Basic French words at a glance Bonjour. Hello. Merci. Thank you. Merci beaucoup.
The most commonly used words in French are: Oui (yes), non (no), merci (thank you), je (I), tu/vous (you), le/la/les (the), un, une des (a, an and some), le/la/les (it, them), et (and) and mais (but).
The most important French greetings include bonjour (hello), enchanté(e) (nice to meet you), bonsoir (good evening/hello), salut (hi), coucou (hey), Ça fait longtemps, dis donc (long time no see), Âllo (hello), Ça va? (how are you?), tu vas bien? (have you been well?), quoi de neuf? (what's up?), au revoir!
What is the proper response to bonjour? It's more than sufficient to simply say bonjour back in response to those who greet you, but if you want to go a step beyond, you can respond with comment allez-vous, which is the French equivalent of asking how it's going.
Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez beaucoup.
Literal translation: “Eat well, laugh often, love a lot.” Actual meaning: “Live life to the fullest” or carpe diem (“seize the day”). Use this positive French saying to console a friend that is having a hard time.
Serrurerie
Brace yourself: The hardest French word to pronounce is the word for locksmith – “serrurerie“. It was the most commonly repeated response.
belle (feminine adjective) - beautiful. charmante (feminine adjective) - charming or lovely. éblouissante (feminine adjective) - dazzling. étonnante (feminine adjective) - astonishing. étourdissante (feminine adjective) - stunning.
La pomme de terre. This may be the most common and strange compound word of the French language. Literally, it translates as “apple from Earth” or “apple of the Earth”, it actually means a mere potato.
235. 235. In France men are addressed as Monsieur and women as Madame or Mademoiselle.
Draguer – to seduce/to flirt (common slang) Un dragueur – a seducer (common slang) La drague – seduction (common slang)
You will not be advanced after 10 days. You will stutter, you will do mistakes, you will speak slowly, but you will be able to communicate and talk about many different topics.
While modern French speakers certainly understand the phrase, c'est la vie is especially common among English speakers, used either as a handy or fancy way to say “That's life!” especially in the face of minor setbacks.
Sacrebleu – French pirates' swear word of choice
It's the gros mot (swear word) we all imagine the French saying, but like most stereotypes about the French, this one isn't true.
In English, if you didn't hear someone, simply saying “What?” would be considered informal or even rude, and the same goes for quoi.
Borrowed from French popo (“potty, poop”).