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English to French Common Words and Phrases

When learning a new language or taking a quick refresher course, it's important to learn the most basic commonly spoken words and phrases. These can be as basic as words like yes and no, but also extend to other useful phrases like "Do you speak English?" or "I speak a little bit of French".

That's what this page is all about. Helping you to remember the most basic words to know in French, by providing their English translations. Scroll down to see what common words and phrases you still need to learn.

Common Words from English to French:

Words in bold added during the last update. You can also view this list of common words and phrases from French to English.


Yes and No from English to French

Yes ➔ Oui

No ➔ Non


English to French of Please and Thank You

Please ➔ S'il te plaît

Please ➔ S'il vous plaît

Thanks (a lot) ➔ Merci (beaucoup)

I thank you ➔ Je vous remercie

You're welcome ➔ De rien


Do You Speak English? / French?

Do you speak English? ➔ Est-ce que vous parlez anglais?

Do you speak French? ➔ Est-ce que vous parlez français?

I speak French a little ➔ Je parle le français un peu

I speak a little bit of French ➔ Je parle un petit peut de français

I don't understand. ➔ Je ne comprends pas.

Could you repeat that please? ➔ Pourriez-vous répéter s'il vous plait?


What is Your Name? from English to French

What's your name? ➔ Comment t'appelles-tu?

What is your name? ➔ Comment vous appelez-vous?

What do you call yourself? ➔ Tu t'appelle comment?

My name is (name) ➔ Je m'appelle (name)

I am (name) ➔ Je suis (name)


English to French Question Words

Qui ➔ Who

Qu'est-ce que ➔ What

Quand ➔ When

Où ➔ Where

Pourquoi ➔ Why

Comment ➔ How


Other Useful Words from English to French

Excuse me. ➔ Excusez-moi.

How are you? ➔ (Comment) ça va?

I'm sorry. ➔ Je suis désolé(e).

What is it? ➔ Qu'est-ce que c'est?

Where are the toilets? ➔ Où sont les toilettes?

Where is the ATM? ➔ Où est le distributeur automatique?


*English to French basic words list last updated: April 7, 2018.



Next Up

Numbers in French: Learn how to say number words in French.


Perhaps you want to learn common words and phrases in these other languages?

Afrikaans, Arabic, Bengali, Bosnian, Dutch, Filipino, French, Gaelic, German, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Lithuanian, Malay, Mandarin, Maori, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Somali, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.


The Fine Print

I don't speak French myself, so there could be mistakes in the translations. Most of what is here is user-submitted, but I do try to check for accuracy and make corrections as I can. Thanks for your understanding. Best of luck on your French language learning journey!



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