Learn French Vocabulary

When you’re learning a new language like French, it’s helpful to learn some basic French vocabulary that you may need in various situations. Even if you’re not fluent in French, when you make an effort to speak the language by trying out some basic French vocabulary, French people will appreciate it and often help you along.

This easy French lesson will provide you with the basic French vocabulary that you will need for three important situations when visiting France: ordering food in a restaurant, booking a hotel room, and asking for directions.

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Basic French Vocabulary: Ordering Food

When you are ordering food from a menu or choosing items in a patisserie, you start off by saying:

“J’aimerais…” or “Je voudrais…”

Both of these phrases mean, “I would like…”

When looking at the menu (“la carte”), you will see the following categories:

What you choose to eat will depend on what type of meal you are looking for:

Here are some of the main dishes you will come across:

What you choose to eat will depend on what type of meal you are looking for:

When you are full, you can tell the waiter (“le serveur”) or the waitress (“la serveuse”):

“J’ai bien mangé.” or “J’ai trop mangé.”

To ask for the bill, all you need to say is:

“L’addition, s’il vous plait.”

Basic French Vocabulary: At the Hotel

If you would like to book a room for a hotel over the phone or in person, it is essential to know some of the following basic French vocabulary.

To ask if there are any available rooms for that evening, you would say:

“Avez-vous des chambres libres pour cette nuit?“

If the answer is “oui”, then you will say:

“Je voudrais un chambre…”
(If you need two rooms, say: “Je voudrais deux chambres…”, etc.)

You will also need to tell them how many people will be staying in the room.

If you are the only person staying in the room, you say:

“Je voudrais un chambre pour une personne…”
(If there will be two of you in the room, you will say: “Je voudrais un chambre pour deux personnes…”, etc.)

Next, they will need to know how many nights you will be staying in their hotel. If you will be staying for one night, you say:

“Je voudrais un chambre pour une nuit…”
(for two nights, you will say: “Je voudrais un chambre pour deux nuits…”, etc.)

So, if you need one room for two nights for one person, you can put it all together in the same sentence and say:

“Je voudrais un chambre pour deux nuits pour une personne.”

To ask how much it costs, you say: “C’est combien?”

Basic French Vocabulary: At the Hotel

At some point when you are visiting France, you will probably need to ask for directions.

If you want to ask where something is, you say: “Où est…?” or “Où se trouve…?”

The response that you receive will probably contain some of the following phrases:

If you learn these basic French vocabulary words, you will have an easier time understanding the directions that someone gives you!

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