Most Common 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

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 numbers 11 to 20.

11) et    and
      conjunction


12) on    one, you, we
      indefinite subject pronoun


13) vous    you
      personal pronoun


14) ça    this, that
      indefinite demonstrative pronoun


15) que    that
      conjunction


16) ne    not
      negative adverb


17) faire    to do, make
      all about faire


18) qui    who/what
      interrogative pronoun, relative pronoun


19) oui    yes
      synonyms for oui


20) alors    then, so
      adverb


Notes

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

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 numbers 21 to 30.

21) mais    but
      conjunction


22) elle / elles*    she / they
      subject pronouns


23) en    in, to
      preposition


24) le, la, l' / les    it / them
      direct object pronouns


25) dire    to say, tell
      all about dire


26) y    there
      adverbial pronoun


27) du / des    of, from the
      contraction of de + definite article le / les


28) pour    for
      preposition


29) dans    in
      preposition


30) me    me, myself
      personal pronoun


Notes

*I would have listed elle and elles 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 direct object pronouns) 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

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 numbers 31 to 40.

31) se    himself, herself, oneself
      reflexive pronoun


32) aller    to go
      all about aller


33) au / aux    to, at, in the
      contraction of à + definite article le / les


34) bien    well, good
      bien vs bon


35) ce, cet, cette / ces    this, that / these, those
      demonstrative adjectives


36) tu    you
      subject pronoun


37) en    some
      adverbial pronoun


38) là    there
      adverb


39) comme    like, as
      conjunction


40) voir    to see
      all about voir


Notes

Words with different forms but the same essential meaning (such as ce and cette: masculine and feminine demonstrative adjectives) are combined into a single listing.

Words with different grammatical functions (such as en: preposition and en: adverbial 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

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 numbers 41 to 50.

41) non    no
      synonyms for non


42) savoir    to know
      all about savoir


43) nous    we, us
      personal pronoun


44) puis    next, then
      adverb


45) mon, ma, mes    my
      possessive adjectives


46) moi    me
      personal pronoun


47) tout    every, all
      adjective


48) très    very
      synonyms for très


49) que    that, which, who
      relative pronoun


50) pouvoir    can, to be able
      all about pouvoir


Notes

Words with different forms but the same essential meaning (such as mon, ma and mes: masculine, feminine, and plural possessive adjectives) are combined into a single listing.

Words with different grammatical functions (such as que: relative pronoun and que: conjunction) are usually listed separately.

The words 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.

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

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

Do you know the most common French words? Here are numbers 51 to 60.

51) parce que    because
      conjunction


52) avec    with
      preposition


53) lui    him/her
      personal pronoun


54) son, sa, ses    his/her/its
      possessive adjectives


55) enfin    then, finally
      adverb


56) falloir    to be necessary
      all about falloir


57) par    by
      preposition


58) quand    when
      interrogative adverb, conjunction*


59) vouloir    to want
      all about vouloir


60) petit    small, short
      synonyms for petit


Notes

*I would have listed quand as a conjunction and as an adverb separately, but they were combined in the source document.

Words with different forms but the same essential meaning (such as son, sa and ses: masculine, feminine, and plural possessive adjectives) are combined into a single listing.

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

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

Do you know the most common French words? Here are numbers 61 to 70.

61) si    if
      all about si


62) plus    more
      comparative adverb


63) même    same, even, (one)self*
      all about même


64) sur    on
      preposition


65) ou    or
      conjunction


66) autre    other
      indefinite adjective


67) deux    two
      number


68) venir    to come
      all about venir


69) prendre    to take
      all about prendre


70) tout    all
      pronoun


Notes

*I would have listed même meaning "even," "same," and "self" separately, but they were combined in the source document.

Words with different grammatical functions (such as tout: adjective and tout: pronoun) are usually listed separately.

The word ben was number 67, but since it's just an interjection with no real meaning, I left it out of my list.

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

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

Do you know the most common French words? Here are numbers 71 to 80.

71) arriver    to arrive, happen
      all about arriver


72) beaucoup    a lot
      adverb of quantity


73) croire    to believe
      all about croire


74) heure    hour, o'clock
      telling time in French


75) rien    nothing
      negative pronoun


76) jour    day
      French days of the week


77) mettre    to put
      all about mettre


78) passer    to pass, spend
      all about passer


79) un peu    a little
      adverb of quantity


80) devoir    must, to have to
      all about devoir


Notes

Words with different grammatical functions (such as devoir: verb and devoir: noun) 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

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

Do you know the most common French words? Here are numbers 81 to 90.

81) aussi    too, also
      comparative adverbs


82) encore    again
      adverb of frequency


83) trois    three
      number


84) parler    to talk, speak
      expressions with parler


85) toujours    still, forever
      encore vs toujours


86) trouver    to find
      expressions with trouver


87) quoi    what (exclamative)
      "what" in French


88) grand    big, tall
      French adjectives


89) donner    to give
      expressions with donner


90) le temps    weather, time
      French weather


Notes

Words with different grammatical functions (such as 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.

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

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

Do you know the most common French words? Here are numbers 91 to 100.

91) après    after
      preposition


92) une fois    time
      expressions with fois


93) te    you
      personal pronoun


94) une chose    thing
      expressions with chose


95) an    year
      an vs année


96) où    where, when
      relative pronoun


97) cent    hundred
      French number


98) comprendre    to understand
     expressions with


99) maintenant    now
     adverb of time


100) bon    good
      bon vs bien


Notes

Words with different grammatical functions (such as 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.

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