A LIST OF THE MOST COMMONLY USED BASIC FRENCH WORDS

K.BALASHOWRI REDDY,

Basic French Words for Tourists

Word Translation Pronunciation
Oui/Non Yes/No whee/no
S'il vous plaît Please see voo play
Parlez-vous anglais? Do you speak English? parlay voo ong-glay
Merci Thank you mair-see
Voici/Voilà Here is/There is vwah-see/vwah-la
De rien You're welcome du-rhee-en
Je ne comprends pas I don't understand zhe nhe comp-rehn pah
J'ai besoin d'aide I need help. zhay buh-swahn deh led.
Excusez-moi Excuse me escoosay mwah
Je ne sais pas I don't know zhe-nhe say paw
Il y a There is eel ee aw

Basic greetings in French are very simple. You should keep in mind that in French, there are formal and informal greetings. Formal

greetings would be used wherever you might be shopping, with other adults you don't know, and always to those who are older. Informal

greetings would be used with peers.

Formal Greetings
Word Translation Pronunciation
Bonjour Good Morning bon zhoor
Bonsoir Good Night/Evening bon swar
Bon après-midi Good afternoon bon ah-pray mee-dee
Madame/Mademoiselle Miss mah-dahm/ma-dah-mwah-zell
Monsieur Sir mihn-see-yuh
Comment allez-vous? How are you? co-mo-tal-lay-voo
Au revoir Good bye o-rhe-vwah

Informal Greetings
Word Translation Pronunciation
Salut Hi saw-loo

1
K.BALASHOWRI REDDY
ASST. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
kbaluenglish@gmail.com
www.kbaluenglish.blogspot.com
 Ça va? How's it going? saw-vaw
Ça va bien I'm fine saw-vaw-bee-en

Notes: Salut and ça va are often used together as in, "Salut! Ça va?"

While traveling, you may find it very helpful to have a good command of basic question words and phrases.
Question Words
Word Translation Pronunciation
Combien? How much? comb-bee-en
Où? Where? oo
Quand? When? kond
Quelle/Quel/Quelles/Quels? What? kell
Pourquoi? Why? por-kwah
Comment? How? co mo

Other Basic Words in French

This is simply a collection of words and phrases that you may or may not have use for but are common knowledge for beginning French students.
Phrases with J'ai
Word Translation Pronunciation
J'ai faim I'm hungry zhay fam
J'ai soif I'm thirsty zhay swof
J'ai dix ans I am ten years old zhay dees ong

I am Going to
Word Translation Pronunciation
à droite to the right or on the right ah la dwaht
à gauche Time
to the left andthe
or on Money
left oh go-sh
Word Translation
Je vais à la/au I am going to Pronunciation
zhe vayz ah
Quelle heure
au marché theest-il?
marketWhat time is it? kell-er ay teel
luh bohn-mar-shay
Il est cinq heures
au restaurant It is five o'clock
to the restaurant eel ay sank er
oh rest-o-rahn
à la l'argent
plage money
to the beach larzh-on
ah lah plaj
en retard
à l'hôtel late or tardy
to the hotel on
ah reh-tar
lah o-tell
l'aéroport airport l'air-o-por 2
K.BALASHOWRI REDDY
ASST. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH par avion by plane pahr ah-vee-ohn
kbaluenglish@gmail.com aux toilettes bathroom sal deh behn
www.kbaluenglish.blogspot.com
 livres pounds lee-vreh

How do You Feel?

Words that Describe How You Feel
English French Pronunciation
I am hot J'ai chaud zhay show
I am cold J'ai froid zhay fwah
I am thirsty J'ai soif zhay swahf
I am hungry J'ai faim zhay feh

I am sleepy J'ai sommeil zhay so may

I am sick Je suis malade zhuh swee mah lahd

I don't feel well Je ne me sens pas bien zhuhn muh sohn paw bee ehn

I'm great Je vais bien zhuh swee bee ehn

I am sad Je suis triste zhuh swee treest

I'm sorry Je suis désolé(e) zhuh swee day so lay

I am angry Je suis fâché(e) zhu swee fah shay

I am embarrassed Je suis embarrassé(e) zhu swee ohm bah rha say

He/she is nice Il/elle est sympathique el ay sehm pah teek

Descriptions

Remember that in french, the gender of the noun and the adjective must agree. Therefore, you'll see two versions of most words with the

feminine version or pronunciation being in parentheses.

Descriptive Adjectives
English French Pronunciation

Big grand(e) grahn(d)

Small/short petit(e) puh tee(t)

Tall grand(e) grahn(d)

Short court(e) coor(t)

Fat gros(sse) groh(s)

Thin (a person) maigre maigrhuh

Young jeune zhun

Old vieux(vieille) vee uh(vee ayeh)

Pretty (cute) jolie zho lee

Beautiful beau (belle) bo (bell)

3
K.BALASHOWRI REDDY
ASST. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
kbaluenglish@gmail.com
www.kbaluenglish.blogspot.com
 Ugly laid(e) leh (d)

Nice (a person) sympathique* sahm pah teek

Mean(as in a person) méchant(e) may shohn

Smart intelligent(e) ehn tell ee zhehn(t)

Dumb idiot(e) ee dee oh (oht)

How's the Weather?

Most expressions that describe weather use the irregular verb faire + adjective. However, when you are saying you are hot, cold, etc., you always

use the verb avoir. For

Expressions About the Weather

English French Pronunciation
It's cold Il fait froid eel fay fwah
It's raining Il pleut eel pleuh
rain (noun) la pluie lah ploo ee
It's snowing Il neige eel nezh
the snow la neige lah nezh
It's hot Il fait chaud eel fay sho
summer l'été (masculine) lay tay
autumn l'automne (masculine) lah tumm
winter l'hiver (masculine) lee vair
spring le printemps luh prehn tehm

Colors
Here is a list of basic colors.
Colors
English French Pronunciation
red rouge rooghe
pink rose rhose
black noir(e) nwahr
white blanc (-he) blohn (-sh)
orange orange oh rahnzhe
green vert (-e) vair (t)
yellow jaune zhone
blue bleu(e) bluh
purple violet(te) vee oh lay
Tips for Memorizing Vocabulary

4
K.BALASHOWRI REDDY
ASST. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
kbaluenglish@gmail.com
www.kbaluenglish.blogspot.com
While having great lists to learn new vocabulary is helpful the best way to memorize it is to attach it to something you already know. Try

these quick tips for studying:

 Many words are similar in both English and French. Memorizing these should be a snap.

 Does the word look or sound like anything familiar to you? For example, the word for nice in French looks like the word

sympathetic in English. While the meanings are different--they are similar enough that you can make an association. (Someone who

is sympathetic is generally nice as well.) Likewise, attaching the words to something you know should make it easier.
 Attach a mental picture to the word you're memorizing. Memorize the colors by writing them out on cards with the same color ink.

Think about pictures that might make you think of the word.
 Practice, practice, practice. If you took the time to make up one sentence for each word--you would have no problem memorizing

the words at all.

FRENCH LESSON - HOW TO PRONOUNCE FRENCH VOWELS

Vowels in French can have accent marks; except for "e", this doesn't usually change the sound:

a, à, â  like "a" in "father"

e like "a" in "about"
é like "ay" in "say"
ê like "e" in "set"
è like "e" in "set"
i, î  like "ee" in "feed"
o, o, ô, au,
like "oa" in "boat" or "aw" in "law"
eau 
ou  like "oo" in "food", but a pure vowel
u, ù more or less like "oo" in "food", but the tongue is like "ee" in "feed"; written uu in transcriptions
y like "ee" in "feed"

HOW TO PRONOUNCE FRENCH CONSONANTS

Final consonants of a word are usually dropped: allez (go) is pronounced ahl-AY, not ahl-AYZ; tard (late) is pronounce tar, not tard. Also a
final "e" is usually silent. But if the next word begins with a vowel, the consonant may be pronounced; this is called liaison.

Stress is usually on the last syllable of a phrase, but sometimes when a word is emphasized, the stress moves to the
middle of the word.

b like "b" in "bed"

c like "k" in "kill" (before "a", "o", and "u"), like "s" in "sun" (before "e" and "i")
ç  like "s" in "sun"
d like "d" in "death"
f like "f" in "fun"
g like "g" in "go" (before "a", "o", and "u"), like "g" in "sabotage" (before "e" and "i" and at the end of
words)
h usually silent
j like "g" in "sabotage"

5
K.BALASHOWRI REDDY
ASST. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
kbaluenglish@gmail.com
www.kbaluenglish.blogspot.com
 k like "k" in "kill"
l like "l" in "like"
m like "m" in "me"
n like "n" in "nurse" (but see 'Diphthongs' below)
p like "p" in "push"
q(u) like "k" in "kill" (not like "qu" in "quick")
r guttural; kind of like coughing up a hairball
s like "s" in "sun"; like "z" in "zero" (between two vowels)
t like "t" in "take"
v like "v" in "value"
x like "x" in "exit"
z like "z" in "zero"

HOW TO PRONOUNCE FRENCH DIPHTHONGS (gliding vowels)

a like "i" in "fight", like "ay" in "hay" (at the end of a word)
ail like "i" in "fight"
ais like "ea" in "bread" (at the end of a word)
au, eau like "ow" in "blow"
an nasal; kind of like "ahng", but without the hard "g" at the end
eu between "ew" in "dew" and "ur" in "burp"; written eu in transcriptions
œ more or less like "eu", slightly more "open"
er like "ay" in "hay" -- usually found at the end of word/verb
ez like "ay" in "hay"
en, em nasal; same as "an"
in nasal; like "ang" in "Tang", but without the hard "g" at the end
oi like "wa" in "walk"
oin nasal; like "wang", but without the hard "g" at the end
ou like "oo" in "food"
on nasal; like "ong" in "long", but without the hard "g" at the end
oui like "wee" in "week"
ui like "wee" in "week", but with the tongue forward
un nasal; like "ung" in "hung", but without the hard "g" at the end
ch like "sh" in "bush"
gn like "ny" in "canyon". This is particularly difficult  when followed by oi, as in baignoire (beh-
NYWAR) "bathtub"
il like "y" in "three years", with some exceptions (ville is veel)
like "l"
ph like "f" in "fun"
tch like "ch" in "chew" (but kind of rare)
th like "t" in "tin"
tr "t" followed by a short gargle

6
K.BALASHOWRI REDDY
ASST. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH
kbaluenglish@gmail.com
www.kbaluenglish.blogspot.com