eurolinguiste

SPANISH
PRESENTS

100+ USEFUL
VOCABULARY
CONVERSATIONAL
PHRASES & WORDS
for
IN FRENCH
GOING OUT TO EAT

BYBySHANNON
Shannon Kennedy
KENNEDY

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 104

 “
Are you thinking about learning French but find yourself struggling to find resources that
help you start speaking? When I started out, I certainly did.

Many of the tools that I found

when I started learning French
If you talk to a man in a lan-
were grammar-heavy textbook guage he understands, that goes to his
style resources and they didn’t
head. If you talk to him in his language,
offer me a lot in terms of day-
to-day conversation. Rather that goes to his heart.
than learning how to say “what
did you do last weekend?” I had - nelson mandela
memorized a bunch of rules in-
volving world gender and tenses and I was no where near conversing with my fellow
French speakers.

So I decided to put something together on my own so that I could feel more confident en-
gaging in language exchanges. And today, I’d like to share it with you.

In this guide you’ll find 100+ conversational phrases in French to help get you started.
Happy French language learning!

Regards,

Shannon

---

© 2017 Eurolinguiste & Shannon Kennedy

The information contained in this guide is for informational purposes only.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or
by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the
prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews
and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. All trademarks and registered trademarks
appearing in this guide are the property of their respective owners. For permission requests, please contact
the author at shannonk@shannon-kennedy.com.

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 105

greetings
Coucou! Let’s get started with a few basic greetings and salutations. Please note that
we’ve included both the familiar (fam.) and formal (form.) forms of each of these phrases.
The formal forms are also the plural forms, so they can also be used if you’re speaking
with groups.

French English

Salut Hi

Bonjour Hello!/Good day

Bon matin Good morning

Bonne après-midi Good afternoon

Bonsoir Good evening

Est-ce que tu parles français/

anglais ? (fam.) Est-ce que vous parler Do you speak French/English?
français/anglais ? (form.)

Oui, je parle un peu. Yes, I speak a little.

Parle avec moi en français. (fam.)

Speak with me in French.
Parlez avec moi en français. (form.)

Comment ça va ? (fam.) Comment

How are you?
allez-vous ? (form.)

Bien, merci. Good, thanks.

Comme-ci, comme-ça. I’m okay.

Pas mal. Not bad.

Ça va bien. I’m well.

Et toi ? (fam.) Et vous ? (form.) And you?

Ça fait longtemps. Long time no see.

Comment t’appelles-tu ? (fam.)

What’s your name?
Comment vous appelez-vous ? (form.)

Je m’appelle ... My name is...

D’où viens-tu ? (fam.) D’où venez-

Where are you from?
vous ? (form.)

Je viens de ... I’m from...

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 106

the basics & polite expressions
Being friendly and polite can go a long way when meeting new people. Here are a few po-
lite expressions and phrases to help you make a good first impression.

French English

Excuse-moi (fam.) Excusez-moi (form.) Excuse me

Pardonne-moi (fam.) Pardonnez-moi (form.) Excuse me

S’il te plaît (fam.) S’il vous plaît (form.) Please

Je suis desolé(e) I’m sorry

Merci Thank you

Merci beaucoup Thank you so much

De rien (fam.) / Je t’en prie. (fam.) / Je vous en prie

You’re welcome
(form.)

C’est gentil de ta part. (fam.) / C’est gentil de votre

That’s kind of you.
part. (form.)

À tes souhaits (fam.) / À vos souhaits (form.) Bless you (when sneezing)

Oui Yes

Ouais Yeah

Non No

Peut-être Maybe

Pas vraiment. Not really.

Merci pour ton temps. (fam.) / Merci pour votre

Thank you for your time.
temps. (form.)

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 107

get the conversation rolling
Now that you’ve introduced yourself and have learned some basic etiquette-oriented
phrases, let’s really get the conversation started with a few of the below prompts and
phrases.

French English

Quoi de neuf ? What’s new?

Rien d'intéressant. Nothing much.

Quels sont tes plans ce week-end ? (fam.) / Quels

What are your plans this weekend?
sont vos plans ce week-end ? (form.)

Qu’est-ce que tu fais de beau dans la vie ? (fam.) /

Qu’est-ce que vous faites de beau dans la vie ? What do you do for a living?
(form.)

Qu'est-ce que tu fais comme travail ? (fam.) / Qu'est-

What do you do for a living?
ce que vous faites comme travail ? (form.)

Qu’est-ce que tu fais ? (fam.) / Qu’est-ce que vous

What are you doing?
faites ? (form.)

Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? What is going on? (at this moment)

Comment ça va ? How is it?

Je ne sais pas. I don’t know.

Quel temps fait-il ? How’s the weather?

Il fait froid. It’s cold.

Au cas où Just in case

Comment ça va ta famille ? (fam.) / Comment ça va

How is your family?
votre famille ? (form.)

Dis-moi ce que tu penses. (fam.) / Dites-moi ce que

Tell me what you think.
vous pensez. (form.)

J’ai entendu que ... I heard that...

As-tu des hobbies ? (fam.) / Avez-vous des hobbies ?

Do you have any hobbies?
(form.)

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 108

getting a bit of clarification

Now that you’ve initiated the conversation, there may be a few things that your fellow con-
versation partner may say that you didn’t quite understand. Let’s work on a few phrases to
help you get a bit of clarification.

French English

Est-ce que tu peux l’écrire ? (fam.) / Est-ce que vous

Could you write that down?
pouvez l’écrire ? (form.)

Est-ce que tu peux l’écrire, s’il te plaît ? (fam.) / Est-

Could you please write that down for me?
ce que vous pouvez l’écrire, s’il vous plaît ? (form.)

Pourrais-tu répéter ça ? (fam.) / Pourriez-vous

Could you say that again?
répéter ça ? (form.)

Pourrais-tu le dire lentement ? (fam.) / Pourriez-vous

Could you say that slowly?
le dire lentement ? (form.)

Je ne comprends pas I don’t understand

Je comprends I understand

Qu’est-ce que c’est en français ? What is that in French?

Ça veut dire quoi ______ en anglais ? What does ______ mean in English?

Comment dire ______ en français ? How do you say ______ in French?

Qu’est-ce que c’est ? What is this?

Qu’est-ce que c’était ça ? What was that?

Aucune idée. Beats me. / No idea.

Mon français est mauvais. My French is bad.

Je dois pratiquer mon français. I need to practice my French.

Desolé(e), je n’ai pas compris. I’m sorry, (I missed what you said.)

S'il te plaît, donne moi ... (fam.) / S’il vous plaît,

Please give me...
donnez moi ... (form.)

Tu parles de quoi ? (fam.) / Vous parlez de quoi?

What are you talking about?
(form.)

Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire ? What does that mean?

© Shannon Kennedy & Eurolinguiste | www.eurolinguiste.com 109

just how often?
Two of the things that I find often mentioned in conversation is either 1) when something
took place or will take place and 2) how often it happens. And the words that indicate ei-
ther of the above two things are often those that catch me off guard when I’m conversing
in French (or any other language). Here’s a helpful list of words so that you don’t share my
experience!

French English

Aujourd’hui Today

Demain Tomorrow

Hier Yesterday

Tous les jours Every day

Maintenant Now

Plus tard Later

Avant Before

Après After

Souvent Often

D’habitude Usually

Parfois Sometimes

Rarement Not very often, rarely

Tout le temps All the time

Encore Again

Pour la première fois For the first time

Moins Less

Plus More

Un peu A bit

Très Very

Considérablement Considerably

Assez Plenty

De plus en plus / de moins en moin More and more / less and less

Plus ou moins More or less

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exclamations & transition words that
bring your speaking to the next level
Now it’s time to really level up your speaking with these fun exclamations, interjections
and transition words.

French English

Vraiment ? Really?

Ah bon ? Really?

Sûrement For sure

Probablement Probably

Évidemment Obviously

C’est tout That’s it

Par exemple For example

Laisse tomber. (fam.) / Laissez tomber. (form.) Nevermind

Tu le pense ? (fam.) / Vous le pensez ? (form.) You think so?

Ne t’inquiéte pas. (fam.) / Ne vous inquiétez pas.

Don’t worry!
(form.)

Excellent Excellent.

Impossible ! Impossible!

Écoute ... (fam.) / Écoutez ... (form.) Listen...

Regarde ... (fam.) / Regardez ... (form.) Look...

Dépêche-toi (fam.) / Dépêchez-vous (form.) Hurry up

Quelle horreur ! How horrible!

Quoi ? Où ? What? Where?

Pas de problème. No problem.

C’est bien. That’s good.

Volontier. / Avec joie. Gladly.

Waouh / Hou la la / Wow Wow!

Exactement Exactly

C’est une bonne question. That’s a good question.

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 French English

Bonne chance Good luck

À la tienne (fam.) / À la vôtre (form.) Cheers

Tchin Tchin ! Cheers!

Félicitations ! Congrats!

Bon travail ! Way to go!

Bon début ! Good start!

Arrête de plaisanter (fam.) / Arrêtez de

Quit joking around.
plaisanter (form.)

Tu as raison. (fam.) / Vous avez raison.

You’re right.
(form.)

Bien sûr. Of course.

D’accord Sure

Quelle coïncidence ! What a coincidence!

Le monde est petit. It’s a small world.

C’est bête. / N’importe quoi. That’s silly.

Dommage Too bad

Fantastique Fantastic

Inoubliable Unforgettable

Génial. Awesome.

Incroyable Unbelievable.

En bref ... In short...

Ça me semble bien. That sounds nice.

Bien sûr que non. Of course not.

J’ai supposé I supposed...

Quelle bonne idée. What a good idea.

Chapeau. Hat’s off.

Un moment. One moment.

C’est difficil à dire. It’s difficult to say.

Formidable Solid

C’est super. That’s super.

Super. Great.

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 French English

J’ai oublié. I forgot.

Rien comme ça. Nothing like that.

Je suppose I suppose

Je pense I think

Sérieusement Seriously, yes of course

Ça dépend That depends

C’est possible Possibly

Chut ! Shhh!

Miam Yum

Ouais, c’est ça Yeah right

En fait Actually

Malheureusement Unfortunately

Au fait By the way

Etc. And so on

conversation closers
Finally, let’s close with just a few conversation closers and goodbyes.

French English

J'ai beaucoup aimé parler avec toi. (fam.) / J’ai

I enjoyed speaking with you.
beaucoup aimé parler avec vous. (form.)

C'est un plaisir de te rencontrer (fam.) / C'est un

A pleasure to meet you
plaisir de vous rencontrer. (form.)

À plus tard ! See you later!

Je dois y aller. I have to get going.

Reste en contact. (fam.) / Restez en contact. (form.) Keep in touch.

Bon appétit. Have a good meal.

Bonne journée ! Have a nice day!

Je reviens tout de suite ! I’ll be right back!

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 French English

Au revoir. Goodbye

Adieu Goodbye

Bonne nuit Good night

À plus See you

À bientôt See you soon

Bonne soirée Good evening

Thank you all so much for checking out this guide! I hope you’ve found it helpful in improv-
ing your French language conversations.

If you come across any mistakes, or if you would like to suggest an addition/improvement,
feel free to get in touch with me. I look forward to hearing from you!

I’d like to take this time to mention that if you’ve enjoyed this guide, we have several more
available in a variety of languages. You can gain access to them by signing up for my mail-
ing list using the button below.

Get Access to the Free Guides

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about the author
Hello! It’s a pleasure to meet you – I am glad you’re here! My
name is Shannon and I am the blogger/language lover/
adventurer behind Eurolinguiste.

I started Eurolinguiste while trekking through West France

and Northern Ireland as I finished up my Master’s degree in
Music/Ethnomusicology from Queen’s University,
Belfast. My dissertation was on the various dynamics be-
tween music and language, and it was what really inspired
me to delve into languages wholeheartedly.

Since, Eurolinguiste has become the place where I share my journey in language learn-
ing with others interested in pursuing something similar. It’s here that I document the tools
I use, my personal methodologies and progress, and tips for tackling a new language for
fellow language learners.

It’s also where I like to share my adventures, some of my favorite recipes, and the little bits
I learn about the cultures and histories behind the languages that I’m learning.

When I’m not studying language, I am a musician and a composer, I love to compose and
perform. And I love that my career often provides me with the opportunity to travel. Shame-
less plug: I have a few CDs out with my music. I also love to take photos, practice martial
arts, make jewelry, experiment with classic recipes, and scuba dive (something I haven’t
done in several years, but wish I still had time to do).

I speak French and English fluently (and constantly confuse the two), have dabbled in Ger-
man, Italian, and Arabic to various degrees, and I am currently working my way towards
communicating in Mandarin Chinese and Croatian.

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