Did you get the chance to read our previous articles on 100 Nouns and 100 Adjectives? In that case, I guess you saw this one coming! To complete your French arsenal, I present you with the most common and useful French verbs. 

They’ll greatly expand your capacity to build interesting phrases, as well as enhance your reading and listening skills. More importantly, they’ll get you through most of your daily interactions and you’re not likely to be caught off-guard once you’ve mastered them.
In this article, we’ll cover everything from French verb conjugation—including -er and -ir verbs—reflexive verbs, and of course, a list of the top 100 verbs for you to add to your vocabulary.

Table of Contents

1. Mastering French Verbs
2. The 100 Most Useful French Verbs
3. How FrenchPod101 Can Help You Learn More French

1. Mastering French Verbs

1- French Tenses are Scary

If you know a bit about French verb conjugation, you know it can be intimidating, with many groups, tenses, and exceptions. However, once you start understanding the logic underneath, you’ll soon brush this first impression off.

Of course, coming from the English language, even the Présent tense can seem a bit overwhelming, with distinct endings for each pronoun:

• Je pense
• Tu penses
• Il / Elle pense
• Nous pensons
• Vous pensez
• Ils pensent

This is not an article about tenses, and we’ll stick to the Présent for most of the examples, with occasional notes on the Passé composé (one of the three most common tenses in spoken French, alongside Present and Near Future).

And for all your conjugation needs, I suggest that you bookmark this website (or any similar online resource): https://la-conjugaison.nouvelobs.com/. Also keep in mind that FrenchPod101 will soon have another article dedicated to French verb conjugation rules! 

2- The Curse of Irregular Verbs

One important thing to keep in mind is that, like in most languages, the most prominent verbs are also the most irregular ones. People have been using these verbs so much over the centuries that they had plenty of opportunities to evolve, mutate, and twist in mysterious ways, to the point where some of their conjugated forms differ wildly from the infinitive. 

You shouldn’t be put off by the first verbs you’ll learn, such as être (“to be”) or aller (“to go”). Just like in English, these verbs are highly irregular. But I still recommend that you learn them first, as they’re also some of the absolute most useful French verbs you’ll encounter.

3- The Bliss of Regular Verbs

In the meantime, many other verbs will show similarities, and from them, you’ll get a grasp of how regular verbs work. 

Understanding regular French verbs early on will allow you to navigate through this list with much more ease, so here’s everything there is to know about conjugating French verbs:

Penser (“to think”) ← This is the infinitive form

Pens ← This is the “stem”

1st sg (I)	2nd sg (you)	3rd sg (she)	1st pl (we)	2nd pl (you)	3rd pl (they)
Stem + e	Stem + es	Stem + e	Stem + ons	Stem + ez	Stem + ent
Je pense	Tu penses	Elle pense	Nous pensons	Vous pensez	Ils pensent

4- Should You Care About Verb Groups?

Short answer: No.

Oh well, let me elaborate a little. It’s very common when learning French verbs to start with a lesson on verb groups. There are three groups based on verb endings:

• French ER verbs
• French IR verbs
• French RE verbs

Each of these groups follows a given set of rules that you can use as guidelines to conjugate virtually any French verb. Pretty cool, right? Except it doesn’t work.

The first group is somewhat regular…let’s say for the most part. Then, the other two groups are such a giant mess of irregularities that it doesn’t make sense to try and rely on groups at all. You’ll see that many of the IR and RE verbs from this very list don’t abide by any fixed set of rules. For that reason, I won’t talk about it any further.

5- How to Effectively Learn French Verbs

Understanding French verbs in their entirety may seem like an impossible task, and you’re probably wondering how to memorize French verbs easily and effectively. 

To quickly pick up on French verbs and conjugation, I recommend jumping right into it! Don’t clutter your memory with countless rules and conjugation tables. Instead, read the examples from this article’s verbs list and try to figure out for yourself the inner workings of their conjugation. Here are some questions to get you started:

• How does the infinitive end?
• How does it end now that it’s conjugated with this pronoun?
• Is it working like similar verbs I’ve seen before or could it be irregular?

The more you figure out by yourself, the more confident you’ll become with verbs and the quicker you’ll be able to handle them without overthinking it and dwelling on textbook rules. Only then can you consider reviewing what you’ve learned with some more academic material and get a better idea of the big picture.

Now, let’s review our French verbs list for beginners! 

→ Make sure to visit our vocabulary list on the most useful French verbs for absolute beginners, with audio recordings to practice your pronunciation. It’s freely available on FrenchPod101.

2. The 100 Most Useful French Verbs

These are French verbs used in daily life that you’ll hear over and over again in France. What are you waiting for? Get cracking!

1

être “to be”

Je suis Français. “I am French.”

2

avoir “to have”

Tu as une maison à Paris. “You have a house in Paris.”

Être and avoir are auxiliary verbs, which makes them the two most important French verbs. We use them to form compound conjugations in tenses such as passé composé and past subjunctive.

Here’s an example of passé composé with the verb manger (“to eat”):

• Présent: Je mange (“I eat”)
• Passé composé: J’ai mangé (“I have eaten”)

Here’s another example with the verb tomber (“to fall”):

• Présent: Je tombe (“I fall”)

• Passé composé: Je suis tombé (“I have fallen”)

/! When should I use the French auxiliary verbs être or avoir? We use avoir in most situations, except for these two cases: 1) We use être for all pronominal verbs (those starting with se) For example: se lever (“to stand up”) Présent: Je me lève (“I stand up”) Passé composé: Je me suis levé (“I have stood up”) 2) We also use être for a few other verbs, most of them reflecting a change of direction, state, or movement. Some examples: monter, rester, retourner, descendre, passer, venir, aller, entrer, sortir, arriver, partir, tomber

Now that our auxiliaries are under control, let’s get back to our list!

3

aller “to go”	Vous allez à l’école le lundi. “You go to school on Mondays.”
Aller is used to form one of the most important tenses of spoken French: Near Future. Tu vas voir ! (“You will see!”) Ils vont s’amuser. (“They will have fun.”)

4

vouloir “to want,” “to wish”

Vous voulez du café ? “Do you want some coffee?”

5

pouvoir “can,” “to be able”

Il peut venir ce soir. “He can come tonight.”

6

devoir “must,” “to have to,” “to owe”	Nous devons y aller. “We need to go.”
Devoir is also a noun, meaning “duty.” L’appel du devoir (“The call of duty“)

7

falloir “to have to”

Il faut le voir pour le croire. “You have to see it to believe it.”

8

faire “to do,” “to make”

Ils font la paix. “They are making peace.”

9

dire “to tell,” “to say”

Tu dis ce que tu penses. “You say what you think.”

10

parler “to speak”

Nous parlons souvent. “We speak often.”

11

aimer “to like,” “to love”	J’aime le fromage. “I love cheese.”
It’s interesting to notice that “to like” and “to love” translate into the same French verb. So, when I say: J’aime ma femme (“I love my wife”) and J’aime le fromage (“I love cheese”), it conveys a similar intensity. Not so romantic now, are we?

12

mettre “to put,” “to place”

Je mets le rôti au four. “I put the roast in the oven.”

13

remettre “to put back”

Tu remets ton chapeau. “You’re putting your hat back.”

14

poser “to put down,” “to ask”

Il pose son sac dans la chambre. “He’s putting his bag in the bedroom.” Elle pose trop de questions. “She’s asking too many questions.”

15

prendre “to take,” “to catch,” “to capture”

Il prend le bus tous les jours. “He takes the bus everyday.”

16

donner “to give”

Nous donnerons bientôt notre réponse. “We will give our answer shortly.”

17

savoir “to know”

Je ne sais pas. “I don’t know.”

18

voir “to see”

Les chats voient dans le noir. “Cats can see in the dark.”

19

entendre “to hear”

Ils ont entendu un bruit. “They have heard a noise.”

20

demander “to ask,” “to request”

Tu as demandé l’addition ? “Did you ask for the check?”

21

répondre “to answer,” “to reply”

Il répond à un email. “He’s answering an email.”

22

chercher “to look for”

Nous cherchons un appartement. “We are looking for a flat.”

23

trouver “to find,” “to discover”

Il trouve toujours une solution. “He always finds a solution.”

24

retrouver “to regain,” “to meet up”

On se retrouve devant la gare. “We’re meeting in front of the train station.”

25

rendre “to return,” “to give back,” “to make”

Tu vas rendre cet argent. “You will give this money back.”

26

venir “to come”

Nous venons en paix. “We come in peace.”

27

passer “to pass,” “to go,” “to come”

Il est passé par ici. “He came this way.”

28

croire “to believe,” “to think”

Je crois qu’il est là. “I think he’s here.”

29

montrer “to show”

Montrez-moi vos mains. “Show me your hands.”

30

commencer “to begin,” “to start”

Le film commence maintenant. “The movie is starting now.”

31

continuer “to continue,” “to keep going”

Continuez tout droit. “Keep going straight.”

32

penser “to think”

Je ne pense pas. “I don’t think so.”

33

comprendre “to understand,” “to include,” “to comprehend”

Ils ne comprennent rien. “They don’t understand anything.”

34

rester “to stay,” “to remain”

Restez calme. “Remain calm.”

35

attendre “to wait”

J’attends mon bus. “I’m waiting for my bus.”

36

partir “to leave”

Tu pars demain ? “Are you leaving tomorrow?”

37

arriver “to arrive,” “to happen”

Il est arrivé en retard. “He arrived late.” Ça arrive tous les jours. “It happens everyday.”

38

suivre “to follow”

Suivez cette voiture ! “Follow this car!”

39

revenir “to come back”

Nous revenons de vacances. “We are coming back from vacation.”

40

connaître “to know”

Ils connaissent ce restaurant. “They know this restaurant.”

41

compter “to count”

Je vais compter jusqu’à 10. “I will count to 10.”

42

permettre “to permit,” “to allow”	Ils nous permettent d’entrer. “They allow us to enter.”
French idiom time! Tu permets ? (“Do you mind?”) [Casual] Vous permettez ? (“Would you mind?”) [Polite]

43

s’occuper “to take care of”

Il s’occupe des enfants. “He’s taking care of the kids.”

44

sembler “to seem”

Cela semble certain. “It seems certain.”

45

lire “to read”

Elle lit le journal. “She’s reading the newspapers.”

Nous lisons un livre. (“We are reading a book.”)

46

écrire “to write”

Nous écrivons sur un blog. “We are writing on a blog.”

47

devenir “to become,” “to turn into”

Je veux devenir pilote. “I want to become a pilot.”

48

décider “to decide”

Vous avez décidé de venir ? “Did you decide to come?”

49

tenir “to hold”

Je te tiendrai la main. “I will hold your hand.”

50

porter “to carry,” “to wear”

Il est interdit de porter des bretelles. “It is forbidden to wear suspenders.”

51

servir “to serve”

Ils servent de la soupe. “They are serving soup.”

52

laisser “to leave,” “to allow,” “to let”

Laissez-moi tranquille ! “Leave me alone!”

53

envoyer “to send”

Ils vont l’envoyer par la poste. “They will send it by mail.”

54

recevoir “to receive”

Elle ne l’a pas encore reçu. “She didn’t receive it yet.”

55

vivre “to live”

Nous vivons en Russie. “We live in Russia.”

56

appeler “to call”

Je t’appelle plus tard. “I’ll call you later.”

57

rappeler “to remind,” “to call back”

Je te rappelle dans un moment. “I’ll call you back in a moment.”

58

présenter “to introduce,” “to present”

Je te présenterai ma fiancée. “I’ll introduce you to my fiancée.”

59

accepter “to accept”

Nous acceptons Visa et Mastercard. “We accept Visa and Mastercard.”

60

refuser “to refuse”

Il a refusé de travailler là. “He refused to work there.”

61

agir “to act”

Tu agis bizarrement. “You’re acting weird.”

62

jouer “to play”

Vous jouez à quoi ? “What are you playing?”

63

reconnaître “to recognize,” “to acknowledge”

Je ne l’avais pas reconnue. “I didn’t recognize her.”

64

choisir “to choose,” “to select”

Choisis bien ! “Choose well!”

65

toucher “to touch”

Je peux toucher ? “Can I touch?”

66

expliquer “to explain”

Expliquez moi comment y aller. “Explain to me how to go there.”

67

Se lever “to stand up,” “to get out of bed”

Je me lève tous les jours à 8h. “I get out of bed everyday at 8 o’clock.”

68

ouvrir “to open”

Il ouvre son cadeau. “He’s opening his present.”

69

gagner “to win,” “to earn”

On a gagné ! “We won!”

70

perdre “to lose”

Tu perds la tête. “You’re losing your mind.”

71

exister “to exist”

Ça existe encore ? “Does it still exist?”

72

réussir “to succeed,” “to manage”

J’ai réussi à le réparer. “I managed to fix it.”

73

changer “to change”

Il va changer de coiffure. “He will change his haircut.”

74

travailler “to work”

Nous travaillons dans l’informatique. “We work in IT.”

75

dormir “to sleep”

Elle dort sur le canapé. “She’s sleeping on the couch.”

76

marcher “to walk”

Ils marchent très rapidement. “They walk really fast.”

77

essayer “to try,” “to attempt”

J’essaye une nouvelle technique. “I’m trying a new technique.”

78

empêcher “to prevent,” “to stop”

Ca ne t’empêche pas d’essayer. “It doesn’t stop you from trying.”

79

reprendre “to resume,” “to take back”

Il reprend sa partie. “He’s resuming his game.”

80

cuisiner “to cook”

Vous cuisinez du cassoulet. “You’re cooking cassoulet.”

81

appartenir “to belong”

Cette maison appartient à ma famille. “This house belongs to my family.”

82

risquer “to risk”

Il risque sa vie tous les jours. “He’s risking his life everyday.”

83

apprendre “to learn,” “to teach”

Vous apprenez le Français sur FrenchPod101. “You’re learning French on FrenchPod101.”

84

rencontrer “to meet”

On s’est rencontrés sur Internet. “We met on the Internet.”

85

créer “to create”

Les écrivains créent des mondes imaginaires. “Writers create imaginary worlds.”

86

obtenir “to obtain,” “to get”

Il a obtenu son diplôme. “He got his degree.”

87

entrer “to enter”

Elle entre par la porte de derrière. “She’s entering through the back door.”

88

sortir “to exit,” “to go out,” “to leave”

Tu sors, ce soir ? “Are you going out tonight?”

89

proposer “to offer,” “to suggest”

Nous vous offrons un poste. “We offer you a position.”

90

apporter “to bring”

J’ai apporté du saucisson. “I’ve brought saucisson.”

91

utiliser “to use”

On utilise des engrais naturels. “We use natural fertilizers.”

92

atteindre “to reach,” “to achieve”

Ça a atteint de nouveaux sommets. “It has reached new heights.”

93

préparer “to prepare,” “to make”

Je prépare le déjeuner. “I’m making lunch.”

94

ajouter “to add”

Ajoutons un peu de sel. “Let’s add a bit of salt.”

95

voyager “to travel”

Je voyage en Europe. “I travel in Europe.”

96

payer “to pay”

Avez-vous payé l’addition ? “Did you pay the check?”

97

vendre “to sell,” “to distribute”

Je vends mon appareil photo. “I’m selling my camera.”

98

acheter “to buy”

Tu achètes un ordinateur. “You buy a computer.”

99

pousser “to push”

Nous devons pousser la voiture. “We have to push the car.”

100

tirer “to pull,” “to shoot”

Il faut tirer très fort. “You have to pull real hard.”

→ Learn more about the pronunciation of French verbs with our free vocabulary lists on the most commonly used verbs in any language and the 50 most common French verbs.

Il pousse le canapé. (“He’s pushing the couch.”)

3. How FrenchPod101 Can Help You Learn More French

In this French verbs guide, you’ve learned everything about French verbs, from conjugation to auxiliary, groups, and irregular French verbs. And of course, you now have a wide selection of the most useful French verbs, with examples to get you familiar with them.

Did I forget any important verb that you know? Do you feel ready to put them to work in your daily conversations with French speakers?

FrenchPod101 also has tons of vocabulary lists with audio recordings and free resources to boost your studies and keep your French learning fresh and entertaining!

Remember that you can also use our premium service,  MyTeacher, to get personal one-on-one coaching. Your private teacher can help you practice with verbs and conjugation using assignments, personalized exercises, and recorded audio samples for you. They can also review yours to help improve your pronunciation. Happy learning on FrenchPod101!

Do you feel like your French is awkwardly congested with unnecessary repetitions? Wish there was a way to make these go away, and replace them with…let me think…beautiful pronouns? Oh, hey, what a coincidence!

French pronouns are what keep you from repeating the same things over and over when it’s already been mentioned, or when it’s just plain obvious. For example, you wouldn’t call your friends by their names in every single sentence. It’s better to use personal pronouns, such as tu, il, or elle. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

In this article, we’ll talk about the ten main categories of French pronouns—direct and indirect object pronouns all the way to the relative pronouns. 

There’s a lot of French pronouns rules to process and a hefty load of vocabulary, so spend as much time as you need to read the examples or to practice making sentences on your own, and you’ll be a pronouns expert before you know it. =)

Table of Contents

1. Personal Pronouns
2. Impersonal Pronouns
3. How FrenchPod101 Can Help You Learn More French

1. Personal Pronouns 

Alright, it’s time to make it personal and start with the first thing you think about when you hear “pronouns.”

Personal pronouns are everywhere, in almost every sentence, and you won’t empower your French without a deep and thorough dive into the crux of that matter.

These are the different types of personal pronouns:

• Subject
• Stressed
• Direct object
• Indirect object
• Reflexive

We’ll look into every one of these types, but before we do, here’s an overview of what they all look like:

Subject	Stressed	Direct object	Indirect object	Reflexive
je	moi	me	me	me
tu	toi	te	te	te
il; elle; on	lui; elle; soi	le; la	lui	se
nous; on	nous	nous	nous	nous
vous	vous	vous	vous	vous
ils; elles	eux; elles	les	leur	se

Now, let’s have a closer look at these French pronouns and how to use them. We’ll also look at how they behave and how they compare to their English counterparts.

1- Personal Subject Pronouns

No matter your level of French, you already know these guys. They’re some of the most basic and common words in the language, featured in the very first sentences you ever learned.

These pronouns simply replace the subject of a sentence.

For example:

• Marie a faim. 

“Marie is hungry.”

• Elle a faim. 

“She is hungry.”

Subject	Example
je (“I”)	Je suis Français.  “I am French.”
tu (“you”)	Tu as raison.  “You are right.”
il (“he”) elle (“she”) on (*)	Il frappe à la porte.  “He is knocking on the door.” Elle frappe à la porte.  “She is knocking at the door.” On frappe à la porte.  “Someone is knocking at the door.”
nous, on (“we”)	Nous sommes mariés.  “We are married.“
vous (“you”)	Vous êtes de vrais amis.  “You are true friends.”
ils, elles (“they”)	Ils vont bien.  “They are doing well.”

(*) On is an odd case. It can be used as an indefinite pronoun or as an alternative to nous.

Depending on the sentence and context, on can translate as “someone,” “one,” or “people.”

• On pourrait croire que… 

“One could think that…”

• A l’époque, on pensait que… 

“At the time, people thought that…”

In other cases, on translates into a slightly casual nous. Indeed, in most conversations, you’ll use on instead of nous.

• On sera un peu en retard ce soir. 

“We will be a bit late tonight.”

• On va prendre la voiture. 

“We will take the car.”

2- Stressed Pronouns

No need to bang your head anywhere, these pronouns are much more stressed than they are stressful. They’re even pretty straightforward, once you get to know them!

	Stressed	Example
1st person [s]	moi	C’est moi !  “It’s me!”
2nd person [s]	toi	J’en ai un. Et toi ?  “I’ve got one. And you?”
3rd person [s]	lui; elle; soi	Nous sommes différents, lui et moi.  “We are different, he and I.” Avec ou sans elle  “With or without her”
1st person [p]	nous	Ils sont plus fort que nous.  “They are stronger than us.”
2nd person [p]	vous	Nous sommes meilleurs que vous.  “We are better than you.”
3rd person [p]	eux; elles	Ne fais pas attention à eux.  “Don’t mind them.”

Don’t let the stressed pronouns get on your nerves!

3- Direct and Indirect Pronouns

Now it’s getting serious! Before we get to these French pronouns examples, we need to talk about how they work and how to place direct and indirect pronouns in a sentence.

First, you need to find out whether you need a COD (Complément d’Objet Direct, not Call of Duty!) or a COI (Complément d’Objet Indirect).

COD answers the question: “Who?” or “What?“

COI answers the question: “To whom?” or “To what?“

And here are the different forms:

	Direct object	Indirect object
1st person [s]	me	me
2nd person [s]	te	te
3rd person [s]	le; la	lui
1st person [p]	nous	nous
2nd person [p]	vous	vous
3rd person [p]	les	leur

• Let’s take an example: 

Julie donne une pomme. 

“Julie gives an apple.”

Subject + Verb + ?

Julie donne quoi ? 

“Julie gives what?”

Une pomme. 

“An apple.”

Une pomme is our COD.

Now, we’ll replace une pomme with a direct pronoun and it changes the order of the words:

Subject + Direct Pronoun + Verb.

Julie la donne. 

“Julie gives it.”

• Let’s take another example: 

Julie parle aux enfants. 

“Julie talks to the kids.”

Subject + Verb + ?

Julie parle à qui ? 

“Julie talks to whom?”

Aux enfants. 

“To the kids.”

Aux enfants is our COI.

Now, we’ll replace aux enfants with an indirect pronoun and change the order to:

Subject + Indirect Pronoun + Verb.

Julie leur parle. 

“Julie talks to them.”

• And finally, let’s see how to use direct pronouns and indirect pronouns in one single sentence. What’s Julie up to?

Julie donne une pomme aux enfants.  

“Julie gives an apple to the kids.”

We already know that une pomme is COD and aux enfants is COI.

The sentence is built as follows: 

Subject + Direct Pronoun +  Indirect Pronoun + Verb

Julie la leur donne. 

“Julie gives it to them.”

Okay, that was heavy! Let’s relax a bit with some more examples to help you get familiar with the structures:

• Julie donne une pomme à Cyril. (That’s me!)

Julie me la donne. 

“Julie gives it to me.”

• Julie donne une pomme au lecteur. (She gives it to the reader, that’s you!)

Julie te la donne. 

“Julie gives it to you.”

• Julie te les donne. 

“Julie gives it to you.”

(But it’s plural; there are several apples.)

• Julie me les présente. 

“Julie introduces them to me.”

• Julie te la présente. 

“Julie introduces her to you.”

• Julie nous la présente. 

“Julie introduces her to us.”

Elle la lui donne. (“She gives it to her.”)

4- Reflexive Pronouns

I’d like to tell you that the worst part is behind us, but reflexive pronouns are still in the way!

Reflexive pronouns are used with reflexive verbs, such as:

• Se laver
• S’appeler
• S’intéresser

While there’s nothing inherently complex about them, English-speakers can find them quite arbitrary. (Why are s’habiller or s’appeler reflexive verbs while manger is not?)

The general idea is that verbs that imply an action on yourself are reflexive, and can usually be translated using an additional “oneself.”

For example:

• Nous nous lavons. 

“We wash [ourselves].”

• Je m’appelle Bob. 

“I call [myself] Bob.” = “My name is Bob.”

• Il se demande. 

“He asks himself.”

• Elle s’habille. 

“She dresses [herself].”

Many verbs involving a motion of some sort are also reflexive.

• Il s’éloigne. 

“He moves [himself] away.”

• Je m’assois. 

“I sit [myself].”

	Reflexive	Examples
1st person [s]	me	Je me lève.  “I stand up.”
2nd person [s]	te	Tu te demandes.  “You wonder.”
3rd person [s]	se	Elle se promène.  “She strolls.”
1st person [p]	nous	Nous nous endormons.  “We fall asleep.”
2nd person [p]	vous	Vous vous rasez.  “You shave.”
3rd person [p]	se	Ils s’inscrivent.  “They register.”

→ Make sure you visit our vocabulary list about French’s most useful pronouns, with audio recordings to practice your pronunciation. It’s freely available on FrenchPod101.

2. Impersonal Pronouns

1- Impersonal Subject Pronouns

If you like to keep it to yourself and never show your true feelings, you have a lot in common with impersonal pronouns! Let’s see how to stay vague in French, starting with the impersonal subject pronouns:

• Ça; ce; c’ 

“It”

• Il 

“It”

What? Did you expect another big flashy tab, full of rows and colorful columns?

Now, here’s how to use them:

• Ça commence maintenant. 

“It starts now.”

• Ce n’est la première fois. 

“It is not the first time.”

• C’est terminé. 

“It is over.”

• Il est impossible d’entrer. 

“It is impossible to enter.”

• Il est temps. 

“It is time.”

2- French Adverbial Pronouns

Not an overwhelming list either, but I can’t stress enough how important they are!

• y 

“there”; “about it”

• en 

“one”; “some”; “of it”; “of them”

y is used to replace à [quelque chose] (“to [something]”; “about [something]”) or en [quelque chose] (“in [something]”)

This [something] is often a place, but not always, as long as it’s inanimate.

• Je veux aller à Paris. 

“I want to go to Paris.”

Je veux y aller. 

“I want to go there.”

• Je pense à mon avenir. 

“I think about my future.”

J’y pense. 

“I think about it.”

• Je crois en la science. 

“I believe in science.”

J’y crois. 

“I believe in it.”

en is used to replace de(s) ____ (“some ____”; “of ____”)

You’ll see it a lot when talking about quantities.

• J’ai une pomme. 

“I have an apple.”

J’en ai une. 

“I have one.”

• J’ai deux frères. 

“I have 2 brothers.”

J’en ai deux. 

“I have two of them.”

• J’ai beaucoup de cheveux. 

“I have lots of hair.”

J’en ai beaucoup. 

“I have a lot of it.”

• Il a du temps. 

“He has time.”

Il en a. 

“He has some.”

Il y en a des milliers. (“There are thousands of them.”)

3- Relative Pronouns

I’ll keep these relatively simple, as they can easily be compared to English.

Of course, it’s never an exact translation, but it will give you a fairly good idea of how to use them in a variety of contexts.

que  “that”	Tu penses qu’il va pleuvoir ?  “Do you think that it will rain?” Je sais que tu es là.  “I know that you are here.”
qui  “who”	J’ai un fils qui m’aime.  “I have a son who loves me.”
où  “where”; “when”	C’est la maison où je vis.  “This is the house where I live.” Le jour où je t’ai rencontrée  “The day when I met you”
dont  “whose”; “that”	L’homme dont c’est le chapeau  “The man whose hat it is” La personne dont tu parles  “The person [that] you’re talking about”
lequel(s)  laquelle(s) “which”; “that”	Le lit sur lequel nous dormons “The bed on which we sleep” Les rues dans lesquelles nous travaillons “The streets in which we are working” /! You can’t use these to talk about people.

4- Demonstrative Pronouns

The demonstrative pronoun celui replaces something that was mentioned earlier.

• J’aime le café mais pas celui de Starbucks. 

“I like coffee, but not the one from Starbucks.”

Sure, you could also say: 

J’aime le café mais pas le café de Starbucks. 

“I like coffee, but not the coffee from Starbucks.”

But it sounds clumsy, doesn’t it?

This demonstrative pronoun has masculine, feminine, and plural forms:

Masc. [s]	celui “The” / “This” / “That one”	C’est celui que je préfère.  “This is the one I prefer.”
Masc. [p]	ceux “These” / “Those”	Ceux du fond “Those in the back”
Fem. [s]	celle “The” / “This” / “That one”	Je te donne celle que tu veux.  “I give you the one you want.”
Fem. [p]	celles “These” / “Those”	Celles de gauche  “These on the left”

You can’t end a phrase with these demonstrative pronouns in their base form, or put them right before a verb. They simply don’t like it!

Instead, you have to add a suffix. It can be either ci (here) or là (there).

• J’ai deux livres. Je te prête celui.

• J’ai deux livres, je te prête celui-ci. 

“I have two books, I’ll lend you this one.”

• J’aime ces deux histoires mais je préfère celle-là. 

“I love these two stories, but I prefer that one.”

C’est celui que je préfère. (“This is the one I prefer.”)

5- Interrogative Pronouns

In case your brain is already melting out of your ears, let’s keep this one as simple as possible. Nothing complicated about interrogative pronouns, really!

qui  “who”	Qui es-tu ?  “Who are you?”
où  “where”	Où allons-nous ?  “Where are we going?”
quand  “when”	Quand partez-vous ?  “When do you leave?”
quoi  “what”	A quoi penses-tu ?  “What are you thinking about?”
lequel lesquels laquelle lesquelles “which one”	Lequel tu préfères ?  “Which one do you prefer?” Lesquels sont les plus gros ?  “Which ones are the biggest?” Laquelle me va le mieux ?  “Which one suits me best?” Lesquelles veux-tu voir ?  “Which ones do you want to see?”
quel quels quelle quelles “which”	Quelle heure est-il ?  “What time is it?” /! These aren’t technically pronouns (they’re interrogative adjectives) but it felt wrong not to include them. And they were crying.

6- Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are these vague fellows who don’t want to be too specific about what’s going on or who’s involved. There are many of them, and they prove to be very useful.

Here are a few of the most common ones:

tout  “everything”; “anything”; “all”	Tout est possible.  “Anything is possible.”
rien  “nothing”	Rien n’est impossible.  “Nothing is impossible.”
personne  “nobody”	Personne n’est parfait.  “Nobody’s perfect.”
chacun  “everyone”; “every man”	Chacun pour soi  “Every man for himself”
tout le monde  “everybody”	Tout le monde est là ?  “Is everybody here?”
quelqu’un  “someone”	Quelqu’un va venir.  “Someone will come.”
quelque chose  “something”	Quelque chose te tracasse ?  “Is there something bothering you?”
certains  “some [people]”	Certains sont venus.  “Some people came.”

3. How FrenchPod101 Can Help You Learn More French

In this French pronouns guide, you’ve learned everything about French pronouns, from direct to indirect object pronouns, French relative pronouns, and many more! 

Did we forget any important pronouns? Do you feel ready to come up with impressive sentences using all of these new tools? Or do you need more French pronouns help?

I’m gonna say it again, but the key is to take it one step at a time. Understanding French pronouns doesn’t happen overnight. Start making sentences with personal subject pronouns, then keep building from there! 

• Sophie a acheté des pommes pour Nicolas.
• Elle a acheté des pommes pour Nicolas.
• Elle a acheté des pommes pour lui.
• Elle en a acheté pour lui.

Make sure to explore FrenchPod101, as it has plenty of free resources for you to practice your grammar and learn new words. The vocabulary lists are also a great way to review the words and learn their pronunciation.
Remember that you can also use our premium service, MyTeacher, to get personal one-on-one coaching. Practice using French pronouns with your private teacher so they can give you personalized feedback and advice, and help you with your pronunciation.

Do you ever get this feeling when speaking French? You have all the words you need to make the perfect sentence, but they just don’t fit together. This is what happens when you’re not comfortable with the word order and need to learn about the specifics of the correct French sentence structures.

It may seem confusing at first, but bear with me for a moment and I trust that you’ll find it to be quite simple. Except for a few tricky exceptions, the structures are always the same and are often very similar to English. With all the tips and tricks from this article and a bit of practice, it will come naturally in no time!

In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about the French sentence structure, from basic sentences for beginners to impressive complex statements for sophisticated talkers.

Table of Contents

1. Ordering Words in French
2. Simple Sentences with Subject, Verb, and Object
3. How to Build Complex Sentences
4. Asking Questions
5. Negative Sentences
6. Practical Cases
7. Le Mot De La Fin

1. Ordering Words in French

Rule #1: French is SVO

Like many other languages throughout the world, French is what we call an SVO language. This means that the default word order is: Subject – Verb – Object.

• {Je mange une pomme.} (“I eat an apple.”)

Rule #2: Don’t Skip the Subject

And unlike similarly rooted languages, such as Spanish or Italian, we don’t usually drop the subject of the sentence, even when it’s a pronoun.

• I speak French.
• (Yo) hablo Frances. (Spanish)
• (Io) parlo Francese. (Italian)
• Je parle Français.

Rule #3: Rules are Meant to be Broken

These are mainly the French word order rules of simple declarative sentences, but as soon as we enter imperative, interrogative, or negative sentences territory, it gets a bit wilder. I mean…it’s French we’re talking about.

And one more thing: Master Yoda is allowed to use OSV sentences and still sound cool, but it’s forbidden to the rest of us.

Le Français je parle. (“French I speak.”)

2. Simple Sentences with Subject, Verb, and Object

In the following sections, we’ll work with the most common type of sentences: declaratives.

A declarative sentence is used to make a statement. It declares or states something, and ends with a period. We can’t use declarative sentences to ask questions or give orders.

Let’s get back to our basic declarative sentence: Je parle Français. (“I speak French.”)

In this sentence, I’m stating that I speak French.

Like we mentioned before, there are mainly two things you need to know about declarative sentences and their basic word order in French:

1. The word order is Subject + Verb + Object.
2. We don’t drop the subject, even when it’s a pronoun.

To these basic rules, I would also add:

3. Verbs are conjugated. Their ending depends on the subject.
   

• Ils parlent Français. (“They speak French.”)
• Nous parlons Français. (“We speak French.”)

→ You can learn more about conjugation in our Complete Guide on French Conjugation. It’s freely available on FrenchPod101.com.

4. Objects must agree with the subject. Their ending also varies.

• Il est Américain. (“He is American.”)
• Elle est Américaine. (“She is American.”)

/! The main exception to the S+V+O rule is the imperative mood, where the structure becomes: V+O.

• Vous parlez Français. (“You speak French.”) → Parlez Français. (“Speak French.”)
• Nous mangeons des pommes. (“We eat apples.”) → Mangeons des pommes. (“Let’s eat apples.”)

Elle mange des pommes. (“She eats apples.”)

3. How to Build Complex Sentences

Now that we have the basics covered, it’s time to add more ingredients into the mix and spice it up with adverbs, adjectives, and pronouns to gradually make our sentence more exciting!

1 – Adding Adjectives:

Adjectives describe nouns to make them more interesting. Let’s see where to place them in a sentence.

According to French word order, adjectives usually go AFTER the noun they describe.

• Une pomme verte (“A green apple”)

However, some of the most common adjectives go BEFORE the noun.

• Une grosse pomme (“A big apple”)

Put in a sentence, it looks like this:

• Il mange une pomme verte. (“He’s eating a green apple.”)

→ Learn more about adjectives with our full guide and massive list of the Top 100 French Adjectives.

2 – Adding Adverbs:

Adverbs work together with and describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs to modify their meaning or make a sentence more precise.

When the adverb modifies a verb, it usually comes AFTER this verb. The word order is: S + V + Adv.

• Je parle lentement. (“I speak slowly.”)

Then, if we have an object, it would be: S + V + O + Adv.

• Je parle Français couramment. (“I speak French fluently.”)

When the adverb modifies an adverb or adjective, it usually comes AFTER the verb and BEFORE the adverb or adjective. The word order is: S + V + Adv + Adv.

• Je parle très lentement. (“I speak very slowly.”)

When we get to this level of complexity, things start becoming a bit more flexible.

For instance, both sentences are correct:

• Je parle Français couramment. (“I speak French fluently.”)
• Je parle couramment Français. (“I speak French fluently.”)

However, it comes with exceptions, such as the very common bien (“well”) which is placed BEFORE the object.

• Je parle bien Français. (“I speak French well.”)
• Je parle vraiment bien Français. (“I speak French very well.”)
• Je parle Français bien.

→ Everything you need to know about adverbs you’ll find in our Complete Guide on French Adverbs, with a list of the most common adverbs you should know.

Not too confused with the colors, are you?

3 – Adding Pronouns

Brace yourself, this is where French language word order gets tough. Understanding the word order of pronouns in French isn’t always a walk in the park, and we’ll really just scratch the surface here. 

Subject pronouns don’t move:

• Nicolas mange une pomme. (“Nicolas eats an apple.”)
• Il mange une pomme. (“He eats an apple.”)

Same thing for stressed pronouns:

• Il mange une pomme avec ses amis. (“He eats an apple with his friends.”)
• Il mange une pomme avec eux. (“He eats an apple with them.”)

However, direct and indirect pronouns are not as well-behaved.

• Nicolas donne une pomme. (“He gives an apple.”)
• Nicolas la donne. (“He gives it.”)

• Il donne une pomme à ses amis. (“He gives an apple to his friends.”)
• Il leur donne une pomme. (“He gives them an apple.”)
• Il la leur donne. (“He gives it to them.”)

→ For more information about pronouns, you can go through our Extensive Guide on French Pronouns, with lots of examples and grammar points.

And what happens when we put everything together?

• Je leur parle Français très lentement. (“I speak French with them very slowly.”)
• Il leur donne gentiment une pomme verte. (“He gently gives them a green apple.”)

4 – Adding Prepositions

Prepositions are words that usually precede a noun or pronoun and express a relationship to another element of the sentence. Prepositional phrases often answer questions such as:

• Where? Il mange une pomme dans la cuisine. (“He eats an apple in the kitchen.”)
• When? Il mange une pomme après le dîner. (“He eats an apple after dinner.”)
• How?
  • Il mange une pomme avec eux. (“He eats an apple with them.”)
  • Il mange une pomme sans se presser. (“He eats an apple without rushing.”)
  • Il mange une pomme avec soin. (“He eats an apple with care.”)

Prepositions can be placed BEFORE or AFTER the verb. In some cases, you can freely choose, and in other situations, only one option will make sense.

• Après le dîner, je mange une pomme. (“After dinner, I eat an apple.”)
• Je mange une pomme après le dîner. (“I eat an apple after dinner.”)

• Il mange une pomme sans se presser. (“He eats an apple without rushing.”)
• Sans se presser, il mange une pomme. (“Without rushing, he eats an apple.”)

In these two examples, both versions are correct.

But sometimes, you need to know the verb for the preposition to be relevant:

• Je rentre à la maison. (“I go back home.”)

You would not say “Home, I go back,” and it would sound equally awkward in French.

• Je donne une pomme à mon ami. (“I give an apple to my friend.”)

Similarly, it wouldn’t make sense to mention the recipient before the action is stated.

To combine prepositions, you can simply apply the same logic when choosing where to place them:

• Après le dîner, je rentre à la maison sans me presser. (“After dinner, I go back home without rushing.”)
• Sans me presser, je mange une pomme avec eux dans la cuisine. (“Without rushing, I eat an apple with them in the kitchen.”)

These are not the words I ordered!

4. Asking Questions

The word order in French questions isn’t always SVO.

Questions can take several different forms in French, depending on whether you’re talking or writing, as well as how formal you want to be.

Let’s go back to our apple-eating example: Tu manges une pomme.

Here’s how to say: “Do you eat an apple?”

1. Tu manges une pomme ? (SVO)

2. Est-ce que tu manges une pomme ? (Est-ce que + SVO)

3. Manges–tu une pomme ? (VSO)

Now I guess the last one is confusing: Why do we suddenly invert the subject and verb?

This form is used only in writing or in very formal speech. Among friends, with random strangers, or in most business settings, you would stick to one of the first two options. I’d say both are equally common.

Now, what if we add some interrogative pronouns and adverbs?

Let’s see how to use words like: Quand (“When”), Qui (“Who”), Comment (“How”), Où (“Where?”).

“Where do you eat?”

1. Tu manges où ?

2. Où est-ce que tu manges ?

3. Où manges–tu ?

“When do you eat?”

1. Tu manges quand ?

2. Quand est-ce que tu manges ?

3. Quand manges–tu ?

5.  Negative Sentences

Luckily, this is the last case, because I’m seriously running out of colors!

In this section, we’ll have a look at the word order in negative sentences.

Negative structures are placed around the verb and before the preposition or object.

• Je ne mange pas de pommes. (“I don’t eat an apple.”)
• Je ne mange pas dans la cuisine. (“I don’t eat in the kitchen.”)
• Je ne mange pas vite. (“I don’t eat fast.”)

The same thing goes for other negative structures:

• Je ne mange plus dans la cuisine. (“I don’t eat in the kitchen anymore.”)
• Je ne mange jamais dans la cuisine. (“I never eat in the kitchen.”)

That’s how I learned negative sentences!

6. Practical Cases

Now, it’s time to practice everything we’ve been learning today! We’ll take it slow and do it step-by-step. At any time, feel free to go back through the article if you’re having doubts. 

Try to come up with the French translations for these sentences. You can use a conjugation table if you’re not sure how to deal with parler (“to speak”).

1. “We speak.” – _________________

2. “We speak French.” – _________________

3. “We speak French slowly.” – _________________

4. “We speak French slowly with her.” – _________________

5. “We speak with her in the kitchen.” – _________________

6. “After dinner, we speak with her in the kitchen.” – _________________

7. “We never speak with her in the kitchen.” – _________________

8. “Do you speak with her in the kitchen?” – _________________

“Where do I put these verbs again?”

“Where do I put these verbs again?”

[SPOILER] And here are the translations:

1. “We speak.” – Nous parlons
2. “We speak French.” – Nous parlons Français.
3. “We speak French slowly.” – Nous parlons Français lentement.
4. “We speak French slowly with her.” – Nous parlons Français lentement avec elle.
5. “We speak with her in the kitchen.” – Nous parlons Français avec elle dans la cuisine.
6. “After dinner, we speak with her in the kitchen.” – Après dîner, nous parlons avec dans la cuisine.
7. “We never speak with her in the kitchen.” – Nous ne parlons jamais avec elle dans la cuisine.
8. “Do you speak with her in the kitchen?” – Est-ce que tu parles avec elle dans la cuisine ?

7. Le Mot De La Fin

In this guide, you’ve learned a lot about French word order and the correct French sentence structures, from the basics to the most advanced parts such as French pronoun order.

Did we forget any important structure you would like to learn about? Do you feel ready to assemble ambitious sentences, using everything you’ve learned today?

As we’ve seen with the exercises, a good way to practice French word order is to start easy and slowly build up to complex sentences, one piece at a time.

Make sure to explore FrenchPod101.com, as we have plenty of free resources for you to practice your grammar and learn new words. Our vocabulary lists are also a great way to review the words and learn their pronunciation.
Remember that you can also use our Premium PLUS service, MyTeacher, to get personal one-on-one coaching. Practice talking about word order in French with your private teacher so they can give you personalized feedback and advice, and help you with the pronunciation.

Do you sometimes get the impression that time is flying away, riding a winged clock out of your reach, or is it just me? Flying or not, time is the single most precious thing we have, and being able to discuss it will prove useful within your first few days in France.

Whether you want to talk about your day, plan something, talk about schedules, or just answer someone on the street asking you for the time, learning about telling time in French is essential. You’ll have to know the basic vocabulary for “hour” or “minutes” in French, some numbers, and a variety of valuable time-related phrases and keywords.

In this article, you’ll learn everything about telling the time in French, from the units to the AM / PM system, common questions & answers, and much more!

Table of Contents

1. What Time is it?
2. Time Units
3. AM or PM?
4. How to Give the Time
5. Hour Divisions
6. From Dusk till Dawn
7. Expressions and Proverbs about Time in French
8. How FrenchPod101 Can Help You Learn More French

1. What Time is it?

Le temps presse ! (“Time is of the essence!”)

Before you learn how to tell the time in French, you’ll need to understand when someone is asking you for it. And in the process, you’ll learn how to ask for the time yourself. As you can expect, there isn’t only one way of asking about time in French, but the most popular, by far, is:

• Quelle heure est-il ? [Formal]

“What time is it?”

If you have some experience with polite sentences, you may have noticed the inverted subject (est-il instead of il est). Indeed, this is the formal sentence that most French lessons teach you, but there are several other ways you can ask (or be asked) for the time:

• Quelle heure il est ? [Casual]
• Il est quelle heure ? [Casual]

Both of these phrases mean “What time is it?”

Let’s have a look at other popular alternatives:

• Est-ce que vous avez l’heure ? [Formal]
• Est-ce que tu as l’heure ? [Casual]
• T’as l’heure ? [Very casual]

These translate to “Do you have the time?”

And of course, if you’re asking some stranger in the street or anyone you’re not yet familiar with, don’t forget to add some honey by starting with a polite Excusez-moi (“Excuse me”), and maybe a nice s’il vous plaît (“please”) at the end!

• Excusez-moi, est-ce que vous avez l’heure, s’il vous plaît ? [Very formal]

“Excuse me, do you have the time, please?”

2. Time Units

Before we get to the juicy part, let’s talk vocabulary for a moment. Obviously, to give the time in French, you’ll have to be in the clear about numbers. At the minimum, you need to be able to count up to fifty-nine, but don’t worry if you can’t do that yet—we also have some magic words to save you the trouble! 

However, I would say that counting up to 12 is an absolute minimum, so just in case, let’s review this quickly:

1. un	2. deux	3. trois	4. quatre	5. cinq	6. six
7. sept	8. huit	9. neuf	10. dix	11. onze	12. douze

→ Learn how to count from 0 to infinity with our complete guide on French Numbers. It’s available for free on FrenchPod101!

Now, here are our time units:

• une heure (“hour”)
• une minute (“minute”)
• une seconde (“second”)

So, what happens when you combine these words with numbers?

• Trois heures (“three hours”)
• Dix minutes (“ten minutes”)
• Trente secondes (“thirty seconds”)

And here’s a glimpse of how to tell time in French with minutes, though we’ll go more into this later.

• Cinq heures vingt (“five hours twenty minutes”)

In most cases, when the number of minutes closely follows the hour, like above, you can omit the word minutes (“minutes”). 

→ You’ll find these words, as well as the numbers, in our free vocabulary list on Talking about Time with audio recordings to practice your pronunciation!

Un cadran solaire (“A sundial”)

3. AM or PM?

Frequently asked question: Should I use the twelve- or twenty-four-hour system in French?

Answer: As you wish! (But there is a twist.)

The twelve-hour system used to be popular in northern Europe, but nowadays, it’s slowly losing the battle against the objectively superior twenty-four-hour system. Let’s see how it looks.

• Il est 5 heures du matin. (“It is 5 AM” or literally “It is five hours in the morning.”)
• Il est 5 heures de l’après-midi. (“It is 5 PM” or “It is five hours in the afternoon.”)
• Il est 8 heures du soir. (“It is 8 PM” or “It is eight hours in the evening.”)

Dealing with twelve hours makes it easily confusing when you’re talking to someone from the same time zone, but it gets ridiculous with globalization and our tendency to communicate and schedule events with people from all around the world.

Now, if you also consider that AM (which stands for “Ante Meridiem,” as opposed to “Post Meridiem”) could possibly be the abbreviation for après-midi (French for “afternoon”), you’ll understand why it’s losing in popularity.

Let’s see what the twenty-four-hour system looks like:

• Il est 5 heures. (“It’s 5 AM.”)
• Il est 17 heures. (“It’s 5 PM.”)
• Il est 20 heures. (“It’s 20 PM.”)

Now that being said, there are still MANY people using the twelve-hour system. It’s not even old-fashioned yet and you should be ready to understand it, even if you choose not to use it yourself.

And as tempting as it was to add a lecture on the Latin origin of meridiem, I’m all about self-control and will keep my sophisticated pedantism in check. Hey, did you know “pedant” comes from the Italian “pedante,” derived from the Latin “paedogogus?” Oh no, I did it again!

Most hated object in the house: The alarm clock!

4. How to Give the Time

Alright, I’ve kept you waiting long enough. Here’s how to tell the time in French:

• Il est _____. (“It is _____”).

Did it feel anticlimactic? I feel like it’s not quite the big reveal.

Okay, but that’s not all of it! Here’s how you can make it more interesting:

• Il est 8 heures. (“It is 8.”)

• Il est bientôt 8 heures. (“It is 8 soon.”)
• Il sera bientôt 8 heures. (“It will be 8 soon.”)
• Il est presque 8 heures. (“It is almost 8.”)

• Il est 8 heures passées. (“It is past 8.”)
• Il est encore 8 heures. (“It is still 8.”)
• Il n’est pas encore 8 heures. (“It is not 8 yet.”)

• Vers 8 heures. (“Around 8.”)
• Aux environs de 8h. (“Around 8.”)

• Il est 8 heures pile. (“It is 8 sharp.”)

Il est 8 heures pétantes. (“It is 8 sharp.”)

Hold on, these two are interesting! Pile or tout pile is rather straightforward. When it’s not used for the time, you can find it as an equivalent of “sharp,” “exactly,” or “right,” as in: A midi pile. (“At noon sharp.”) On a pile 10 mètres carrés. (“We have exactly ten meters square.”) Il a visé pile au centre. (“He aimed right at the center.”) Il est 8 heures pétantes literally means “It is eight blasting hours,” or “It is eight farting hours.” In 1786 in Paris, there used to be a small canon next to the Palais-Royal. It was only forty centimeters long and was equipped with a magnifying glass to concentrate the sun’s rays. Every sunny day at noon sharp, it would set the gunpowder on fire and BOOM!

And if you’re dealing with the twelve-hour system, don’t forget about the trinity of matin, après-midi, and soir:

• Il est 4 heures du matin. (“It is four in the morning.”)
• Il est 4 heures de l’après-midi. (“It is four in the afternoon.”)
• Il est 9 heures du soir. (“It is nine in the evening.”)

Il est 8 heures pile. (“It is 8 sharp.”)

5. Hour Divisions

I promised you a magic workaround if you don’t know all the numbers from 13 to 59. Here we are!

• Il est 8 heures et demi. (“It is half past 8.”) Literally: “It is 8 hours and half.”
• Il est 2 heures et quart. (“It is quarter past 2.”) Literally: “It is 2 hours and quarter.”
• Il est 3 heures moins le quart. (“It is quarter to 3.”) Literally: “It is 3 hours minus quarter.”
• Il est 9 heures moins 10. (“It is 10 to 9.”) Literally: “It is 9 hours minus 10.”

/! This only works in the twelve-hour system:

• Il est 8 heures et demi.
• Il est 20 heures et demi.
• Il est 20 heures 30.

6. From Dusk till Dawn

Now that we know how to ask for the time and tell the time in French, let’s get more vocabulary on the various moments of the day. Describing time in French becomes much simpler when you know how to say the general time.
Unless you’re living in Saint-Petersburg and partying throughout the endless white nights, or hiding from vampires during the thirty days of night in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, your typical day should start with a sunrise and end with a sunset.

Morning Le lever du soleil (“Sunrise”) L’aube (“Dawn”) Le matin (“Morning”) Le début de matinée (“Early morning”) La matinée (“Morning”) La fin de matinée (“Late morning”)

Afternoon Le midi (“Noon”) Le début d’après-midi (“Early afternoon”) L’après-midi (“Afternoon”) La fin d’après-midi (“Late afternoon”) La fin de journée (“Late afternoon”)

Evening & Night Le début de soirée (“Early evening”) La soirée (“Evening”) La fin de soirée (“Late evening”) Le crépuscule (“Dusk”) Le coucher du soleil (“Sunset”) La nuit (“Night”) Minuit (“Midnight”)

Un coucher de soleil (“A sunset”)

7. Expressions and Proverbs about Time in French

Did you notice that the French don’t ask “What time is it?” but “What hour is it?”

Many time-related French expressions are surprisingly similar to their English equivalent, but it’s interesting to see the differences:

• La nuit des temps [Literally: “The night of times”]

(“The dawn of times”)

• Ces derniers temps  [“Those latest times”]

(“Lately”)

• En temps normal [“In normal time”]

(“Under normal circumstances”)

• En temps utile [“In useful time”]
• En temps voulu [“In desired time”]

(“In due time”)

• Chercher midi à quatorze heures. [“To look for noon at 2 PM”]

(“To look for unnecessary complications”)

And of course, we do have the infamous proverb: Le temps, c’est de l’argent. (“Time is money.”)

Even though we’re as deep into capitalism as any of our European neighbors, the average French doesn’t live by this proverb and people tend to think of time as a commodity and not just something they convert into cash. 

And even without pondering about the things money can’t buy, there’s an Epicurean component to the French Art de vivre (“Art of Living”) that keeps people from being swallowed by their working life and helps them prioritize what they work for.

Passed time never comes back.

8. How FrenchPod101 Can Help You Learn More French

In this guide, you’ve learned everything about telling the time in French, from the common questions and answers to time units, vocabulary, and expressions. Did I forget any important time-related word or expression that you know? Do you feel ready to ask random French strangers for the time, or to answer when you’re asked for it?

Understanding time in French may take time. A good exercise to practice telling the time is simply to try and think in French when you look at your watch. Try to form the sentence in your head using what you’ve learned today, and you’ll soon become more comfortable. Just take it easy and go at your own pace. =)

FrenchPod101 also has tons of vocabulary lists with audio recordings and free resources to boost your studies and keep your French learning fresh and entertaining!

Remember that you can also use our premium service, MyTeacher, to get personal one-on-one coaching and practice with your private teacher. Using assignments, personalized exercises, and recorded audio samples —and by reviewing yours—they can help you improve your pronunciation much faster. 
Happy learning on FrenchPod101!

Have you ever been lost in a big capital city, without batteries in your phone or credit on your SIM card? And when was the last time you’ve bought one of these unfoldable paper maps? Luckily, there’s one thing you can always rely on when you’re completely lost in France: helpful locals!

But it comes at a price. Outside of Paris, it can be difficult to find English-speaking help and you’ll have to be ready to break the language barrier. Asking directions in French is easy. Understanding the answer is a different story (but “left” and “right” in French aren’t hard). Don’t worry, we’ll get you there. =)

First, you’ll need to know the basic vocabulary, such as right, left, North, or South in French. But you’ll also need to know the usual movement verbs and the most common structures. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know to find your way around France, from the landmarks to the transportation, taxi phrases, and polite greetings. Time to hit the road!



Table of Contents

1. On the Map: Compass Directions in French
2. Simple Directions in French Using Landmarks
3. On the Road: Driving Directions in French
4. Must-Know Phrases: Asking for Directions
5. Must-Know Phrases: Giving Directions in French
6. The French vs. Directions
7. How FrenchPod101 Can Help You Learn More French

1. On the Map: Compass Directions in French

Whether you prefer the modern conveniences of a GPS or ever-reliable paper maps, and whenever you’re navigating through unknown regions or talking about the French territory with your local friends, you’ll need to know the basic cardinal directions and how to use them in sentences.

So, before we dive into anything more complex, let’s start with that!

Le nord “North”

Nous irons vers le nord. “We will head north.”

Le sud “South”

Elle habite au sud de Paris. “She’s living south of Paris.”

L’est “East”

Annecy est à deux heures à l’est de Lyon. “Annecy is two hours east of Lyon.”

L’ouest “West”

L’europe de l’ouest “Western Europe”

Le nord-est “Northeast”

Ils vivent au nord-est de la Russie. “They are living northeast of Russia.”

Le nord-ouest “Northwest”

Le nord-ouest des Alpes est une belle région. “The northwest of the Alps is a beautiful region.”

Le sud-est “Southeast”

Il fait toujours beau dans le sud-est. “It’s always sunny in the southeast.”

Le sud-ouest “Southwest”

Je ne suis jamais descendu dans le sud-ouest. “I’ve never been down southwest.”

Now that you know how to navigate map directions in French, here are a few more useful words to talk about the French territory:

Région “Region”	La région Hauts-de-France “The Hauts-de-France region”
France is divided into thirteen regions whose names changed recently, in 2016.

Département “Department”	Le Pas-de-Calais est un département Français. “Pas-de-Calais is a French department.”
Each region is subdivided into smaller departments. There are currently 101 departments on the French territory, including overseas departments.

La côte “The coast”

On va sur la côte pour l’été. “We’re heading to the coast for the summer.”

La frontière “The border”

Elle habite près de la frontière Belge. “She’s living near the Belgium border.”

→ Make sure to visit our vocabulary list about Direction Words, with audio recordings to practice your pronunciation. It’s freely available on FrenchPod101.

Une carte aux trésors (“A treasure map”)

2. Simple Directions in French Using Landmarks

Time to fold your map and get down to business! You’ve arrived at your destination, but there’s still a lot of unknown ground to cover. You’ll need some serious vocabulary to navigate through this new city and ask locals for directions.

In this chapter, we’ll cover all the essential city landmarks, from transport hubs to city buildings, streets, and key indoor locations.

1- Transports

Un aéroport “Airport”

Je voudrais aller à l’aéroport d’Orly. “I would like to go to the Orly airport.”

Une gare “Train station”

Mon train part de la gare Montparnasse. “My train is leaving from the Montparnasse station.”

Une gare routière Une gare de bus “Bus station”

Pouvez-vous m’indiquer la gare routière ? “Could you tell me where the bus station is?”

Une station de métro “Metro station”

Je cherche la station de métro la plus proche. “I’m looking for the closest metro station.”

Un parking “Parking”

J’ai laissé ma voiture au parking. “I left my car at the parking.”

2- In the City

Un hotel “Hotel”

Une nuit d’hotel “A hotel night”

Un parc “Park”

Je me promène au parc de Fontainebleau. “I’m strolling at the Fontainebleau park.”

Une banque “Bank”

Je dois aller à la banque pour un retrait. “I need to go to the bank for a withdrawal.”

Un magasin “Shop”

Un petit magasin d’antiquités “A small antique shop”

Une poste “Post office”

Je vais déposer mon colis à la poste. “I will drop my parcel at the post office.”

Un marché “Market”

Je fais mes courses au marché le samedi. “I shop at the market on Saturdays.”

Un aéroport (“Airport”)

3- In the Street

Un rue “Street”

J’habite rue Saint Martin. “I live on the Saint Martin street.”

Une avenue “Avenue”

L’avenue Baltique est près du rond-point Albert II. “The Baltique Avenue is near the Albert II roundabout.”

Un croisement; une intersection “Intersection”

On te prendra à cette intersection. “We’ll pick you up at the intersection.”

Un feu “Traffic light”	Je m’arrête au feu rouge et j’attends le feu vert. “I stop at the red light and wait for the green light.”
The literal meaning of Un feu is “Fire,” but we don’t actually use boric acid to make green fire at our intersections! You should probably not do it at home either.

Une station service “Gas station”

On va faire le plein à la prochaine station service. “We will refuel at the next gas station.”

Un passage piéton “Crosswalk”

Il y a un passage piéton sur votre gauche. “There is a crosswalk on your left.”

4- Key Indoor Locations

Les toilettes “Toilets”

Excusez-moi, je cherche les toilettes. “Excuse me, I’m looking for the toilets.”

Un ascenseur “Elevator”

Prenez l’ascenseur si votre sac est lourd. “Take the elevator if your bag is heavy.”

Un escalator “Escalator”

Prenez l’escalator jusqu’au troisième étage. “Take the elevator up to the third floor.”

Des escaliers “Stairs”

Descendez les escaliers jusqu’au parking sous-terrain. “Take the stairs down to the underground parking.”

L’entrée “Entrance”

L’entrée principale “The main entrance”

La sortie “Exit”

La sortie de secours “The emergency exit”

Les caisses “Cashier”

Où sont les caisses, s’il vous plait ? “Where is the cashier, please?”

→ Learn more about city locations with our free vocabulary list on the most useful words to navigate Around Town.

La sortie de secours (“The emergency exit”)

3. On the Road: Driving Directions in French

When you’re asking for directions or explaining to somebody how to reach their destination, you’ll need to know how to say “left” and “right” in French, but that’s not it! There are many direction words you can use to precisely pinpoint a location or accurately describe a route.

Here are the most frequently used words for telling directions in French:

Devant “In front of”

On se retrouve devant la gare. “Let’s meet in front of the train station.”

Derrière “Behind”

Mon taxi attend derrière la gare. “My cab is waiting behind the train station.”

La gauche “Left”

La première à gauche “First on the left”

La droite “Right”

La troisième à droite “Third on the right”

Loin “Far”

Est-ce que c’est loin d’ici ? “Is it far from here?”

Près “Near”

Je travaille près de la poste. “I work near the post office.”

A côté de “Next to”

A côté de l’arrêt de bus “Next to the bus stop”

De l’autre côté de “On the other side of”

De l’autre côté de la rue “On the other side of the street”

En face de “In front of”

En face de la cathédrale “In front of the cathedral”

A l’opposé de “Opposite”

A l’opposé de “Opposite”

Un GPS de voiture (“Car GPS”)

4. Must-Know Phrases: Asking for Directions

Now that you’re equipped with a solid vocabulary on directions and many example phrases, let’s take a moment to address what I call the “social lubricant”: a bit of gentle grease to polish your interactions with locals and make them pleasantly smooth.

In other words, let’s make your mom proud and learn how to be polite in French!

1- Making First Contact

Here’s your bread-and-butter:

• Bonjour
  “Hello” / “Good morning” / “Good day”



• Bonsoir
  “Good evening”



• Excusez-moi
  “Excuse me”

From these few words, you can make different combinations, the most polite (that I usually keep for an elderly audience) being:

• Bonjour monsieur, excusez-moi…
  “Hello sir, excuse me…”



• Bonjour madame, excusez-moi…
  “Hello madam, excuse me…”

2- Ask for Help

Here are a few variations on “where is”:

• Est-ce que vous savez où est la Cathédrale Saint-Machin ?
  “Do you know where the Saint-Machin Cathedral is?”



• Je cherche la place Dauphine.
  “I’m looking for the Place Dauphine.”



• Pouvez-vous m’indiquer la rue Sainte-Bidule ?
  “Can you tell me where the Saint-Bidule street is?”

And a couple questions on distances:

• Est-ce qu’on est loin de la gare Montparnasse ?
  “Are we far from the Montparnasse station?”



• Est-ce que vous pouvez m’indiquer le métro le plus proche ?
  “Can you tell me where the closest metro station is?”

3- Wrap Things Up

• Merci.
  “Thank you.”



• Merci beaucoup !
  “Thank you very much!”



• Merci pour votre aide.
  “Thank you for your help.”

Sometimes, it takes a wrong turn to get to the right place.

5. Must-Know Phrases: Giving Directions in French

There are a few situations where you’ll need to give directions:

• When explaining to friends where you live
• If you blend in so well that locals start asking you for directions (it will happen before you know it!)
• While in a taxi, navigating your driver toward your destination

Here’s one last list of useful words, as well as the most common phrases in everyday situations.

1- Horizontal Directions

Tout droit “Straight”

Marchez tout droit pendant 100 mètres. “Walk straight for 100 meters.”

Faire demi-tour “To double back”

Roulez jusqu’au prochain rond-point et faites demi-tour. “Drive until the next roundabout and double back.”

Tourner “To turn”

Après l’église, tournez à gauche. “After the church, turn left.”

2- Vertical Directions

Un étage “Floor”

J’habite au 7ème étage, sans ascenseur. “I live on the seventh floor, without a lift.”

Un sous-sol “Underground”

Un sous-sol “Underground”

En haut “Up”

En haut “Up”

En bas “Down”; “Downstairs”

Il y a une épicerie en bas de chez moi. “There is a grocery store downstairs from my place.”

3- Taxi Directions in French

Continuer “To continue”; “To keep going”

Continuez un peu, jusqu’au bout de la rue. “Keep going a bit, until the end of the street.”

Plus loin “Further”

Non, c’est plus loin sur cette avenue. “No, it is further on this avenue.”

S’arrêter “To stop”

Vous pouvez vous arrêter ici. “You can stop here.”

Ralentir “To slow down”

Vous pouvez ralentir un peu, s’il vous plaît ? “Could you please slow down a bit?”

→ To learn more words and their pronunciation, check out our free vocabulary list on Position & Direction.

“Could you start going down? I live a few blocks from here!”

6. The French vs. Directions

Asking a random person for directions is like playing roulette. Sometimes, you’ll bump into another tourist who might very well know the surroundings. Or you’ll face a high-tech teenager, shocked at your inability to rely on a map app, or someone—like myself—who doesn’t know more than two or three street names in the city where they spent ten years.

1- The Lost Art of Knowing Street Names

Best case scenario? You’ll meet one of these old-timers who grew up without modern smartphones and don’t see the point in carrying a GPS outside of their car, if any. They’ve memorized the name of every single street, from center to suburb, and will be only too happy to share their nearly extinct knowledge with you.

Knowing the street names and the most optimized way to get from point A to point B without any GPS-driven help is definitely a matter of generation, and elderly French will be your best friends! Just don’t forget to address them respectfully, using your most humble Bonjour monsieur and Merci beaucoup.

2- I Don’t Know!

What do people do when asked for directions to a place they don’t know? In some countries, they would simply admit they don’t know, but if you’re in one of the South-East Asian countries where saving face matters more than telling the truth, it’s more complicated. I once found myself helplessly wandering through the streets, looking for an embassy because every single local would describe me all kinds of random directions, only not to admit they didn’t have a clue.

In France, when people don’t know what you’re looking for, or aren’t sure how to describe the directions, they’ll simply tell you Je ne sais pas (“I don’t know”) or Aucune idée ! (“No idea!”) and it’s a blessing.

3- French Perception of Distances

Although cars are popular and as overused as in any wealthy country, the French still have the culture of walking, and it shows in their appreciation of distances.

On a trip abroad, I once asked for the nearest bakery and was told “Oh no, it’s way too far to walk there, you should take a taxi!” Having nothing but time, I walked there anyway and found it after five minutes of my long stride. In my personal perception of distances, it was absolutely within walking reach, but locals would take their bikes for shorter errands.

Most French wouldn’t take their cars for less than a kilometer and when they give you walking directions, keep this walking culture in mind. They won’t blink if you tell them you want to walk from the Eiffel Tower to Montmartre. Sure, go ahead, it’s just a one-hour walk!

Typical French vacations. Better take your hiking poles!

7. How FrenchPod101 Can Help You Learn More French

In this guide, you’ve learned everything about asking and giving directions in French, from the most common structures to situation-specific vocabulary, polite greetings, and map navigation. Did I forget any important word or phrase that you know? Do you feel ready to get lost in Paris and valiantly ask your way around the capital?

FrenchPod101 also has tons of vocabulary lists with audio recordings and free resources to boost your studies and keep your French learning fresh and entertaining!

Remember that you can also use our premium service, MyTeacher, to get personal one-on-one coaching and have your private teacher help you practice with directions and more. They’ll provide you with assignments and personalized exercises, and will record audio samples for you as well as review yours, to help improve your pronunciation.

Happy learning on FrenchPod101!

Do you know that the sun, a world, or a spider are guys, while moons, tables, and legs are girls? And these are only a few family-friendly examples of the French nouns genders’ oddity. Wait until you learn about the male and female genital words and their counter-intuitive genders.

Figuring out which are the feminine nouns in French is one of the trickiest aspects of the language, and so is the formation of plural nouns, but bear with me for a little while and you’ll learn a collection of useful tricks to help you wrap your head around it!

In this guide, you’ll find a list of the 100 most common and useful French nouns and how to use them. For each of these words, I’ve included the gender, plural form, translation, and example sentences. If you manage to memorize most of the items on this French nouns list, you’ll be pretty far along on your way to talking about a great many things!

Table of Contents

1. Gender and Plural
2. About Time
3. Places
4. Technology & Internet
5. Home, Sweet Home
6. City & Transports
7. Family & Friends
8. Body Parts
9. Food & Utensils
10. Occupation
11. Clothing Items
12. Bonus: Communication
13. How FrenchPod101 Can Help You Learn More French

1. Gender and Plural

Le vocabulaire (“Vocabulary”)

1- How do you know if a French word is masculine or feminine?

French nouns are either masculine or feminine.

For instance, le soleil (“the sun”) is masculine, while la lune (“the moon”) is feminine.

The question of why une araignée (“a spider”) is female and un cafard (“a cockroach”) is male doesn’t matter as much as: How do I know which gender it is?

Luckily, it’s generally quite straightforward, and based on the final letters of a word, you can guess its gender. The rule isn’t entirely accurate, but as you get used to these typical masculine and feminine endings, you’ll be able to make good guesses.

Usually feminine endings: Most words ending in -e or -ion Une lune; une année; une semaine Une nation; une division Except words ending in -age, -ege, -é, -isme

Usually masculine endings: Words ending in -age, -ege, -é, -isme + Everything else. Un mariage; un été Un jour; un parc; un nain

Should you learn all of these endings by heart? I don’t believe so.

1. It would be a tedious and super-boring process.
2. This is not how native speakers learn the words’ genders.

If you’re wondering how to remember French nouns’ gender, I instead encourage you to ALWAYS learn new nouns with their article.

• Soleil Un soleil (“A sun”)
• Lune Une lune (“A moon”)

You can also memorize them with a definite article. It’s just a matter of preference.

• Le soleil (“The sun”)
• La lune (“The moon”)

The gender war is declared.

2- How to make French nouns plural

For most nouns, simply add an -s at the end of the word.

• Un an -> des ans
• Un jour -> des jours

Nouns ending in -au become -aux.

• Un bateau -> des bateaux

Nouns ending in -ou usually become -ous, but some take a -oux.

• Un fou -> des fous
• Un bijou -> des bijoux

Nouns ending in -al become -aux.

• Un animal -> des animaux

Finally, nouns ending in -s, -x, or -z are invariable.

• Une souris -> des souris
• Un lynx -> des lynx
• Un nez -> des nez

Now that we’ve learned how to determine the gender of French nouns and how to make them plural, let’s move on to our 100 French nouns list!

2. About Time

Un an; des ans “Year” Une année; des années “Year”	Nous vivons ici depuis dix ans. “We have been living here for ten years.” Nous vivons ici depuis plusieurs années. “We have been living here for several years.”
An is mainly used when there is a number involved: J’ai 35 ans. (“I’m 35 years old.”) Trois fois par an (“Three times per year”) Année is used in most other cases: Je voyage chaque année. (“I travel every year.”) L’année dernière, j’ai arrêté de fumer. (“Last year, I stopped smoking.”)

Une semaine; des semaines “Week”

A la semaine prochaine ! “See you next week!”

Un mois; des mois “Month”

Le mois de juillet est souvent ensoleillé. “The month of July is often sunny.”

Un jour; des jours “Day”

Je viendrai dans trois jours. “I will come in three days.”

Une heure; des heures “Hour”	Ce film dure trois heures. “This movie is three hours long.”
Quick Tip: How to tell time? In France, you can use the twelve- or twenty-four-hour system. Quelle heure est-il ? (“What time is it?”) Il est seize heures et demi. (“It is 4:30 PM.” Literally: “It is 16 and half.”) Il est huit heures trente cinq. (“It is 8:35.”)

Une minute; des minutes “Minute”

Laisse moi deux minutes et on y va ! “Give me two minutes and let’s go!”

Un temps; des temps “Time”

Je n’ai pas le temps. “I don’t have the time.”

→ Make sure to visit our full article about Time as well as our vocabulary list on Talking About Time, with audio recordings to practice your pronunciation. It’s freely available on FrenchPod101!

Une question de temps (“A matter of time”)

3. Places

Un monde; des mondes “World”

La plus belle plage du monde. “The most beautiful beach in the world.”

Un pays; des pays “Country”

Tu as visité de nombreux pays. “You have visited many countries.”

Un endroit; des endroits “Place”	J’adore cet endroit ! “I love this place!”
In Quebec, where French is a bit different, a place is une place. Montréal est un endroit une place que j’aime beaucoup “Montreal is a place that I like very much.” In France, une place means “a square,” as in La place centrale (“The main square”).

Une région; des régions “Region”

C’est le plat typique de ma région. “This is the typical dish of my region.”

Une mer; des mers “Sea”

La mer du nord est un peu froide. “The northern sea is a bit cold.”

Une forêt; des forêts “Forest”

Il s’est perdu dans la forêt. “He got lost in the forest.”

Une montagne; des montagnes “Mountain”

Des vacances à la montagne “Mountain vacations”

Un magasin; des magasins “Shop”

Tu peux en acheter dans ce magasin. “You can buy some in this shop.”

Une banque; des banques “Bank”

J’ai besoin de retirer de l’argent à la banque. “I need to withdraw some cash at the bank.”

Un parc; des parcs “Park”

On se retrouve dans le parc ? “Shall we meet in the park?”

→ Learn more about how to navigate French cities with our free vocabulary list on places Around Town.

4. Technology & Internet

Un téléphone; des téléphones “Phone”

Je te donne mon numéro de téléphone. “I’ll give you my phone number.”

Un portable; des portables “Mobile phone”	Tu me donnes ton numéro de portable ? “Can you give me your mobile phone number?”
Portable VS. Mobile VS. Laptop A common source of confusion, even among natives, is the word portable meaning “mobile phone” and “laptop.” One way to avoid the confusion is to use un mobile or un smartphone instead of un portable when talking about mobile phones. Younger generations also tend to use laptop instead of portable. To be fair, it’s usually easy to guess from the context.

Un ordinateur; des ordinateurs “Computer”	Mon ordinateur est un PC. “My computer is a PC.”
Fun fact: PC is also the acronym for the French communist party: Parti Communiste. Is there any risk of ever confusing these two? I wouldn’t bet on it.

Une tablette; des tablettes “Tablet”

Tu as installé l’app sur ta tablette ? “Did you install the app on your tablet?”

Une télé; des télés “TV”	Il y a quoi à la télé, ce soir ? “What’s on TV tonight?”
Télévision, Télé, or TV? While Télévision is the full word, it’s rarely used in conversations; Télé is far more popular. TV is mainly used in writing.

Un chargeur,;des chargeurs “Charger”

Je peux emprunter ton chargeur ? “Can I borrow your charger?”

Internet “Internet”

On n’a pas internet, dans ce petit village. “We don’t have internet in this small village.”

Internet (with a capital “I”), internet, or l’internet? Short answer: Whatever you like! (But use “internet” if you wanna sound cool. L’internet is for your grandpa.) Long answer: According to the Académie Française (official patron of the French language), you can use both. However, there was an attempt in 2016 at the national assembly to officialize l’internet over “internet.” Thank goodness, the bill didn’t pass.

Un site web; des sites web “A website”	On ira voir sur le site web de la mairie. “We’ll check on the city hall’s website.”
Site or Site web? Whichever. On ira voir sur le site de la mairie. “We’ll check on the city hall’s website.”

Un compte; des comptes “Account”

Tu as un compte Skype ? “Do you have a Skype account?”

Un mot de passe; des mots de passe “Password”	Je dois réinitialiser mon mot de passe. “I need to reset my password.”
How do you say “login?” We often say login, but you can equally say identifiant.

Un fichier; des fichiers “File”

J’ai copié les fichiers sur ma clef USB. “I copied the files on my USB drive.”

Un logiciel; des logiciels “Software”

Tu peux installer ce logiciel. “You can install this software.”

→ Appliances and technology are a vast topic and I’m just scratching the surface here! Don’t miss any words with our free vocabulary lists on Home Appliances, Technology, and the Internet.

La technologie (“Technology”)

5. Home, Sweet Home

Une maison; des maisons “House”; “Home”

On rentre à la maison. “We’re going home.”

Une porte; des portes “Door”

La première porte à gauche “The first door on the left”

Une fenêtre; des fenêtres “Window”

Les cambrioleurs ont cassé une fenêtre. “Burglars have broken a window.”

Un frigo; des frigos “A fridge”	Ne mettez jamais de vin rouge au frigo ! “Don’t ever put red wine in the fridge!”
Ideally, before and after it has been opened, you should keep it out of light and at room temperature.

Une armoire; des armoires “Closet”

On a besoin d’une nouvelle armoire. “We need a new closet.”

Une pièce; des pièces “Room”

Ce serait bien d’avoir une pièce en plus. “It would be nice to have one more room.”

Une cuisine; des cuisines “Kitchen”	N’oublie pas d’aérer la cuisine. “Don’t forget to ventilate the kitchen.”
Cuisine also means…well, “Cuisine.” #CaptainObvious J’aime la cuisine indienne.  “I love Indian cuisine.”

Un salon; des salons “Living room”

On va prendre l’apéro dans le salon. “We’ll take the aperitif in the living room.”

Une chambre; des chambres “Bedroom”

Ma chambre a un plafond intéressant. “My bedroom has an interesting ceiling.”

Des toilettes (invariable) “Toilets”	Où sont les toilettes ? “Where are the toilets?”
We also use WC, for “water closet.”

Une salle de bain; des salles de bain “Bathroom”

Il y a une autre salle de bain à l’étage. “There is another bathroom upstairs.”

→ Learn everything about rooms and furniture with our free vocabulary lists on Home Interior and Home Items.

6. City & Transports

Une voiture; des voitures “Car”

J’ai vendu ma voiture. “I’ve sold my car.”

Un bus; des bus “Bus”

Je prends souvent le bus. “I often take the bus.”

Un train; des trains “Train”

Je voyage parfois en train. “I sometimes travel by train.”

Un avion; des avions “Plane”

J’évite surtout de prendre l’avion. “I especially avoid taking planes.”

Un taxi; des taxis “Taxi”; “Cab”

Tu peux m’appeler un taxi ? “Can you call me a cab?”

Un vélo; des vélos “Bicycle”	Un vélo de course. “A racing bicycle.”
Vélo is short for vélocipède, a word so popular that I learned about it two minutes ago.

Une ville; des villes “City”; “Town”

On se promène en ville. “We’re strolling in town.”

Une rue; des rues “Street”

Une rue piétonne “A walking street”

Une avenue; des avenues “Avenue”

L’avenue principale “The main avenue”

Une route; des routes “Road”

Les routes de campagne sont tranquilles. “Countryside roads are quiet.”

Les transports en commun (“Public transports”)

7. Family & Friends

Une mère; des mères “Mother”	Aujourd’hui, c’est la fête des mères. “Today is Mother’s Day.”
Ma maman  “My mom”

Un père; des pères “Father”	Luke, je suis ton père. “Luke, I am your father.”
Mon papa  “My dad”

Une femme; des femmes “Wife” (literally: “Woman”)	Ma femme a toujours raison. “My wife is always right.”
You can also say Mon épouse (formal) or Ma conjointe (super-formal).

Un mari; des maris “Husband”	Son mari est enseignant. “Her husband is a teacher.”
You can also say Mon époux (formal) or Mon conjoint (super-formal).

Un frère; des frères “Brother”

Il t’aime comme un frère. “He loves you like a brother.”

Une soeur; des soeurs “Sister”

J’ai deux soeurs et un frère. “I have two sisters and one brother.”

Une famille; des familles “Family”

Je passe Noël avec ma famille. “I spend Christmas with my family.”

You can also use un parent/des parents, but don’t confuse mon parent (“my relative”) and mes parents (“my parents”). Un parent (“a relative”) or des parents (“relatives”) both refer to relatives of any kind, while mes parents (possessive plural) means: “my parents” (mom and dad). Je vais voir mes parents.  “I’m going to see my parents.” J’ai des parents dans la région.  “I have relatives in the region.”

Une copine; des copines “Girlfriend” Un copain; des copains “Boyfriend”	Je vais au cinéma avec ma copine. “I’m going to the cinema with my girlfriend.” Laisse tomber, j’ai un copain. “Let it go, I have a boyfriend.”
The word copain / copine also means “buddy.” It depends on the context, but it can be confusing even for locals. (Just like when American women talk about their “girlfriends.”) The general rule is: When you say un copain, it means “a buddy” or “a pal.” When you say mon copain, it means “my boyfriend.”

Un fils; des fils “Son”

Nous sommes les fils de la Terre. “We are the sons of the Earth.”

Une fille; des filles “Daughter” (Literally: “Girl”)

Ma fille aînée. “My elder daughter.”

Un ami; des amis “Friend”

Tu es mon meilleur ami. “You’re my best friend.”

→ To read more about the rest of the family, check out our free vocabulary list on Family Members. And be sure not to miss our special article about The French Family to learn everything on this important topic, from the vocabulary to the cultural aspect of it!

8. Body Parts

Une tête; des têtes “Head”

Un chasseur de têtes “A headhunter”

Un oeil; des yeux “Eye”

Tu as de très beaux yeux. “You have very beautiful eyes.”

Une bouche; des bouches “Mouth”

Ouvre la bouche. “Open your mouth.”

Un nez; des nez “Nose”	Un piercing au nez. “A nose piercing.”
The French don’t stand toe to toe, but nose to nose. Il se trouve nez à nez avec elle.  “He’s standing toe to toe with her.” However, in French, this expression doesn’t necessarily involve a conflict or competition. It means that you unexpectedly end up right in front of that person.

Un cheveu; des cheveux “Hair”

Elle a les cheveux courts. “She has short hair.”

Un bras; des bras “Arm”

Viens dans mes bras. “Come into my arms.”

Une main; des mains “Hand”	Les mains en l’air ! “Put your hands in the air!”
The French don’t wear their heart on their sleeve; they have it on their hand. Il a le coeur sur la main.  “He’s wearing his heart on his sleeve.”

Une jambe; des jambes “Leg”

Je me suis cassé la jambe. “I broke my leg.”

Un pied; des pieds “Foot”	J’ai déjà un pied dans la tombe. “I already have one foot in the grave.”
In France, don’t put your foot in your mouth; put it in the dish. J’ai mis les pieds dans le plat.  “I put my foot in my mouth.”

→ Practice your French anatomy by reviewing our free vocabulary list on Body Parts, with audio recordings to improve your pronunciation!

L’anatomie (“Anatomy”)

9. Food & Utensils

Un couteau; des couteaux “Knife”

Un couteau à fromage “A cheese knife”

Une fourchette; des fourchettes “Fork”

J’ai besoin d’une plus grande fourchette. “I need a bigger fork.”

Une cuillère; des cuillères “Spoon”

Une cuillère à soupe d’huile “A tablespoon of oil”

Une assiette; des assiettes “Plate”

Une assiette de charcuterie “A plate of cold cuts”

Un verre; des verres “Glass”

Tu mérites un verre de vin. “You deserve a glass of wine.”

Une eau; des eaux “Water”

Je voudrais une carafe d’eau, s’il vous plait. “I would like a jug of water, please.”

Un vin; des vins “Wine”

Une cave à vin “A wine cellar”

Un fruit; des fruits “Fruit”

Un jus de fruit “A fruit juice”

Un légume; des légumes “Vegetable”

Je mange des légumes une fois par semaine. “I eat vegetables once a week.”

Une viande; des viandes “Meat”

Viande ou poisson ? “Meat or fish?”

→ Expand your tableware vocabulary using our list on Food Utensils, available for free on FrenchPod101!

10. Occupation

Un étudiant; des étudiants “Student”

C’est un très bon étudiant. “He’s a very good student.”

Un docteur; des docteurs “Doctor”; “Physician”	Vous avez besoin d’une ordonnance du médecin. “You need a doctor’s prescription.”
The most common word for “physician” is médecin.

Un policier; des policiers “Police officer”

Mon frère est policier. “My brother is a police officer.”

Un professeur; des professeurs “Teacher”

Je veux devenir professeur de Russe. “I want to be a Russian teacher.”

Un avocat; des avocats “Lawyer”	Je ne parlerai pas sans mon avocat. “I will not talk without my lawyer.”
Avocat also means “Avocado.” Any risk of confusion? Not sure. Je ne parlerai pas sans mon avocat.  “I will not talk without my avocado.”

Un serveur; des serveurs “Waiter”

La serveuse a pris notre commande. “The waitress has taken our order.”

→ Find your profession and your friends’ jobs on our free vocabulary lists: Jobs and Work. We also have a complete article on How to Find Jobs in France. Check it out!

Quelle est votre profession? (“What is your profession?”)

11. Clothing Items

Un pantalon; des pantalons “Pants”

Un pantalon en cuir “Leather pants”

Un pull; des pulls “Sweater”

Un pull en laine “A wool sweater”

Un T-shirt; des T-shirts “T-shirt”

J’enfile un T-shirt propre. “I’m putting a clean T-shirt on.”

Une chemise; des chemises “Shirt”

Enlève ta chemise. “Take off your shirt.”

Un manteau; des manteaux “Coat”

J’ai laissé mon manteau dans la voiture. “I’ve left my coat in the car.”

Une chaussette; des chaussettes “Sock”

Mes chaussettes rouges et jaunes “My red-and-yellow socks”

Une robe; des robes “Dress”

Une robe en soie “A silk dress”

Une chaussure; des chaussures “Shoe”

Des chaussures de randonnée “Hiking shoes”

→ Work on your French fashion with our free vocabulary list on Clothing Accessories.

12. Bonus: Communication

Une question; des questions “Question”

C’était une question rhétorique. “It was a rhetorical question.”

Une réponse; des réponses “Answer”

J’exige des réponses ! “I demand answers!”

Un mot; des mots “Word”

Je ne trouve pas les mots. “I can’t find the words.”

Une phrase; des phrases “Sentence”

Je ne comprends pas cette phrase. “I don’t understand this sentence.”

Une idée; des idées “Idea”

C’est une très bonne idée ! “This is a very good idea!”

13. How FrenchPod101 Can Help You Learn More French

In this French nouns lesson and guide, you’ve learned everything there is to know about French nouns, from the feminine nouns in French to the rules of forming plurals. You’ve also learned the key French nouns with our extensive noun list.

Did we forget any important noun that you know? Do you feel ready to explore new conversation topics with your French friends, using everything you’ve learned today?

A good way to practice the words on our basic French nouns list is to start simple, then add more flavor with adjectives.

Adding adjectives to common French nouns will also help you remember the nouns’ gender, as many French adjectives have different forms in feminine or masculine:

• Une pomme (“An apple”)
• Une pomme verte (“A green apple”)

Make sure to explore FrenchPod101, as it has plenty of free resources for you to practice your grammar and learn new words. Our vocabulary lists are also a great way to revisit the words and learn their pronunciation.

Remember that you can also use our premium service, MyTeacher, to get personal one-on-one coaching. Practice using French nouns with your private teacher so they can give you personalized feedback and advice, and help you with your pronunciation.

About the Author: Born and bred in the rainy north of France, Cyril Danon has been bouncing off various jobs before he left everything behind to wander around the wonders of the World. Now, after quenching his wanderlust for the last few years, he’s eager to share his passion for languages.