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French A1: essential words and phrases
Beginner French flashcards: greetings, family, numbers, time, food, core verbs and directions, with gender, usage notes and Canadian French differences.
44 cards6 topicsAbout 20 minutes a roundTypical first-semester introductory French (French 1, beginner A1 level)
About this deck
This deck is for complete beginners and for anyone starting an introductory French course at college or university. It follows the A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), the stage where you can greet people, introduce yourself, ask simple questions and handle basic needs such as buying food or finding the station. The cards cover greetings and politeness, family words, numbers and telling time, food and shopping, the core verbs etre, avoir, aller and faire, and asking for directions.
You do not need any French to start, but it helps to know what a noun, verb and article are in English. Every noun is shown with its article so you learn its gender at the same time; where the article is l', the gender is given in brackets. Where Canadian (especially Quebec) French differs from the French of France, the definition says so, since many learners in Canada will hear both.
Study by saying each term aloud before you flip the card, then read the example sentence aloud too. French spelling hides many silent letters, so listening to a free audio source for the same words is worth the time. Once a tag feels easy, shuffle the whole deck and try to answer in the other direction, from English to French.
Common mistakes: learning a noun without its article and then guessing the gender; using tu with a stranger in a formal setting (or vous with a close friend); and saying 'je suis 20 ans' instead of 'j'ai 20 ans', since French uses avoir for age.
Before you start: None. Basic knowledge of English grammar terms (noun, verb, article) is helpful.
All 44 cards
Cover the definitions with a sheet of paper and test yourself, or use the study modes above.
Greetings and politeness
- bonjour
- Hello; good morning or good day. The standard greeting until early evening, and it is polite to say it when entering a shop. In Quebec it can also be heard as a parting wish.Example: Bonjour, madame ! (Hello, ma'am!)
- bonsoir
- Good evening. Used as a greeting when you arrive somewhere in the evening; it can also be said when leaving at night.Example: Bonsoir, tout le monde. (Good evening, everyone.)
- salut
- Hi, or bye. Informal: use it with friends, classmates and family, not with a professor or a client.Example: Salut, Marc ! Ça va ? (Hi, Marc! How's it going?)
- au revoir
- Goodbye. Neutral and polite in any setting; literally 'until seeing again'.Example: Merci et au revoir ! (Thanks and goodbye!)
- s'il vous plaît / s'il te plaît
- Please. Use the vous form with strangers, with more than one person or in formal settings, and the te form with a friend or a child.Example: Un café, s'il vous plaît. (A coffee, please.)
- merci / de rien
- Thank you / you're welcome. In Quebec, 'bienvenue' is also very commonly used to mean you're welcome.Example: Merci beaucoup ! De rien. (Thanks a lot! You're welcome.)
- excusez-moi
- Excuse me. Used to get someone's attention or to apologize for a small disturbance; the informal form is excuse-moi.Example: Excusez-moi, où sont les toilettes ? (Excuse me, where is the washroom?)
- Comment allez-vous ? / Ça va ?
- How are you? The first is formal; the second is casual and can also be the answer (Ça va = I'm fine).Example: Ça va ? Oui, ça va bien, merci. (How are you? Yes, I'm well, thanks.)
- Je m'appelle...
- My name is... Literally 'I call myself', from the reflexive verb s'appeler. To ask: Comment vous appelez-vous ?Example: Je m'appelle Priya. (My name is Priya.)
- tu / vous
- The two words for you. The first is informal singular; the second is formal singular or any plural. In Quebec the informal one is used more widely, even with strangers in casual places.Example: Tu es étudiant ? Vous êtes professeur ? (Are you a student? Are you a teacher?)
- enchanté(e)
- Pleased to meet you. In writing, add -e when the speaker is a woman; the pronunciation does not change.Example: Je suis Léa. Enchantée ! (I'm Léa. Pleased to meet you!)
People and family
- le père / la mère
- Father / mother. Informally papa and maman. Note the article: le for masculine, la for feminine.Example: Ma mère est infirmière. (My mother is a nurse.)
- le frère / la sœur
- Brother / sister. Possessives agree with the noun, not the owner: mon frère, ma sœur.Example: J'ai un frère et deux sœurs. (I have one brother and two sisters.)
- l'enfant (m. or f.)
- Child. The same word is used for a boy or a girl; the article un or une shows which.Example: Ils ont trois enfants. (They have three children.)
- l'ami (m.) / l'amie (f.)
- Friend (male / female); both sound the same. In Quebec, informal 'mon chum' can mean my friend or my boyfriend, and 'ma blonde' means my girlfriend.Example: C'est mon amie Sophie. (This is my friend Sophie.)
- le mari / la femme
- Husband / wife. The second word also means woman in general, so context decides.Example: Sa femme travaille à Montréal. (His wife works in Montreal.)
- l'homme (m.)
- Man. The h is silent, so the article shortens to l'; plural les hommes, with the s linked in speech.Example: Cet homme est mon voisin. (That man is my neighbour.)
- la famille
- Family. A feminine singular noun, so it takes a singular verb even though it refers to several people.Example: Ma famille habite à Québec. (My family lives in Quebec City.)
Numbers and time
- un, deux, trois... dix
- The numbers one to ten: un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix. Un becomes une before a feminine noun.Example: J'ai deux chats et une sœur. (I have two cats and one sister.)
- soixante-dix
- Seventy, literally sixty-ten, so 77 is sixty plus seventeen (dix-sept tacked on). Canada and France use this form; Belgium and Switzerland say septante.Example: Il a soixante-dix ans. (He is seventy years old.)
- quatre-vingts
- Eighty, literally four twenties. It loses the final s when another number follows: quatre-vingt-un is 81 and quatre-vingt-dix is 90.Example: Le billet coûte quatre-vingts dollars. (The ticket costs eighty dollars.)
- Quelle heure est-il ?
- What time is it? Answer with il est + number + heure(s); midi is noon and minuit is midnight.Example: Il est trois heures et demie. (It is half past three.)
- aujourd'hui / demain / hier
- Today / tomorrow / yesterday. Time words usually go at the start or end of the sentence.Example: Demain, je travaille. (Tomorrow I'm working.)
- les jours de la semaine
- The days of the week: lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche. They are not capitalized, and le lundi means on Mondays.Example: Le cours est le mardi. (The class is on Tuesdays.)
- le matin / le soir
- Morning / evening. Ce matin means this morning; demain soir means tomorrow evening.Example: Je bois du thé le matin. (I drink tea in the morning.)
- la fin de semaine / le week-end
- Weekend. Quebec and most of Canada prefer the first form; France usually uses the borrowed English word.Example: Bonne fin de semaine ! (Have a good weekend!)
Food and shopping
- le pain
- Bread. Une baguette is the long loaf; du pain means some bread.Example: Je voudrais du pain, s'il vous plaît. (I would like some bread, please.)
- l'eau (f.)
- Water. A feminine noun, so an adjective after it takes -e (froide). Ask for une carafe d'eau for free tap water in a restaurant in France.Example: Une bouteille d'eau, s'il vous plaît. (A bottle of water, please.)
- le déjeuner
- In France, lunch (breakfast is le petit-déjeuner). In Quebec, it means breakfast, le dîner is lunch and le souper is the evening meal.Example: Au Québec, on mange le déjeuner à 7 h. (In Quebec, people eat breakfast at 7.)
- Combien ça coûte ?
- How much does it cost? Also Combien coûte... ? or, for a total, C'est combien ?Example: Combien ça coûte ? Douze dollars. (How much is it? Twelve dollars.)
- je voudrais
- I would like. The polite conditional of vouloir; it sounds softer than je veux (I want).Example: Je voudrais un croissant. (I would like a croissant.)
- l'addition (f.)
- The bill at a restaurant. In Quebec you will also hear la facture for the restaurant bill.Example: L'addition, s'il vous plaît. (The bill, please.)
- le magasin
- Store or shop. Quebec French also has the verb magasiner (to go shopping); in France people say faire les magasins or faire du shopping.Example: Le magasin ferme à 18 h. (The store closes at 6 p.m.)
- du / de la / de l' / des
- Partitive articles meaning some or any, used with amounts you do not count. After a negative they become de: je n'ai pas de lait.Example: Je mange de la soupe et du riz. (I eat some soup and some rice.)
Core verbs
- être
- To be. Present: je suis, tu es, il/elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont. Used for identity, nationality and descriptions.Example: Nous sommes canadiens. (We are Canadian.)
- avoir
- To have. Present: j'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont. Also used for age, hunger and cold: j'ai faim.Example: J'ai dix-neuf ans. (I am nineteen years old.)
- aller
- To go. Irregular present: je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont. Also used in Ça va (how are things).Example: Je vais à l'université. (I go to university.)
- faire
- To do or to make. Present: je fais, tu fais, il fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils font. Used for weather: il fait froid.Example: Il fait froid en janvier. (It is cold in January.)
- parler
- To speak. Model for regular -er verbs: je parle, tu parles, il parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent.Example: Je parle anglais et un peu français. (I speak English and a little French.)
- il y a
- There is or there are. The phrase never changes for plural: un livre and trois livres both follow it unchanged.Example: Il y a un café près d'ici. (There is a café near here.)
Places and getting around
- Où est... ?
- Where is...? For more than one thing, use Où sont... ? Start with Excusez-moi to sound polite.Example: Où est la bibliothèque ? (Where is the library?)
- à gauche / à droite / tout droit
- Left / right / straight ahead. Do not confuse droite (right) with tout droit (straight on).Example: Tournez à gauche, puis allez tout droit. (Turn left, then go straight ahead.)
- la gare
- Train station. A bus terminal is called a gare routière in France or a terminus; a metro stop is une station.Example: Le train part de la gare centrale. (The train leaves from the central station.)
- la voiture
- Car. In informal Quebec French, le char is very common; in France, informal la bagnole.Example: Ma voiture est en panne. (My car has broken down.)