French Vocabulary
If you are trying to learn French, the best thing to do is to learn the basic French vocabulary. To begin with, you want to learn the words like “the” and “this.” The following are a list of basic French vocabulary words of this type:
the le, la,l’,les (“lay,” “ la,” “el,” “lay”)
this ce (“suh”)
I je (“ju”)
he, it il (“eel”)
they ils (“eel”)
to, in à (“ah”)
a un (“uhn”-“n” is practically silent)
an une (“in”)
some des (“dee”)
of, from de (“duh”)
to be etre (“ay-tra”-the second “a” is breathless, like a whisper)
to have avoir (a-vwah”)
not pas (“ba”)
ne (“neuh”)
and et (“ate”)
this, that ça (“sah”)
que (“coo”)
who/ what qui (“key”)
where ou (“ooh”)
or où (“ooh”-shorter sound than the pronunciation for “ou”)
yes oui (“wee”)
one, you, we on (“oon”)
you vous (“vooh”)
but mais (“may”)
she elle (“ell”)
they elles (“ell”)
to en (“ahn”)
there y (“ee”)
in dans (“dawnz”)
me, myself me (“me”-short “e”)
himself, herself,oneself se (“seh”)
to, at,
in the au /aux (“ah”)
good, well bien (“biahn”-“n” is practically silent)
you (informal) tu (“tee”)
like, as comme (“come”)
Once you have learned these basic French vocabulary words, you will want to learn some basic French nouns and verbs so that you may begin to form basic sentences. Some basic nouns that you may find useful in an office setting include:
desk, office un bureau (“byour-ho”)
inbox le courrier arrivé (“core-he-ay ac-kra-vay”)
outbox le courrier départ (“core-he-ay ac-kra-vay”)
pen un stylo (“stee-low”)
stapler une agrafeuse (“a-kra-fuzz”)
staple une agrafe (“a-kraf”)
paper le papier (“pap-pi-ay” first “a’ like “sat”)
computer un ordinteur (“or-dee-naught-teur”)
printer une imprimante (“im-pree-maunt”)
copy machine un photocopieur (“fo-to-co-pi-air”)
fax machine un télécopieur (“te-la-co-pi-air”)
calculator une calculatrice (“cal-cue-la-trees”-s very short)
secretary un/e secrétaire (“se-cre-tair”-second “r” is rolled)
receptionist un/e réceptionniste (“ree-cep-shee-on-neest”)
As you can see, many of these French vocabulary words are very similar to their English counterparts. You may also want to know the French words for members of a person’s family in case you would like to inquire about them during a conversation. Here are the French vocabulary words that you will want to know:
father un père (“pair”-the “r” is rolled)
mother une mère (“mare”-the “a’ is a very short sound, almost breathless)
brother un frère (“friar”-the first “r” is rolled)
sister une soeur (“sir”-the “r” is rolled)
son un fils (“fees”-sounds like “niece”)
daughter une fille (“fee”)
husband un mari (“mar-hee”)
wife une femme (“fam”-sounds like “ham with a very short
“m” sound)
grandfather un grand-père (“comp-pair”)
grandmother une grand-mère (“com-mare”)
grandson un petit-fils (“pe-teet-fees””fees” sound like “niece”)
granddaughter une petite-fille (“pe-teet-fee”)
cousin (male) un cousin (“coo-saun” the “n” is very short)
cousin(female) une cousine (“coo-zeen”)
uncle un oncle (“onk”-sounds like “honk”)
aunt une tante (“taunt”)
nephew un neveu (“nuh-vuh”)
niece une nièce (“nee-ess”)
These are just a few of the French vocabulary words that you may find useful when learning the language. The word that denotes gender in these nouns is important, but if you use the wrong gender word, a Frenchman will understand your meaning since the other gender will usually make no sense in the conversation. Your next step will be to learn a few French verbs, which also have many that are similar to English. A language software program may help you to become familiar with these words as well as aiding you with any pronunciation or definition problems that you may have. Happy studying!