Learning French vocabulary is one of the fastest, easiest ways to improve your command of the language.
Reports vary, but most linguists agree that there are about 1,500-2,000 common words necessary to understand and be understood on a superficial level in French, and around 5,000 to 6,000 to participate fully in most non-technical conversations. After that, you can choose specific topics that you might be likely to have conversations about, or would like to be able to discuss on a more proficient level, and then methodically work through themed French vocabulary lists.
Best Ways to Learn French Vocabulary
Different people will have different methods to increase their French vocabulary, ranging from reading practice texts and looking up the words you don’t know, to making vocabulary flashcards, to going down a list and memorizing a word at a time.
- Many common French words are partial cognates to English words, so you may be able to find the root of a word you understand in English to help you memorize the French version. Other people swear by using mnemonic, or memory association, tricks to remember new vocabulary, but the goal is to know and remember these French words in the same effortless way you remember different English words. People who learn vocabulary using mnemonic devices often seem to learn words at a faster rate, but they are usually forgotten within weeks of not needing to access these words anymore, while the student who spent time “internalizing” each new word can retain much more of the new vocabulary.
- Another vocabulary memorization technique is to say or write the new word in several logical English sentences, such as, “I need to wear une montre so I won’t lose track of time,” and, “I showed up an hour early because I forgot to reset ma montre for Daylight Savings Time.”
You will get faster at learning French vocabulary the more you learn, because you will have enough proficiency to be able to use context clues to decipher the meaning of words in sentences and paragraphs. Until then, however, use the following French vocabulary lists to increase your vocabulary knowledge. There are many high-quality learn French books you can use as well.
Latest French Vocabulary Lessons
Family, Babies, & Children: French Family Vocabulary
Here is a list of all the immediate and extended family vocabulary words you might need to use in French, including their masculine and feminine versions.
French Numbers: Counting and Math Vocabulary
Understanding French numbers can get complicated by gender, plural, irregular number patterns, and other complicators. Here’s everything you need to know about French figures, numbers, and math.
French Animals Vocabulary
Learn dozens of animal vocabulary words all in one place, along with finding out how French speakers think about and write about male and female animals. Plus check out this list of verbs.
45 French Adverbs
French adverbs tend to have more varied forms than English adverbs, but they aren’t difficult to learn. We’ve created a vocabulary list of the 45 most used adverbs in French so you can quickly learn them and reference them in one place.
Common French Phrases
When traveling to a French-speaking country, it is important to be polite by learning some basic French phrases to greet people. Greetings are more important in France than in the United States, as politeness is highly valued.
French Vocabulary: Numbers
French numbers follow a similar pattern to English, with some quirks. Seventy, eighty, and ninety are a little different, as are a billion versus trillion.
French Vocabulary Books and Guides