Useful Words in French / Les mots utiles
| It’s / That’s |
c’est |
/sɛ/ |
There is/are |
il y a |
/il i a/ |
| There is/are |
voilà |
/vwala/ |
Here is/are |
voici |
/vwasi/ |
| and |
et |
/e/ |
always |
toujours |
/tuʒuʀ/ |
| but |
mais |
/mɛ/ |
often |
souvent |
/suvɑ̃/ |
| now |
maintenant |
/mɛ̃tnɑ̃/ |
sometimes |
quelquefois |
/kɛlkəfwa/ |
| especially |
surtout |
/syʀtu/ |
usually |
d’habitude |
/dabityd/ |
| except |
sauf |
/sof/ |
also, too |
aussi |
/osi/ |
| of course |
bien sûr |
/bjɛ̃ syʀ/ |
again |
encore |
/ɑ̃kɔʀ/ |
| so so |
comme ci, comme ça |
/kɔm si, kɔm sa/ |
late |
en retard |
/ɑ̃ʀətaʀ/ |
| not bad |
pas mal |
/pa mal/ |
almost |
presque |
/pʀɛsk/ |
| book |
le livre |
/lə livʀ/ |
friend (fem) |
une amie |
/y nami/ |
| pencil |
le crayon |
/lə kʀɛjɔ̃/ |
friend (masc) |
un ami |
/œ̃ nami/ |
| pen |
le stylo |
/lə stilo/ |
woman |
une femme |
/yn fam/ |
| paper |
le papier |
/lə papje/ |
man |
un homme |
/œ̃ nɔm/ |
| dog |
le chien |
/lə ʃjɛ̃/ |
girl |
une fille |
/yn fij/ |
| cat |
le chat |
/lə ʃa/ |
boy |
un garçon |
/œ̃̃ gaʀsɔ̃/ |
| money |
l’argent (m) |
/laʀʒɑ̃/ |
job / work |
le travail |
/lə tʀavaj/ |
The expression
il y a is reduced to
y a in everyday speech. When il y a is followed by a number, it means
ago.
Il y a cinq minutes means
five minutes ago. Some common slang words for money include:
le fric, le pèze, le pognon, des sous and for job/work:
le boulot.
To express in a certain month, such as
in May, use
en before the month as in “en mai.” With dates, the ordinal numbers are not used, except for the first of the month:
le premier mai but
le deux juin. Also note that months are all masculine and not capitalized in French (same as days of the week).]]>
