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French · Starter pack
French is a Romance language written in the Latin alphabet, with gendered nouns and a spelling system that hides more letters than it sounds.
Hear how French says its own name
Applies the next time you press a speaker. Listen, then repeat aloud.
Try 5 quick questions from this page. Match meanings, choose the French words, and learn from each answer. No timer or pressure.
First words
The middle column is an approximation built from English sounds — close enough to be understood, not a strict transcription.
| French | Say it like | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonjour | bon-ZHOOR | Hello / good morning | |
| Bonsoir | bon-SWAHR | Good evening | |
| Salut | sa-LOO | Hi (to a friend) | |
| Comment ça va ? | ko-mon sa VA | How are you? | |
| Ça va bien, merci | sa va bee-AN, mair-SEE | I am well, thank you | |
| Enchanté / Enchantée | on-shon-TAY | Pleased to meet you (man / woman speaking) | |
| Au revoir | oh ruh-VWAHR | Goodbye | |
| Bonne nuit | bon NWEE | Good night |
The polite basics
Ten phrases that carry a beginner through a shop, a station and an introduction.
| French | Say it like | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| S'il vous plaît | seel voo PLEH | Please | |
| Merci beaucoup | mair-SEE boh-KOO | Thank you very much | |
| Excusez-moi | ex-koo-zay MWAH | Excuse me | |
| Je suis désolé(e) | zhuh swee day-zo-LAY | I am sorry | |
| Je m'appelle… | zhuh ma-PELL | My name is… | |
| Parlez-vous anglais ? | par-lay voo on-GLEH | Do you speak English? | |
| Je ne comprends pas | zhuh nuh kom-PRON pah | I do not understand | |
| Combien ça coûte ? | kom-bee-AN sa KOOT | How much does it cost? | |
| Où est la gare ? | oo eh la GAR | Where is the station? | |
| Je voudrais de l'eau, s'il vous plaît | zhuh voo-DREH duh LOH, seel voo PLEH | I would like some water, please |
Counting
Prices, platforms, dates and phone numbers all start here.
Good to know
This is the ten-minute version: the greetings, phrases and numbers a beginner can use this afternoon, held on the page rather than fetched. The full French tutorial — a thousand words, three hundred phrases and five hundred conversations, with your progress kept — is the language’s main page.