Intermediate French means you have the present tense down, you know the basics of the passé composé, and you can construct simple sentences and read short texts in French. You probably know somewhere between 500 and 1,500 words. The goal at this level is to fill in the grammar you are missing, especially the full range of verb tenses, expand your vocabulary substantially, and start exposing yourself to real French rather than learner-facing content.
Grammar to Focus On
Verb Tenses
If you want a map of all the French tenses before diving in, start with the French verb tenses: a complete guide. It explains what each tense is used for and which ones to prioritize. Then work through the individual tense lessons roughly in this order:
- The imparfait, the second major past tense, used for ongoing states, habitual actions, and background description
- Imparfait vs. passé composé: knowing both tenses is not enough. You also need to know which one to reach for and when.
- The plus-que-parfait, for talking about one past event that happened before another
- Near future and recent past (futur proche and passé récent), the easiest way to talk about things that are about to happen or just happened
- The future tense (futur simple)
- The conditional tense (le conditionnel), used for hypotheticals and polite requests
- The subjunctive (le subjonctif), one of the harder concepts, but important because it comes up frequently in natural French
- The imperative, for commands and direct instructions
Other Grammar Worth Knowing
- Direct and indirect object pronouns, including where to put them in a sentence and how they behave in compound tenses
- The pronouns y and en
- Negation in French, covering ne…pas and other negative constructions
- French adverbs: grammar and structure
- French prepositions
- French infinitives
- Reflexive verbs
- Conjugating -ir verbs and -re verbs
- French conjunctions
- Articles and determiner adjectives, worth revisiting at this level for the partitive and the more complex uses
Vocabulary to Build
At the intermediate level, aim to build toward 2,500 to 3,500 words. The most effective approach is expanding vocabulary in areas directly relevant to what you want to be able to read or talk about. Start with any of these you have gaps in:
- 87 common French verbs, a solid foundation if you do not already know these
- 45 French adverbs
- French food vocabulary
- French family vocabulary
- French professions and careers
- French political vocabulary
Moving Beyond Lessons
At the intermediate level, grammar study alone is not enough. You are ready to start reading simple French texts: short news articles, graded readers, or children’s books aimed at early readers. When you encounter words you do not know, push through using context first and only look things up when you are genuinely lost. Keep a list of new vocabulary as you go.
For listening, start with content that has transcripts or subtitles available. French news radio designed for learners, like RFI’s Journal en français facile, is a good bridge between textbook French and naturally spoken French.
If you want a structured program to work through the intermediate level more systematically alongside what is here, Rocket French covers grammar, vocabulary, and listening comprehension in a single course and works well as a complement to the reference-style content on this site.
