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How do I learn French online?
To learn French online, start with the words you will actually meet: the 100 most common French words. Lock them in with spaced repetition, which brings each word back just before you forget it, and practice speaking with real people. For English speakers the FSI puts working fluency near 700 class hours, so daily sessions beat rare long ones.
Why learn French?
French is an official language in 29 countries and spoken by around 300 million people worldwide. As a Romance language, it shares thousands of cognates with English, so learners often recognize much of the vocabulary before they begin.
French is written in the Latin script. In the US Foreign Service Institute ranking, French is a Category I language - about 700 class hours to professional working proficiency for English speakers. French belongs to the Indo-European (Romance) family - if you enjoy it, a natural next step is Spanish, Italian or Portuguese.
The 50 most common French words
Start with the words you will actually meet: learn these and you will recognize something in almost every French sentence.
| # | Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | le | luh | the (definite article) |
| 2 | de | duh | of |
| 3 | un | uhn | one |
| 4 | être | EH-truh | be |
| 5 | et | ay | and |
| 6 | à | ah | to |
| 7 | il | eel | he |
| 8 | avoir | ah-VWAR | have |
| 9 | ne | nuh | not (before the verb) |
| 10 | je | zhuh | I |
| 11 | son | sohn | his |
| 12 | que | kuh | that (conjunction) |
| 13 | se | suh | self |
| 14 | qui | kee | who |
| 15 | ce | suh | this |
| 16 | dans | dahn | in (inside) |
| 17 | en | ahn | in (countries, months) |
| 18 | elle | el | she |
| 19 | pour | poor | for |
| 20 | pas | pah | not (after the verb) |
| 21 | vous | voo | you (formal) |
| 22 | par | par | by (agent, means) |
| 23 | sur | sewr | on |
| 24 | faire | fair | do |
| 25 | plus | plew | more |
| 26 | dire | deer | say |
| 27 | me | muh | me |
| 28 | on | ohn | we (informal), one |
| 29 | mon | mohn | my |
| 30 | lui | lwee | him |
| 31 | nous | noo | we |
| 32 | comme | kohm | like |
| 33 | mais | meh | but |
| 34 | pouvoir | poo-VWAR | can |
| 35 | avec | ah-VEK | with |
| 36 | tout | too | all |
| 37 | y | ee | there |
| 38 | aller | ah-LAY | go |
| 39 | voir | vwar | see |
| 40 | bien | byan | well |
| 41 | où | oo | where |
| 42 | sans | sahn | without |
| 43 | tu | tew | you (informal) |
| 44 | ou | oo | or |
| 45 | leur | luhr | their |
| 46 | homme | ohm | man |
| 47 | si | see | if |
| 48 | deux | duh | two |
| 49 | savoir | sah-VWAR | know |
| 50 | temps | tahn | time |
Useful phrases in French
- Bonjour · bohn-ZHOOR · Hello / Good day
- Comment ça va ? · koh-mahn sah VAH · How are you?
- Merci · mehr-SEE · Thank you
- S'il vous plaît · seel voo PLEH · Please
- Je m'appelle... · zhuh mah-PEL · My name is...
- Où est... ? · oo EH · Where is...?
- Au revoir · oh ruh-VWAHR · Goodbye
- Pardon · par-DOHN · Excuse me
- Je ne comprends pas · zhuh nuh kohm-PRAHN pah · I don't understand
- Pouvez-vous m'aider ? · poo-VAY voo meh-DAY · Can you help me?
- C'est combien ? · say kohm-BYEN · How much is it?
- À demain ! · ah duh-MEHN · See you tomorrow!
Learn French with comprehensive language resources
- Pronunciation
- Numbers
- Verbs and adjectives
- Frequency dictionaries
- Basic sentences
- Thematic dictionaries
- Politeness
- Idioms
Learn French, wherever you are
- AI-powered spaced repetition learning system on the go
- Audio processing for pronunciation
- Creation of visual language flash cards with images
- Search for speaking practice partners
- Frequency and thematic dictionaries for any language
- Alert system with exercise reminders
- Live video and messaging to facilitate learning
Join our global French learning community
Collaborate with native French speakers and fellow learners: exchange messages, correct each other's cards, and practice real conversation.
Send friend requests to the speakers you click with and build your own friends list - many practice partners become real friends.
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