French Basics

This deck introduces some of the most common and useful phrases in French, focusing on everyday greetings, polite expressions, and simple introductions. From saying hello and goodbye to asking how someone is doing or introducing yourself, these are the building blocks you'll reach for in almost any conversation. Mastering these basics will give you a warm and confident start whenever you meet a French speaker.

It's a great fit if you're an absolute beginner just starting out with French, or if you're preparing for travel and want a handful of phrases ready to go. Even if you've picked up a few words here and there, this set helps you organize the essentials into a reliable toolkit you can pull from without hesitation.

To get the most out of these cards, try saying each phrase out loud as you review, since pronunciation is a big part of making yourself understood. Spacing your review sessions over several days works much better than cramming everything at once, so come back to the deck regularly rather than trying to finish it in one sitting. Once a phrase feels familiar, challenge yourself to use it in a short made-up sentence — that's a fast way to move it from short-term memory into something you actually remember.

French conversation typically opens with a time-appropriate greeting. During the day, Bonjour serves as the universal "Hello" or "Good day," while Bonsoir takes over in the evening, usually after around 6 PM. Bonne nuit has a different function: it is used only when parting at night or going to bed, never as a greeting. When leaving, Au revoir — literally "until we see each other again" — is the standard "Goodbye." To get attention or apologize for a small interruption, you would say Excusez-moi (formal) or simply Pardon, which works in situations like bumping into someone or asking them to repeat themselves.

Politeness is woven into everyday French exchanges. S'il vous plaît, meaning "please," uses the formal vous; with friends or family you switch to s'il te plaît. The response to thanks is De rien ("you're welcome," literally "of nothing"), though the more formal je vous en prie is also common. Merci alone expresses thanks, while merci beaucoup intensifies it to "thank you very much." When someone asks how you are, the standard response is Je vais bien ("I am doing well"), or you can use the more casual Ça va bien, merci.

Introductions follow predictable patterns. To ask someone's name, you say Comment vous appelez-vous? (formal) or Comment tu t'appelles? (informal), both of which employ the reflexive verb s'appeler. You answer with Je m'appelle followed by your name — literally "I call myself." After the exchange, Enchanté (masculine) or Enchantée (feminine) — "Nice to meet you," or more poetically "enchanted" — closes the introduction. The question Comment allez-vous? asks "How are you?" formally; informally you would say Comment vas-tu? or the breezy Ça va?. For simple affirmation and negation, French uses oui ("yes") and non ("no"), with a special twist: si means "yes" when contradicting a negative statement, so if someone says "You didn't eat," you reply "Si, I did."

French numbers build a foundation for telling time, shopping, and counting. From zero through ten, the vocabulary is: zéro, un (with the feminine form une), deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, and dix. The pronunciation of these numbers has some quirks worth noting: the final -q of cinq is pronounced only when the word stands alone, the -x of six and dix becomes silent before a consonant, the -p- of sept is silent (it sounds roughly like "set"), and the -f of neuf is pronounced as a v sound when followed by ans or heures.

Beyond ten, French uses base-ten terms with their own patterns. Vingt (20) normally has a silent final -t, but it is pronounced in compounds like vingt et un (21). Other round numbers include trente (30) and cinquante (50). For larger quantities, cent means 100 and mille means 1000. Cent takes a plural -s only when no other number follows it — so deux cents but deux cent dix. Mille, by contrast, never takes a plural -s.

French has dedicated words for relative days. Aujourd'hui means "today" (as in Aujourd'hui, c'est lundi, "Today is Monday"), demain means "tomorrow," and hier means "yesterday." To reach one day further out, après-demain means "the day after tomorrow," and avant-hier means "the day before yesterday." The farewell À demain! uses the preposition à to mean roughly "until tomorrow." When asking the time, the formula is Quelle heure est-il?, and the response begins with Il est followed by the hour — for example, Il est trois heures. In practical situations such as schedules, transportation, and appointments, French speakers frequently rely on the 24-hour clock rather than splitting time into AM and PM.

Color adjectives in French are essential for description, but they behave differently than their English counterparts. Several — rouge, jaune, and orange — are invariable, keeping the same form for both masculine and feminine nouns. Others add a final -e in the feminine: bleu becomes bleue (le ciel bleu, "the blue sky"), vert becomes verte (une feuille verte, "a green leaf"), and violet becomes violette (une fleur violette, "a purple flower"). A few follow more distinctive patterns: blanc takes the form blanche in the feminine (la neige blanche, "the white snow"), and noir similarly becomes noire (un chat noir, "a black cat").

French uses several families of articles to mark nouns. The definite articles — corresponding to English "the" — are le for masculine singular nouns (le livre, "the book"), la for feminine singular nouns (la maison, "the house"), and les for all plural nouns regardless of gender (les enfants, "the children"). Both le and la contract to l' when the next word begins with a vowel or a mute h, as in l'eau.

The indefinite articles — corresponding to English "a" or "one" — are un for masculine singular (un garçon, "a boy"), une for feminine singular (une fille, "a girl"), and des for plurals (des livres, "some books"). The partitive articles express quantities of something uncountable, equivalent to English "some." Du, a contraction of de + le, is used before masculine nouns (du pain, "some bread"), and de la is used before feminine nouns (de la musique, "some music"). When the following word begins with a vowel, the partitive becomes de l', as in de l'eau ("some water").

Subject pronouns identify who performs the action of a verb. Je means "I," and like several French words it elides before a vowel or mute h, becoming j', as in j'aime ("I love"). Tu means "you" in the singular informal sense, used with friends, family, children, and peers. Vous has two roles: it is the plural "you" for addressing groups, and also the formal singular "you" used with strangers, elders, and professional contacts. Choosing between tu and vous is one of the first social decisions a French learner makes.

For third-person pronouns, gender matters. Il means "he" or "it" for masculine nouns, while elle means "she" or "it" for feminine nouns, as in Elle est belle ("She is beautiful"). Il also serves as an impersonal pronoun in expressions about weather: il pleut means "it's raining." Nous is "we," although in everyday spoken French you will frequently hear on instead, even in grammatical contexts where nous would be more formal or correct.

Plural third-person pronouns obey a strict rule in French. Elles means "they" only when the entire group being referred to is female. If even a single male is present in the group, French switches to the masculine ils. This rule applies regardless of how many women are in the group — one man among many women is still ils. The same masculine-wins principle is foundational for keeping track of grammatical gender in many other situations across the language.

The verb être ("to be") is one of the cornerstones of French. In the present tense it conjugates as je suis, tu es, il/elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, and ils/elles sont. Although irregular, it is short enough to memorize fully and is used in countless descriptions, identities, and as an auxiliary verb in compound tenses. Avoir ("to have") is the other pillar: j'ai, tu as, il/elle a, nous avons, vous avez, and ils/elles ont. It too serves as an auxiliary, helping to form the passé composé and other compound tenses.

Aller ("to go") conjugates as je vais, tu vas, il/elle va, nous allons, vous allez, and ils/elles vont. Beyond its basic meaning, aller is the key to expressing the near future: je vais manger means "I am going to eat," equivalent to English "I'm going to." The verb faire ("to do" or "to make") follows an irregular pattern: je fais, tu fais, il/elle fait, nous faisons, vous faites, and ils/elles font. The vous faites form is worth memorizing specifically because it is irregular. Faire appears in many common expressions such as faire du sport ("to play sports").

The modal verbs vouloir ("to want") and pouvoir ("to be able to," "can") round out the essentials. Vouloir conjugates as je veux, tu veux, il/elle veut, nous voulons, vous voulez, and ils/elles veulent. Its conditional form je voudrais ("I would like") is the polite way to make requests. Pouvoir follows a similar irregular pattern: je peux, tu peux, il/elle peut, nous pouvons, vous pouvez, ils/elles peuvent. In formal yes-or-no questions, je peux rearranges into the inversion form puis-je. Most other French verbs follow the regular -er pattern, modeled by parler ("to speak"): je parle, tu parles, il/elle parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils/elles parlent. Note that the singular endings -e, -es, -e and the plural -ent are all silent, so three of the six forms sound identical. Parler can be followed directly by a language name without a preposition: Je parle français ("I speak French"). Some -er verbs undergo small spelling changes to preserve a soft consonant sound; for example, manger ("to eat") keeps the soft /ʒ/ sound by adding an -e- in nous mangeons: je mange, tu manges, il/elle mange, nous mangeons, vous mangez, ils/elles mangent.

Food vocabulary opens the door to everyday life in French-speaking contexts. Core items include l'eau ("water," feminine), le pain ("bread," with the iconic baguette as its most famous variety), le lait ("milk," as in un café au lait, "a coffee with milk"), and le riz ("rice," whose final -z is silent). Proteins include la viande ("meat"), le poisson ("fish" — distinct from the false friend poison, "poison," with only one -s-), and le poulet ("chicken" as food; a live hen is une poule and a rooster un coq). Dairy and staples include le fromage ("cheese" — France produces over 400 varieties) and l'œuf ("egg," masculine; the singular is pronounced roughly like "uff," while the plural les œufs loses the -f sound). Produce includes le fruit ("fruit," with a pronounced final -t, unlike English) and le légume ("vegetable"). Beverages include le vin ("wine," as in un verre de vin rouge).

Travelers rely on a small set of high-frequency phrases. Où est...? asks "Where is...?" — for example, Où est la gare? ("Where is the train station?") — while Où sont...? handles plural subjects such as Où sont les toilettes? ("Where are the toilets?"). In France, the word les toilettes is always plural. To ask the price, use Combien ça coûte? ("How much does this cost?") or the more casual C'est combien? To flag distress, you can shout Au secours! ("Help!") or say J'ai besoin d'aide ("I need help," literally "I have need of help"). When you don't catch what was said, Je ne comprends pas ("I don't understand") communicates the problem; in casual speech the ne often drops out, leaving Je comprends pas.

Restaurant interactions have their own formulaic lines. To ask whether someone speaks your language, use the formal Parlez-vous anglais? or the informal Tu parles anglais? — a courteous way to broach switching to a common language. Je voudrais ("I would like"), the conditional of vouloir, softens any request: Je voudrais un café. To reserve a seat, ask for Une table pour deux, s'il vous plaît ("A table for two, please"), substituting the appropriate number. On arrival you can confirm J'ai une réservation, often followed by au nom de ("under the name of") and your name. At the end of the meal, the polite request is L'addition, s'il vous plaît ("The check, please") — French dining culture typically requires you to ask rather than have the check brought automatically.

Family terms in French distinguish between formal and everyday usage, and the words for sons, daughters, and siblings form the basic building blocks. La mère is "mother" and le père is "father," while the informal counterparts maman ("mom") and papa ("dad") are used at home and with close family. For siblings, le frère means "brother" and la sœur means "sister," as in J'ai deux frères et une sœur ("I have two brothers and one sister").

Children have their own terminology. Le fils means "son" and is pronounced so that the -ls is heard, while la fille means both "daughter" and "girl," so context is needed to determine which is intended. The plural les enfants covers both sons and daughters. Note that fille as "girl" can be confusing for English speakers, since the related English word has shifted meaning; in French, une fille is simply a young female, whether or not she is anyone's daughter.

For extended family, les grands-parents means "grandparents," with le grand-père as "grandfather" and la grand-mère as "grandmother." Informal terms of endearment include papi or papy for a grandfather and mamie or mamy for a grandmother, mirroring the shift from père/mère to papa/maman between generations. These kinship words tie together the pronouns, articles, and gender agreement patterns seen earlier — every family member's noun is either le-masculine or la-feminine, and when referring to more than one relative, les is used regardless of gender.