French Nouns

Basic nouns referring to people

The following are very generic words for people:

homme	ɔm	man
femme	fam	woman
garçon	gaʁsõ	boy, lad
fille	fij	girl
adulte	adylt	adult
enfant	ɑ̃fɑ̃	child
bébé	bebe	baby
tout petit	tupti	small child, todler
adolescent	adolɛsɑ̃	teenager
personne1	pɛʁsɔn	person
personne1 âgée	pɛʁsɔn aʒe	elderly per

Family members and relationships

ami	ami	friend (male)
amie	ami	friend (female)
père1	pɛʁ	father, dad
mère1	mɛʁ	mother, mum
fils	fis	son
fille	fij	daughter
frère	fʁɛʁ	brother
soeur	sœʁ	sister
mari	maʁi	husband
femme	fɛm	wife
partenaire	paʁtənɛʁ	partner
parent	paʁɑ̃	relative
parents	paʁɑ̃	parents
oncle	õkl	uncle
tante	tɑ̃t	aunt, auntie
grand-père	gʁɑ̃pɛʁ	grandfather
grand-papa	gʁɑ̃papa	grandpa, grandad
grand-mère	gʁɑ̃mɛʁ	grandmother
grand-maman	gʁɑ̃mamɑ̃	grandma
grands-parents	gʁɑ̃paʁɑ̃	grandparents
copain	kopæ̃	friend, mate (male); boyfriend
copine	kopin	friend, mate (female); girlfriend
copine normale (Informal)	kopin nɔʁmal	female friend (to distinguish from 'girlfriend')
cop (Informal)	kɔp	boyfriend
petit ami	pətitami	boyfriend
petite amie	pətitami	girlfriend
fiancé	fjɑ̃se	fiancé
fiancée	fjɑ̃se	fiancée
collègue	kɔlɛg	colleague

French Adjectives

Need to describe a person ?

petit	pəti	small, short
grand	gʁɑ̃	large, tall
jeune	jœn	young
vieux	vjø	old (masculine)
vieille	vjɛj	old (feminine)
âgé	aʒe	elderly
beau	bo	handsome; beautiful (with masculine noun)
belle	bɛl	beautiful (with feminine person or noun)
fort	fɔʁ	strong
faible	fɛbl	weak (person, object)

Basic Words

Other Basic French Words

pour	puʁ	for
par	paʁ	by; via
sur	syʁ	on
dans	dɑ̃	in2
en	ɑ̃	in2
avec	avɛk	with
dehors	dəɔʁ	outside, out
là	la	here, there; now
ici	isi	here
là-bas	laba	there, over there
mon	mõ	my (masculine)
ma	ma	my (feminine)
mes	me	my (plural)
votre	vɔtʁə	your
parce que	paʁsk(ə)	because
près de...	pʁe də, pʁɛd	near to...
près d'ici	pʁɛdisi	nearby, near here
loin	lwæ̃	far
très	tʁe	very
peu	pø	little, hardly
bien	bjæ̃	well; rather
assez	ase	quite; enough, sufficiently
trop	tʁo	too; too much
trop de...	tʁod	too much...; too many...
pas	pa	not
jamais	ʒame	never
toujours	tuʒuʁ	always; still
encore	ɑ̃kɔʁ	still, yet
plus	ply, plys	more
moins	mwæ̃	less, fewer
que	kə	that; what

Question Words

In day to day life, you need to know question words like : what? When? Where? e.t.c like for example
Quand Est-ce que vous arrivez au Kenya? {When are you arriving in Kenya?}
Quel est ton nom ? Pronounce (kel e to nom) {What is your name?}

quoi?	kwa	what?
quand?	kɑ̃	when?
pourquoi?	puʁkwa	why?
quel?	kɛl	which?
combien de...	kõbjæ̃d	how much...?, how many...?
comment?	kɔmɑ̃	how?; pardon?, what did you say?

For more explanation; just post on which question word you need elaboration

Basic Articles & Preposition

The following words are not that easy to start with but I will help you go through.The articles and preposition depend on the words that follow:

de	də, d, t	of, from
du	dy	of/from the (masculine1 singular); some
des	de	of/from the (plural); some
à	a	to; at; in2
au	o	to/at/in2 the (masculine1 singular)
aux	o	to/at/in2 the (plural)
le	lə, lø	the (with masculine1 word)
la	la	the (with feminine1 word)
les	le	the (with plural)

Basic French Phrases

A few basic French phrases that might come in handy while visiting France might include: please, thank you, hello, goodbye, directions, bathroom, transportation and maybe even some menu items. It probably wouldn’t hurt to know the words hospital, emergency and police. Sure, you probably don’t like to think you might find yourself in a situation to need those words, but wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry? Of course, if you can think of any other basic French phrases that you think you might need, by all means, learn them.

Common Basic French Phrases will include:

Bonjour;Good Day
Bonne nuit: Goodnight
Salut : Hi
Comment Ca Va? How do you do?
      >> Answer : ca va bien merci (when you are fine)   and Ca ne va pas (when you are not fine)
Au revoir: Goodbye
Au revoir mon ami : Goodbye my friend
D'accord: Ok
Oui ; Yes pronounce as sound {wi}
Non: No pronounces as English {No}
Monsieur: Mr.
Madame: Madame
Je voudrais=I want
Je veux atteindre …= I wanna go to …
Au secours!=help!