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📈 This topic has vocabulary at every CEFR level — pick yours above, or read the whole ladder below.
Name the key places and ask where things are.. The words and phrases you actually need for La ville, level by level from your first trip to native speed. For instance: « Où est la gare, s’il vous plaît ? » — Where is the station, please?
Vocabulary from A1 to native
| Mot | Meaning |
|---|---|
| la gare | the train station |
| la boulangerie | the bakery |
| le supermarché | the supermarket |
| la pharmacie | the pharmacy |
| l’école | the school |
| le parc | the park |
| la banque | the bank |
| le restaurant | the restaurant |
| les toilettes | the toilets |
| où est… ? | where is…? |
🗣️ Exemple : « Où est la gare, s’il vous plaît ? » — Where is the station, please?
| Mot | Meaning |
|---|---|
| tout droit | straight ahead |
| à gauche / à droite | left / right |
| tourner | to turn |
| au coin | on the corner |
| en face de | opposite |
| à côté de | next to |
| loin / près | far / near |
| traverser | to cross |
| le carrefour | the crossroads |
| continuer | to keep going |
🗣️ Exemple : « Tournez à gauche au carrefour. » — Turn left at the crossroads.
| Mot | Meaning |
|---|---|
| les transports en commun | public transport |
| un arrêt de bus | a bus stop |
| le quartier | the neighbourhood |
| le centre-ville | the town centre |
| la banlieue | the suburbs |
| un embouteillage | a traffic jam |
| un piéton | a pedestrian |
| animé(e) | lively |
| un immeuble | a building / block of flats |
| se garer | to park |
🗣️ Exemple : « Je prends les transports en commun. » — I use public transport.
| Mot | Meaning |
|---|---|
| l’urbanisme | town planning |
| la pollution | pollution |
| les espaces verts | green spaces |
| la circulation | traffic |
| le logement | housing |
| la gentrification | gentrification |
| un sans-abri | a homeless person |
| l’aménagement | development / layout |
| la mixité sociale | social diversity |
| la périphérie | the outskirts |
🗣️ Exemple : « L’urbanisme doit préserver les espaces verts. » — Town planning must protect green spaces.
| Mot | Meaning |
|---|---|
| le béton | concrete (the urban jungle) |
| la jungle urbaine | the urban jungle |
| métro-boulot-dodo | the daily grind |
| battre le pavé | to pound the pavement / protest |
| avoir pignon sur rue | to be well-established |
| tenir le haut du pavé | to be top of the heap |
| un quartier chaud | a rough area |
| la ville-lumière | Paris (the City of Light) |
| prendre la clé des champs | to escape to the countryside |
| faire le trottoir | to walk the streets |
🗣️ Exemple : « Métro-boulot-dodo, j’en ai marre. » — The daily grind — I’m sick of it.
| Mot | Meaning |
|---|---|
| l’édifice | the edifice / building |
| l’artère | the thoroughfare |
| la venelle | the alley (literary) |
| le dédale | the maze |
| la cité | the city (elevated) |
| les faubourgs | the outlying districts |
| l’agglomération | the conurbation |
| le tissu urbain | the urban fabric |
| tentaculaire | sprawling |
| le pavé luisant | the gleaming cobblestones |
🗣️ Exemple : « Il se perdit dans le dédale des ruelles. » — He got lost in the maze of alleys.
| Mot | Meaning |
|---|---|
| le bled | the small town / backwater |
| le coin | the area / neighbourhood |
| la zone | a run-down area |
| chelou (louche) | dodgy / sketchy |
| le métro | the subway |
| choper le bus | to catch the bus |
| c’est mort ici | it’s dead here (nothing going on) |
| ça bouge | it’s lively |
| le patelin | the hometown / village |
| crécher | to live / crash somewhere |
🗣️ Exemple : « Je crèche dans le coin. » — I live around here.
La ville from your first words to native speed — the terms you actually need at each level. Practise it with the free games →