100+ Useful Conversational Words & Phrases in French
Are you thinking about learning French but find yourself struggling to find resources that help you start speaking?
When I started out, I certainly did.
Many of the tools that I found when I started learning French were grammar-heavy textbook style resources and they didn’t offer me a lot in terms of day-to-day conversation. Rather than learning how to say “what did you do last weekend?” I had memorized a bunch of rules involving the genders of words or how to use tenses and I was no where near conversing with my fellow French speakers.
So I decided to put something together on my own so that I could feel more confident engaging in language exchanges.
And today, I’d like to share it with you.
In this post you’ll find a short selection of the 100+ conversational phrases and words in French I have available as part of a downloadable PDF that you can get by entering your email in the box below.
Happy French language learning!
Get your free PDF with 100+ Conversational French Words and Phrases
Greetings
| English | French |
| Hey | Salut |
| Hello/Good day | Bonjour |
| How are you? | Comment ça va ? / Comment allez-vous ? (form.) |
| I’m good, thanks. | Ça va bien, merci. |
| Long time no see. | Ça fait longtemps. |
Basic & Polite Phrases
| English | French |
| Please | S’il vous plaît (form.) |
| Thank you so much | Merci beaucoup |
| Excuse me | Excusez-moi (form.) |
| I’m sorry | Je suis desolé(e). |
| Thank you for your time. | Merci pour votre temps. (form.) |
Get the Conversation Rolling
| English | French |
| What’s new? | Quoi de neuf ? |
| What are you plans this weekend? | Quels sont vos plans ce week-end ? (form.) |
| How is your family? | Comment ça va votre famille ? (form.) |
| I heard that… | J’ai entendu que … |
| Tell me what you think. | Dites-moi ce que vous pensez. (form.) |
Getting a Bit of Clarification
| English | French |
| How do you say that in French? | Comment dire ça en français ? |
| I don’t understand. | Je ne comprends pas ? |
| What are you talking about? | Vous parlez de quoi ? (form.) |
| I don’t know. | Je ne sais pas. |
| Can you please write that down? | Est-ce que vous pouvez l’écrire, s’il vous plaît ? (form.) |
Words About Time
| English | French |
| Every day | Tous les jours |
| Sometimes | Parfois |
| Now | Maintenant |
| Later | Plus tard |
| Plenty | Assez |
Exclamations & Transition Words to Take Your Speaking to the Next Level
| English | French |
| Don’t worry! | Ne vous inquiétez pas ! (form.) |
| Excellent | Excellent |
| Impossible | Impossible |
| Look | Regardez (form.) |
| How horrible! | Quelle horreur ! |
| No problem! | Pas de problème ! |
| That’s good! | C’est bien ! |
| Wow! | Waouh ! Wow ! |
| Exactly | Exactement |
| That’s a good question. | C’est une bonne question. |
Conversation Closers
| English | French |
| I enjoyed speaking with you. | J’ai beaucoup aimé parler avec vous. (form.) |
| I must go. | Je dois y aller. |
| Keep in touch! | Restez en contact ! (form.) |
| Goodbye | Au revoir |
| I’ll be right back. | Je reviens tout de suite ! |
*Please note that most of the above examples use formal language, assuming that you’re getting to know the person that you’re speaking with. I have included both the formal and familiar forms of the above phrases in the download PDF for your reference.
Get your free PDF with 100+ Conversational French Words and Phrases
Are you learning French? What are some phrases that you’ve found useful in your target language? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!
