Most Common French Words

by ThoughtCo
Updated March 17, 2017
01
of 10

Top 10 French Words

1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-100

What are the most common French words? Here are the top 10.

1) le, la, l', les    the
   definite article


2) être    to be
   all about être


3) avoir    to have
   all about avoir


4) de    of, from
   preposition


5) un, une, des    a, an, some
   indefinite article


6) je    I
   subject pronoun


7) il / ils*    he, it / they
   subject pronouns


8) ce    this
   indefinite demonstrative pronoun


9) pas    not
   negative adverb


10) à    to, in
     preposition


Notes

*I would have listed il and ils separately, but they were combined in the source document.

Words with different forms but the same essential meaning (such as le and la: masculine and feminine definite articles) are combined into a single listing.

Words with different grammatical functions (such as le: definite article and le: direct object pronoun) are usually listed separately.

This list of the most common French words is adapted from the following source:

Gougenheim 2.00 - Fréquences orales et de production http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

02
of 10

Top French Words: 11-20

1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-100

11)
et    and
12)
on    one, you, we
13)
vous    you
14)
ça    this, that
15)
que    that
16)
ne    not
17)
faire    to do, make
18)
qui    who/what
19)
oui    yes
20)
alors    then, so
Notes
Gougenheim 2.00 - Fréquences orales et de production http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

03
of 10

Top French Words: 21-30

1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-100

21)
mais    but
22)
elle / elles*    she / they
23)
en    in, to
24)
le, la, l' / les    it / them
25)
dire    to say, tell
26)
y    there
27)
du / des    of, from the
de + definite article
le /
les
28)
pour    for
29)
dans    in
30)
me    me, myself
Notes
elle and
elles separately, but they were combined in the source document.
le and
la: masculine and feminine direct object pronouns) are combined into a single listing.
le: definite article and
le: direct object pronoun) are usually listed separately.
Gougenheim 2.00 - Fréquences orales et de production http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

04
of 10

Top French Words: 31-40

1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-100

31)
se    himself, herself, oneself
32)
aller    to go
33)
au / aux    to, at, in the
à + definite article
le /
les
34)
bien    well, good
35)
ce, cet, cette / ces    this, that / these, those
36)
tu    you
37)
en    some
38)
là    there
39)
comme    like, as
40)
voir    to see
Notes
ce and
cette: masculine and feminine demonstrative adjectives) are combined into a single listing.
en: preposition and
en: adverbial pronoun) are usually listed separately.
Gougenheim 2.00 - Fréquences orales et de production http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

05
of 10

Top French Words: 41-50

1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-100

41)
non    no
42)
savoir    to know
43)
nous    we, us
44)
puis    next, then
45)
mon, ma, mes    my
46)
moi    me
47)
tout    every, all
48)
très    very
49)
que    that, which, who
50)
pouvoir    can, to be able
Notes
mon,
ma and
mes: masculine, feminine, and plural possessive adjectives) are combined into a single listing.
que: relative pronoun and
que: conjunction) are usually listed separately.
ah and
oh were numbers 45 and 47, respectively, but since they are just interjections with no real meaning, I left them out of my list.
Gougenheim 2.00 - Fréquences orales et de production http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

06
of 10

Top French Words: 51-60

1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-100

51)
parce que    because
52)
avec    with
53)
lui    him/her
54)
son, sa, ses    his/her/its
55)
enfin    then, finally
56)
falloir    to be necessary
57)
par    by
58)
quand    when
59)
vouloir    to want
60)
petit    small, short
Notes
quand as a conjunction and as an adverb separately, but they were combined in the source document.
son,
sa and
ses: masculine, feminine, and plural possessive adjectives) are combined into a single listing.
Gougenheim 2.00 - Fréquences orales et de production http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

07
of 10

Top French Words: 61-70

1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-100

61)
si    if
62)
plus    more
63)
même    same, even, (one)self*
64)
sur    on
65)
ou    or
66)
autre    other
67)
deux    two
68)
venir    to come
69)
prendre    to take
70)
tout    all
Notes
même meaning "even," "same," and "self" separately, but they were combined in the source document.
tout: adjective and
tout: pronoun) are usually listed separately.
ben was number 67, but since it's just an interjection with no real meaning, I left it out of my list.
Gougenheim 2.00 - Fréquences orales et de production http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

08
of 10

Top French Words: 71-80

1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-100

71)
arriver    to arrive, happen
72)
beaucoup    a lot
73)
croire    to believe
74)
heure    hour, o'clock
75)
rien    nothing
76)
jour    day
77)
mettre    to put
78)
passer    to pass, spend
79) un
peu    a little
80)
devoir    must, to have to
Notes
devoir: verb and
devoir: noun) are usually listed separately.
Gougenheim 2.00 - Fréquences orales et de production http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

09
of 10

Top French Words: 81-90

1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 91-100

81)
aussi    too, also
82)
encore    again
83)
trois    three
84)
parler    to talk, speak
85)
toujours    still, forever
86)
trouver    to find
87)
quoi    what (exclamative)
88)
grand    big, tall
89)
donner    to give
90) le
temps    weather, time
Notes
quoi: exclamative and
quoi: interrogative) are usually listed separately.
Hein was tied with
parler at 84, but since it's just an interjection with no real meaning, I left it out of my list.
Gougenheim 2.00 - Fréquences orales et de production http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

10
of 10

Top French Words: 91-100

1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-100

91)
après    after
92) une
fois    time
93)
te    you
94) une
chose    thing
95)
an    year
96)
où    where, when
97)
cent    hundred
98)
comprendre    to understand
99)
maintenant    now
100)
bon    good
Notes
où: relative and
où: interrogative) are usually listed separately.
Eh bien was originally number 94, but since it's just an interjection with no real meaning, I left it out of my list.
Gougenheim 2.00 - Fréquences orales et de production http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php

http://www.lexique.org/public/gougenheim.php