French book
Essential French Words Book
Core French articles, verbs, pronouns, numbers, adjectives, nouns, question words and prepositions, with examples and study advice for beginners.
- Access
- Free
- Type
- Book
- Level
- Beginner
- Pages
- 20
- Format
- Author
- Idiomary
This 20-page guide organises core French vocabulary by grammatical category, from articles and the verbs être and avoir to everyday nouns, question words, and conjunctions. Each entry comes with an English translation and, in the first sections, full example sentences such as Je viens du bureau or Il parle aux enfants.
The original PDF is titled "500 Most Used French Words", but its word lists contain about 150 entries, and several of them are conjugated forms of the same verb. The guide is best seen as a structured starter vocabulary with study advice, not as a complete frequency list.
Nine groups of essential words
| Group | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Articles | le, la, les, l', un, une, des, and the contractions du, au, aux |
| Verbs | être and avoir in the present, plus faire, aller, venir, voir, dire, savoir, pouvoir, vouloir, prendre |
| Pronouns and possessives | subject pronouns, object pronouns me, te, le, la, se, and mon, ton, son, notre, votre, leur |
| Numbers | un to seize, vingt, cent, mille, million |
| Time and frequency | temps, heure, jour, fois, aujourd'hui, toujours, jamais, parfois |
| Adjectives | bon, mauvais, grand, petit, nouveau, vieux, beau, important |
| Nouns | people (homme, femme, famille), places (maison, école, ville), things (eau, argent, livre) |
| Question words | qui, quand, où, comment, pourquoi, combien, quel |
| Prepositions and conjunctions | de, à, dans, sur, avec, sans, entre; et, ou, mais, car, donc, si |
Small words that change shape
Much of the first section deals with forms that change depending on the next word, a key difference from English:
- Le and la become l' before a vowel or silent h: l'homme, l'eau.
- De + le becomes du and à + le becomes au: Je viens du bureau, Je vais au cinéma.
- Adjectives such as beau, nouveau, and vieux have feminine forms that look quite different: belle, nouvelle, vieille.
The grammar tips in section 15 summarise these rules, together with the position of ne... pas around the verb.
Study advice in French
From section 10 onwards, most of the explanatory text switches to French with English headings. For a beginner this is a small challenge but also a reading exercise: the sentences use the same vocabulary the guide has just presented. The advice includes learning words in batches of 15 to 20 per day, grouping related words, and starting with cognates such as hôpital or naturel.
Three exercises without answers
The practice section asks you to find high-frequency words in a short paragraph about a family, sort ten words into grammatical categories, and write five sentences using at least three words from the guide in each. There is no answer key.
To make the third exercise more useful, write your sentences about your own day and include one element from each of four groups: a contracted article, a form of être or avoir, a time word, and a noun from the places list. For example: Aujourd'hui, je suis au bureau avec mon ami.
Notes for English speakers
The final sections point out frequent traps: actuellement means "currently", not "actually"; nouns should be learned with their article (la table, le livre); and final consonants in words such as temps or grand are often silent. Absolute beginners can use it as a first organised word bank before starting a grammar course.
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