twenty, the days of the week, and everyday nouns learned with le or la. Each one below comes with a sounds-like hint.

How to read the hints: capitals mark the syllable to lean on, and (n) means a nasal vowel, so you push the vowel through your nose and do not pronounce the n itself.

Greetings and polite phrases

Tu or vous: pick before you say hello

French has two words for “you.” Vous is the polite form and also the plural, so use it with strangers, shop and café staff, older people, and any group. Tu is for friends, family, children, and anyone who starts using tu with you. Starting with vous is never rude; starting with tu with a stranger can be. That is why the table above has two versions of “please.” The tu vs vous guide in this series covers the gray areas.

Introducing yourself

Liaison: the sound that joins two words

Many final consonants in French are silent, but some come back to life when the next word starts with a vowel and the two words belong together, such as a pronoun and its verb or an article and its noun. This is liaison, and in these fixed pairs it is not optional. You already met one above: vous appelez.

Without the linking sound, vous avez sounds like two separate words, and listeners notice. The silent letters and liaison guide in this series goes deeper.

Question words and survival phrases

Je voudrais is the polite way to ask for anything. The café and bakery guide in this series covers ordering in full.

Everyday nouns, always with their gender

Every French noun is masculine or feminine, and the article tells you which: le and un for masculine, la and une for feminine. Learn each noun with its article, never alone. Watch out for l’ before a vowel: l’école hides the gender, so learn it as une école.

Numbers one to twenty, then the tens

Two things trip up English speakers. First, six and dix change shape: said alone they end in an s sound, before a consonant that sound disappears (six livres, “see LEEVR”), and before a vowel it becomes a z. Huit loses its t before a consonant too. Second, French counts by twenties after sixty: seventy is literally “sixty-ten” and eighty is “four twenties.” In Belgium and Switzerland you will hear septante for seventy and nonante for ninety. In between, the pattern is regular: fifty-one is cinquante et un, fifty-two is cinquante-deux.

Days of the week

Days are masculine and written in lowercase. No word for “on” is needed: lundi means on Monday (one specific Monday), and le lundi means on Mondays, every week. On verra ça lundi: we’ll see about that on Monday.

Seven verbs that carry most beginner sentences

False friends and calques in these exact words

These are the mistakes English speakers make in week one, because the English word or sentence pattern pulls them the wrong way.

The last two follow one rule: French uses avoir, to have, for hunger, cold and age. The false friends guide in this series lists many more.

Say this today

Five sentences you can use on day one, built only from the words above.

Saying them out loud matters more than reading them; Polly, the PollyStop tutor, is a patient partner to try them on.

Frequently asked questions

What are the first French words a beginner should learn?

Start with bonjour, merci, s’il vous plaît, excusez-moi, au revoir and je ne comprends pas. Then learn the numbers one to twenty, the days of the week, and everyday nouns such as la gare, le magasin and la maison, always with their article.

Should a beginner say tu or vous in French?

Use vous with anyone you do not know, with staff in shops and cafés, with older people and with groups. Use tu with friends, family and children. If in doubt, choose vous, since it is never rude.

Why are French numbers after sixty so strange?

France counts by twenties from sixty on. Seventy is soixante-dix, sixty-ten; eighty is quatre-vingts, four twenties; ninety is quatre-vingt-dix. Belgium and Switzerland say septante for seventy and nonante for ninety.

How do I know if a French noun is masculine or feminine?

The safest way is to learn every noun with un or une, because le, la and l’ do not always show it. L’école looks neutral, but une école tells you it is feminine.