The 20 Most Common French Words

Here are the top 10 most common French words.

1) le, la, l', les: the

2) être: to be

3) avoir:  to have

4) de:  of, from

5) un, une, des:  a, an, some

6) je:  I

7) il / ils*:  he, it / they

8) ce:  this

9) pas:  not

10) à:  to, in

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

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

Source:

• Gougenheim 2.00. Fréquences orales et de production