These are the 100 most useful French words from our 1000-word beginner course - the vocabulary you will hear and use most often. Learn them first and you will understand a surprising amount of everyday French.
| # | Word | French |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | the food | la nourriture |
| 2 | the drink | la boisson |
| 3 | the cup | la tasse |
| 4 | the bottle | la bouteille |
| 5 | the plate | l’assiette |
| 6 | the spoon | la cuillère |
| 7 | the fork | la fourchette |
| 8 | the knife | le couteau |
| 9 | the breakfast | le petit-déjeuner |
| 10 | the lunch | le déjeuner |
| 11 | the dinner | le dîner |
| 12 | the bread | le pain |
| 13 | the butter | le beurre |
| 14 | the cheese | le fromage |
| 15 | the milk | le lait |
| 16 | the coffee | le café |
| 17 | the tea | le thé |
| 18 | the juice | le jus |
| 19 | the soda | le soda |
| 20 | the rice | le riz |
| 21 | the pasta | les pâtes |
| 22 | the fish | le poisson |
| 23 | the chicken | le poulet |
| 24 | the beef | le bœuf |
| 25 | the egg | l’œuf |
| 26 | the soup | la soupe |
| 27 | the salad | la salade |
| 28 | the sandwich | le sandwich |
| 29 | the pizza | la pizza |
| 30 | the cereal | les céréales |
| 31 | the sugar | le sucre |
| 32 | the salt | le sel |
| 33 | the pepper | le poivre |
| 34 | the snack | le goûter / l’en-cas |
| 35 | the meal | le repas |
| 36 | the restaurant | le restaurant |
| 37 | the cafe | le café |
| 38 | the bakery | la boulangerie |
| 39 | the cafeteria | la cafétéria |
| 40 | the dough | la pâte |
| 41 | the pan | la poêle |
| 42 | the pot | la casserole |
| 43 | the bowl | le bol |
| 44 | the meat | la viande |
| 45 | the flavor | la saveur |
| 46 | the toast | le toast |
| 47 | the yogurt | le yaourt |
| 48 | the spice | l’épice |
| 49 | the teacup | la tasse |
| 50 | the lemonade | la limonade |
| 51 | the jar | le bocal |
| 52 | the milkshake | le milkshake |
| 53 | the vinegar | le vinaigre |
| 54 | the waiter | le serveur |
| 55 | the beer | la bière |
| 56 | the noodle | la nouille |
| 57 | the cork | le bouchon |
| 58 | the wine | le vin |
| 59 | the sausage | la saucisse |
| 60 | the pitcher | le pichet |
| 61 | the glass | le verre |
| 62 | the grapefruit juice | le jus de pamplemousse |
| 63 | the bill | l’addition |
| 64 | the menu | le menu |
| 65 | the bagel | le bagel |
| 66 | the pancake | la crêpe |
| 67 | the chocolate | le chocolat |
| 68 | the candy | le bonbon |
| 69 | the cookie | le biscuit |
| 70 | the cake | le gâteau |
| 71 | the ice cream | la glace |
| 72 | the honey | le miel |
| 73 | the bubblegum | le chewing-gum |
| 74 | the gummy | la gomme / le bonbon gélifié |
| 75 | the marshmallow | le marshmallow |
| 76 | the syrup | le sirop |
| 77 | the cocoa | le cacao |
| 78 | the popcorn | le pop-corn |
| 79 | the sundae | la coupe glacée |
| 80 | the cotton candy | la barbe à papa |
| 81 | the custard | la crème anglaise |
| 82 | the dessert | le dessert |
| 83 | the jellybean | la dragée |
| 84 | the lollipop | le sucette |
| 85 | the jelly | la gelée |
| 86 | the gingerbread | le pain d'épice |
| 87 | the waffle | le gaufre |
| 88 | the pastry | la pâtisserie |
| 89 | the pie | la tarte |
| 90 | the cupcake | le cupcake |
| 91 | the muffin | le muffin |
| 92 | the donut | le donut |
| 93 | the biscuit | le biscuit |
| 94 | the apple pie | la tarte aux pommes |
| 95 | the carrot cake | le gâteau aux carottes |
| 96 | the chocolate cake | le gâteau au chocolat |
| 97 | the pumpkin pie | la tarte à la citrouille |
| 98 | the apricot jam | la confiture d'abricot |
| 99 | the jam | la confiture |
| 100 | the apple | la pomme |
The 100 most frequent words cover about half of everyday spoken language. With the full 1000-word core vocabulary you understand around 85% of typical conversations in French - enough to follow along and make yourself understood.
They are the most frequently used words of the language, selected by word frequency. Every one of them will appear again and again in real sentences, so each learned word immediately pays off.
Listen and repeat: every word in the 1000 Words course comes with audio and an example sentence. Combined with spaced repetition in the free vocabulary trainer, most learners master the first 100 words within one to two weeks.