Your First 100 French Words — Organised by Job, Not Alphabet

Here’s the happiest maths in language learning: the hundred or so most common French words make up roughly half of everyday speech. Half. So we won’t learn them alphabetically, like a dictionary — we’ll sort them by the job they do in a sentence. Give a word a job and it sticks.

The glue words that hold French together

Small, unglamorous, everywhere — these are the words between the words.

• le / la — the: le café, la maison. French nouns have a gender; always take it with the noun
• un / une — a: un ami, une question
• et — and; mais — but: tiny words, big opinions
• de — of, from: le café de Marie — Marie’s coffee
• à — to, at: à Paris — in Paris; à demain — see you tomorrow

Six survival verbs — je-forms only

French verbs come with intimidating conjugation tables. Ignore them for now. Learn one form each — the je form — and you can already run your day.

• je suis — I am (être)
• j’ai — I have (avoir)
• je vais — I go, I’m going (aller)
• je fais — I do, I make (faire)
• je veux — I want (vouloir)
• je peux — I can (pouvoir)

The last two are the magic ones: drop je veux or je peux in front of any verb you meet later and it simply works.

The politeness kit

France runs on four words. Use them and everyone finds you charming; skip them and service mysteriously slows down.

• bonjour — hello. Say it first, always, everywhere
• merci — thank you
• s’il vous plaît — please
• pardon — sorry, excuse me: your ticket through any crowd

Question words — plus yes, no and the secret si

Seven little keys open every conversation: qui — who, quoi — what, où — where, quand — when, pourquoi — why, comment — how, combien — how much.

Your answers: oui — yes, non — no, peut-être — maybe. And French keeps a special yes just for contradicting a negative question: si. « Tu ne veux pas de café ? — Si ! » (Don’t you want coffee? — Yes I do!). Two letters, wins arguments.

Numbers one to ten, today and tomorrow

un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix — prices, phone numbers and a table for two, sorted. Add two time words and you suddenly have plans: aujourd’hui — today, and demain — tomorrow. Je vais à Paris demain — I’m going to Paris tomorrow. Look at you.

People words — and your first nouns

Most conversation is about people, so meet the cast: je — I, tu — you, il — he, elle — she. Then un homme — a man, une femme — a woman, un ami / une amie — a friend.

To introduce someone, French prefers c’est — this is, it’s: C’est Marie. C’est une amie. — This is Marie. She’s a friend. And a starter set of nouns you’ll hear daily: le jour — day, le temps — time, weather, la chose — thing, la maison — house, home.

Put them to work: your first ten sentences

Every sentence below is built only from words in this lesson. That’s the party trick of the first hundred — they combine.

• Bonjour, je suis Marie. — Hello, I’m Marie.
• J’ai une question. — I have a question.
• Je vais à la maison. — I’m going home.
• Je veux un café, s’il vous plaît. — A coffee, please (literally: I want a coffee).
• Je peux ? — May I?
• C’est combien ? — How much is it?
• C’est un ami. — He’s a friend.
• Je fais le café aujourd’hui. — I’m making the coffee today.
• Oui, mais pourquoi ? — Yes, but why?
• Merci, et à demain ! — Thanks, and see you tomorrow!

In real sentences

Read each one aloud, then tap 🔊 and shadow the audio — rhythm first, speed later.

Drill it: your first week of French · the free level test · French greetings

FAQ

Do 100 words really cover half of French?

Half of everyday speech, roughly — the most common words repeat so relentlessly that a small, well-chosen set does enormous work. You’ll still need the other half, but this is the fastest first mile in the language.

Should I memorise full verb tables yet?

No. Je-forms carry your first conversations; the other forms arrive naturally once you start speaking. When you want the full roadmap, follow French for beginners.

How do I know whether a noun is le or la?

You don’t guess it from the meaning — you learn each noun glued to its article, as one chunk: une question, le café. Do that from day one and gender never becomes the monster people claim it is. When you’re ready for the patterns that predict gender, see le or la: French noun gender.

Should I learn the 100 from a list?

Meet them inside sentences, not as flashcard orphans — voudrais lives in je voudrais un café, où in où sont les toilettes. The word-in-sentence sticks twice as fast and comes back out as usable French.

How long to own all 100?

At ten new words a day with next-day review, two weeks — and week one’s daily loop (15 min listening, 10 aloud, 5 review) absorbs them naturally. The goal is recognition at speed, not spelling perfection.

Quick practice