Bonjour !
Today, let’s see one hundred French expressions – the small sentences, questions and answers you’ll need everyday for French social interactions. You can practice with me, even while doing other things like cooking, walking your dog or folding laundry.
C’est parti !
1. Basic responses
1 – Bien sûr. (= Of course.) → We also say: Évidemment (= Obviously)
– Tu veux du thé ? (= Do you want some tea?)
– Bien sûr. (= Of course.)
2 – D’accord, ça marche. (= Okay, that works.) → We also say “ça roule” (more colloquial)
– Tu peux me faire du thé ? (= Could you make me a cup of tea?)
– D’accord, ça roule. (= OK, sure.)
3 – Si tu veux. (= If you want.) → You can use it in a sentence, or on its own.
4 – J’espère. (= I hope, I hope so.) → Or in the negative: J’espère pas. J’espère que non. (= I hope not, I hope it doesn’t.)
5 – J’sais pas (= I don’t know.) → You can also say: Aucune idée (= no idea.)
Je ne sais pas becomes J’sais pas or Chais pas in everyday spoken French, we drop the “ne” and contract the sounds.
– Il reste du thé ? (= Is there some tea left?)
– “Chais” pas, aucune idée. (= I dunno, no idea.)
6 – Pas encore. (= Not yet, not again) → Encore (= “still” or “again”)
J’ai encore faim. (= “I’m still hungry” or “I’m hungry again.”)
J’ai pas encore faim. (= “I’m not yet hungry.)
7 – Pourquoi pas ? (= Why not?)
– Tu veux du thé ? (= Do you want some tea?)
– Oui, pourquoi pas ? (= Sure, why not?)
8 – Je peux pas, désolée. (= I can’t, sorry.)
– Tu passes prendre le thé ? (= Are you stopping by for tea?)
– Je peux pas désolée. (= Sorry, I can’t.)
9 – Pas de souci (= No problem) → “Pas d’souci” (we cut the “e” when speaking)
You can also say: Aucun problème (= no problem, literally).
10 – Excusez-moi, vous pouvez répéter ? (= Excuse me, can you repeat?) → When they speak a bit too fast!
2. Everyday interactions
11 – Salut, ça va ? (= Hi, how are you?) → Classic informal greeting for friends. We usually answer with:
12 – Ça va, et toi ? (= Good, and you?)
13 – Quoi de neuf ? (= What’s new?) → Like “What’s up?” in English. We cut the “e” in ”de.” : “Quoi d’neuf ?” Often the answer is “Pas grand chose.” (= Not much.)
14 – Bonjour, je voudrais une baguette s’il vous plaît. (= Hello, I’d like a baguette please.) → Acheter une baguette à la boulangerie is an everyday interaction! Notice: “je voudrais” is a common way to soften a question so it sounds less like an order.
15 – Ça sera tout. (= That’ll be all.) → That’s what we use when we finish ordering, especially at the market or the bakery. Or as a question, to ask you if you want anything more: Ce sera tout ?
16 – Vous avez des croissants ? (= Do you have croissants?) → This is also part of the unwritten script at the shop. You can replace “croissants” with anything you’re looking for, of course.
17 – C’est pas grave, merci ! (= No worries, thanks!) → To reassure someone who told you “no” for instance. “Grave” means “serious”, but also “Totally” in informal French.
18 – À tout à l’heure ! (= See you later!) → Use this only if you’re seeing the person again today.
19 – À plus ! (= See you!) → short for “À plus tard !” (= See you later!) It’s casual. We pronounce the final “s” : à plu-s.
20 – Merci, au revoir, bonne journée ! (= Thanks, goodbye, have a nice day!) → That’s a polite way to leave a shop. You can pick one or two of them, but personally I tend to use all three. “Merci au revoir bonne journée !”
3. Small Talk About the Weather
In French, small talk is often called “parler de la pluie et du beau temps”, talking about rain and good weather, talking about the weather. Cause it’s a safe, effective topic to break the ice!
21 – Quel temps ! (= What weather!) → “Le temps” is both time and weather. “Quel temps” can be positive or negative, depending on your tone.
22 – Qu’est-ce qu’il fait chaud. (= It’s so hot.) → We can use “Qu’es-ce que” to start a question, and also like here: to say “It’s so”, “It’s such a” etc. And we say “Il fait” (It makes) for the weather.
23 – Il fait beaucoup trop froid. (= It’s way too cold.) → Or just “Il caille !” in French slang.
24 – J’attends la fin de la pluie. (= I’m waiting for the rain to stop.)
25 – C’est dingue, ce vent. (= This wind is crazy.) → “C’est dingue” is a bit more colloquial than “c’est fou”, that’s crazy.
26 – J’adore cette saison. (= I love this season.)
27 – Ça se couvre. (= It’s clouding over.)
28 – J’aurais dû prendre un parapluie. (= I should’ve taken an umbrella.) → “J’aurais dû” (= I should have) is a useful phrase to know!
29 – Ça va se lever. (= It’s going to clear up.) → Literally, the bad weather will “lift up.” This is a great small talk sentence, you can use it practically any time there’s bad weather and sound confident.
30 – Il fait super beau. (= The weather is gorgeous.) → “Super” is used all the time in spoken French to mean “very”, “really.” Or you can simply say “Il fait beau.” (= It’s sunny.)
4. Emotional Reactions
31 – C’est incroyable. (= That’s incredible.) → Can be good or bad, but generally unbelievable.
32 – C’est génial. (= That’s great.) → Like: “T’as fait du thé ? C’est génial !” (“You made some tea? That’s amazing!)
33 – J’adore. (= I love it.) → It’s stronger than “J’aime bien” (= I like.) “J’adore tes chaussures.” (= I love your shoes.)
34 – C’est fantastique. (= That’s fantastic.) → A bit more dramatic than “c’est génial.”
35 – Bravo ! (= Well done!) → It’s a French word that looks just like the Italian word. We use it especially after a performance, or sarcastically. Like all French words though, the accent is on the final sound: Bra-VO. Bravo!
36 – Trop bien ! (= So good!) → “Trop” means “too much,” but in slang, it means “so” or “very.”
37 – Oh non, c’est terrible. (= Oh no, that’s terrible.) → Used for bad news. Though in other contexts, “Terrible” can mean “Terrific!” too.
38 – C’était affreux. (= It was awful.) → This is stronger than “mauvais” (bad).
39 – Je déteste ça. (= I hate that.) → The verb “Haïr” also exists, like “Je hais”, and sounds closer to the English word “hate” – but it’s too formal. “Détester” is the standard verb for that strong dislike.
40 – Nan mais t’as vu ça ? (= Dude, did you see that?) → “Nan” is spoken “Non.” “Nan mais” is a common start for a sentence – to contest something, or expressing shock and indignation.
5. Making Plans
41 – On se voit demain ? (= See you tomorrow?) → This quickest way to make a plan. “On se voit” implies hanging out.
42 – Je suis dispo. (= I’m available.) → “Dispo” is short for “disponible”, available.
– On se voit demain ?
– Ça marche, je suis dispo. (= Shall we met tomorow? Yeah I’m available.)
43 – Tu es libre jeudi en huit ? (= Are you free on Thursday next week?) → I like this expression, “en huit” (literally “in 8”), you can hear it sometimes. It means “not this Thursday, but the one next week” – since there’s often a misunderstanding between “jeudi prochain” (= next Thursday) and “jeudi de la semaine prochaine” (= thursday next week.)
44 – On se fait une bouffe ? (= Want to grab a meal ?) → “La bouffe” is colloquial French for “food”, and “une bouffe” is “a meal.” “On se fait une bouffe” is about eating together casually, right now or someday later.
45 – Ça te dit de venir dîner à la maison ? (= Want to come over for dinner?) → “Ça te dit” = “does it tell you?” = does this sound good to you?
46 – Je t’envoie l’adresse. (= I’ll send you the address.) → usually by “un texto”, a text message.
47 – On se dit vers vingt heures ? (= Let’s say around eight?)
48 – Ça te convient ? (= Does that work for you?) → It’s a nice sentence to make sure they’re fine with that. More casual version: “Ça te va ?”
49 – Ça me va parfaitement. (= That works perfectly for me.) → Or “Ça me va tout à fait.”
50 – On se retrouve là-bas. (= We’ll meet there.) → “Retrouver” is to find again, “se retrouver” is to find each other or to meet up.
– On se retrouve là-bas, ça te convient ?
– Ça me va parfaitement !
(= We’ll meet up there, does this suit you?
– Works for me!)
6. Dinner With Friends
51 – Ça fait plaisir de vous voir ! (= It’s so nice to see you!) → Or with “tu” : Ça fait plaisir de te voir.
52 – Très jolie déco ! (= Very pretty décor!) → “deco” is short for “la décoration”. It’s always nice to compliment the host and their house!
53 – On s’est déjà vus, non ? (= We’ve met before, right?) → For someone you’re not sure you met.
54 – Et toi, tu fais quoi dans la vie ? (= And you, what do you do?) → The standard question about jobs.
55 – Ça a l’air difficile. (= That sounds hard.) → The trick here is that, after someone told you what they do for a living, you can always answer that it sounds hard – and you’ll get a more personal, interesting conversation than you thought.
56 – Santé ! (= Cheers!) → It’s the French toast, literally “Health!”. We also say “On trinque !” (= Let’s toast!), or “Tchin tchin !” (the sound of clinking glasses)
57 – Comment s’est passée la semaine ? (= How was your week?) → Can be a nice conversation starter with anyone.
58 – C’est vraiment super bon ! (= This is really delicious!) → “C’est bon” can mean too many things – so when we want to compliment the food, we add words like “très” or “super” to avoid any confusion.
59 – Je peux me resservir ? (= Can I have some more?) – That’s the real compliment!
60 – On se refait ça très vite ! (= Let’s do this again soon!) – When you’re leaving a good dinner party. Or “On se remet ça !”
7. Opinions
61 – C’est très intéressant. (= That’s very interesting.) → Can be sincere… or a passive-agressive way to say you don’t care!
62 – Je suis complètement d’accord. (= I completely agree.) → Or in short casual French: “Ouais, grave.” (= Yeah, totally)
63 – En fait, pas vraiment. (= Actually, not really.)
64 – Je suis pas sûre. (= I’m not sure.) → In spoken French, we contract the negation into “Chuis pas sûre.”
65 – Nan, je crois pas. (= Nah, I don’t think so.) → “Nan” is more casual and softer than “Non.” And again, we cut the “ne” in the negation, and the “e” in Je: “J’crois pas.”
66 – Je pense que oui. (= I think so.) → Literally “I think that yes.” Or “Oui, je pense.” (= Yes, I think so.)
67 – J’ai l’impression que non. (= I get the impression that no.)
68 – Je trouve ça fascinant. (= I find it fascinating.) → Of course you can add any adjective after “Je trouve ça…” (I find that…), it’s a fine way to express an opinion.
69 – Moi, je dirais plutôt… (= I’d say rather…) → When you politely correct someone or offer a different nuance.
– Je prends le vert, tu penses ?
– Moi, je dirais plutôt le bleu.
(= You think I should take the green one?
I’d rather take the blue one, I think.)
70 – T’as tout à fait raison. (= You’re absolutely right.) → “Tout à fait” is a strong confirmation. And notice how, in spoken French, we cut the “u” in “Tu”.
8. Visits (museums or cultural site)
71 – C’est ouvert le lundi ? (= Is it open on Mondays?) → Many French museums are closed on Mondays or Tuesdays!
72 – Je vais prendre un audio-guide. (= I’ll take an audio guide.) → I like audioguides when visiting a place.
73 – On fait un tour vite fait. (= Let’s take a quick look.) → “Vite fait” is casual French, for “quickly done.” Sometimes we use the expression “Vite fait, bien fait.” (= Done quickly and efficiently.)
74 – J’aimerais voir l’exposition temporaire. (= I’d like to see the temporary exhibit.) → An exhibit is “Une exposition” or “une expo.”
75 – Comme c’est beau ! (= How beautiful it is!) → “Comme c’est” is a bit formal structure for being impressed. Like “Comme c’est haut !” (= How tall it is!) or “Comme tu as grandi !” (= How you’ve grown!)
76 – C’est impressionnant. (= It’s impressive.) → Or “Je suis impressionnée.” (= I’m impressed)
77 – J’ai toujours rêvé de voir ça. (= I’ve always dreamed of seeing this.)
78 – On attend la visite guidée ? (= Should we wait for the guided tour?) → Next time you’re in a French museum, you might try to attend “la visite guidée” in French, who knows?
79 – On se retrouve à la sortie. (= We’ll meet at the exit.) → It’s nice to have a meeting point if you get separated, like “la sortie” (= the exit) or “l’accueil” (= the welcome desk, help desk) or “la boutique” (= the gift shop).
80 – On se donne rendez-vous à la cafèt’ ? (= Meet at the café?) → “La cafèt” is short for “la cafétéria.” Or you could say “au café”, at the café, of course. “On se donne rendez-vous” is great way to make a concrete plan!
9. Speed and Urgency
81 – Allez ! (= Come on!) → We use’it for encouragement, even with “tu.”
–Allez, tu peux y arriver. (= Come on, you can do it.)
Click here to learn more: Allez ! – Comme une Française lesson
82 – Dépêche-toi ! (= Hurry up!) → Or in slang French: “Magne-toi !” or “Grouille !” or even simply “Dépêche !”
83 – Attention ! (= Watch out!) → Two nasal sounds: en / on. Practice saying it quick and clearly, because you won’t have time to think about your pronunciation when needing it!
84 – Il est quelle heure ? (= What time is it?) → Sometimes you might lose track of time. You can also use: “Vous avez l’heure ?” (= Do you have the time?)
85 – J’ai pas beaucoup de temps. (= I don’t have much time.)
86 – On a bientôt fini ? (= Are we almost done?) → Or “C’est bientôt terminé ?” (= Is it nearly over?)
87 – On est presque arrivés ? (= Are we almost there? Are we there yet?) → Often used by impatient children!
88 – J’arrive dans une minute. (= I’ll be there in a minute.) → “J’arrive” works fine on its own too.
– T’es où ? On t’attend ?
– J’arrive dans une minute.
(= Where are you? Should we wait for you?
– I’m coming, I’m here in a minute.)
89 – Je dois y aller. (= I have to go.) → A standard way to leave a conversation. You could also use “Faut que j’y aille.” (= I have to go.)
90 – Attends, je reviens. (= Wait, I’m coming back. / BRB).
10. Final Essentials
91 – C’est combien, ça ? (= How much is that?) → When pointing at an object you might want to buy.
92 – Pardon, je passe. (= Sorry, I’m squeezing past.) → Use it in crowd, when you’re carrying bags and the person in front of you didn’t see you. “Pardon” is enough, but more words can help make everyone less tense.
93 – Je regarde, seulement. (= I’m just looking.) → When the clerk of a clothing shop asks you if you need help, for instance.
94 – Vous faites la queue ? (= Are you in line?) → Prevents you from waiting in line at the wrong place. You can also use: “Vous êtes dans la file d’attente ?” (= Are you in the line?), I prefer using that, it’s more elegant.
95 – Vous prenez la carte ? (= Do you take card?) → In some markets, some stalls don’t take card, so it’s nice to be sure. There’s no “debit card / credit card” distinction in France.
96 – Où est-ce qu’on peut retirer de l’argent ? (= Where can I take out some cash?) → Or “Où est-ce qu’il y a un distributeur ?” (= Where’s an ATM?) Don’t ask for “un ATM” in France, people won’t understand.
97 – J’ai oublié mon écharpe. (= I forgot my scarf.) → “Une écharpe” is a winter scarf, “un foulard” is a light summer scarf, “un gant” is a glove… All these are easily lost in bars or restaurants!
98 – Je te tiens au courant. (= I’ll keep you posted.) → Literally “I keep you in the current.” In slang French: “Je te tiens au jus.”
99 – Bon courage ! (= Good luck! / Hang in there!) → It’s like “Bonne chance” (good luck) but testing effort, work or resilience.
100 – À très vite ! (= See you very soon!)
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Allez, à très vite !
Très utile ! Merci beaucoup !
Un petit mot à propos du mot « froid ». J’ai utilisé l’expression québécoise courante « Il fait frette », que vous entendrez partout au Québec tout l’hiver. À Lille, elle n’avait aucun sens jusqu’à ce que je dise « froid ». Cela a lancé une toute nouvelle discussion. 🙂
Bonjour Chère Geraldine,
J’adore cette leçon. Je l’apprécie vraiment. Merci infiniment .
bonne journée.
Merci @Toshadevi !
Fabien
Comme une Française
Une excellente ressource éducative pour les enseignants et les étudiants. Merci beaucoup.
Salut , c’était vraiment bon , merci Geraldine 😁
Salut! Why is there no liaison between pas encore? To me it sounds more fluent -> pasencore.
Bonjour @Cosima Hasenstein,
There is no required liaison in pas encore because “pas” ends with a silent consonant + “encore” starts with a vowel, but in real spoken French, many speakers optionally make the liaison and say /paz‿ɑ̃kɔʁ/ → paz-encore.
Bien à toi,
Fabien
Comme une Française Team