10 Most Useful French Words that Aren’t “Bonjour”

Bonjour !

You already know some French basics: “Bonjour”, “Je m’appelle”… But what if you’re in a situation where you want some help? What if you need to bluff your way through an entire conversation?That’s why today, we’ll be learning a bunch of all-around useful French words with examples of french conversation phrases so you can use them too!

Check out these related links:
Bonjour, Au Revoir: Greetings in French
Encore un Matin
5 Very Embarrassing Mistakes

Et toi ?

Which French word do you think is the most useful to you?

Bonne journée,

Géraldine

Join the conversation!

  • Mon expression favorite, c’est “Allez!” C’est une expression utilisée presque chaque fois avant qu’une personne débute quelquechose, tel que: “Allez,on va commencer à construire un château de sable.” Ou- “ Allez, c’est pas si difficile?”

  • Thank you, Géraldine, for these helpful videos. I just have a question about ‘bien fait’. The context seemed to be when you are congratulating someone directly. But what about when describing something that was done very well? For example “I loved the play, and it was so well done.”Is ‘bien fait’ not appropriate in this type of sentence? I’m wondering how you would say it. Thanks again!

    • Bonjour Louise,

      “Well done” never translates into “bien fait”, on its own.

      You can say “J’ai aimé cette pièce, elle était très bien jouée”. The “it was so well done” doesn’t translate in French, you’d have to find a more precise point such as “les acteurs étaient très charismatiques”, “la mise en scène était magnifique”, “les dialogues étaient incroyable”…

  • Merci, Géraldine, pour ce super video.
    A l’école on a appris de dire “De rien” ou “Il n’y a pas de quoi” pour “You’re welcome” mais j’entends beaucoup plus souvent “Je vous/t”en prie”.

  • This one crosses my mind, and I think you may have mentioned it to us already Géraldine. I used to meet a French friend in a pub here in London for a drink from time to time, and he very often greeted me with the expression ~ Quoi de neuf ? which, I think, translates into ~ What’s new ? A useful little phrase to know, n’est ce pas ? Et, comme toujours, merci beaucoup ~~~

  • I don’t really get the meaning of “v’la une autre chose”, can you explain that again, s’il vous plaît? “Je voudrais” is also used a lot when you want/order something

    • Bonjour Sophia,
      “Vla aut’chose” (as it said), means “oh no… Something else is coming our way” as in “more trouble”.

  • Salut Géraldine. Merci pour tes vidéos intéressantes. Et peut-être “merci” c’est le mot plus utile. Mais j’ai une question à propos de la vidéo. Pourquoi est-ce qu’on dit “c’est toi qui a mangé” et pas “c’est pas toi qui as mangé…”?

  • Salut, ça va ? Merci pour vos excellents conseils, Geraldine ! Je pense que «désolée de vous déranger, mais j’ai un petit problème», c’est la phrase la plus pratique en français. Il m’a souvent aidé. Bisou

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