French words

86,765 French words, each explained in English from the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026) and defined in French by the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dump of September 1, 2026).

By first letter

The most common French words, in English

deUsed in the plural with prepositioned adjectives
lafeminine of le: the
lethe (definite article)
etand
àcontraction of la
lapocopic form of le, la: the
lesplural of le: the
estthird-person singular present indicative of être
enUsed as the object of a verb to indicate an indefinite quant
desplural of un (“some”, the plural indefinite article)
dapocopic form of de: of
unan, a
queThe inanimate direct-object or predicative interrogative pro
pasThe most common adverb of negation in French, typically tran
unefeminine singular of un (“a / an”), the feminine indefinite
duForms the partitive article
pourfor (meant for, intended for)
ilhe (third-person singular masculine subject pronoun for huma
dansin, inside (enclosed in a physical space, a group, a state)
jeI
quiwho, whom
ccontraction of ce
aucontraction of à + le, literally “to the, for the, at the”
cethis, that
suron, upon
quapocopic form of que (“what”)
parthrough
onone, people, you, someone (an unspecified individual)
nepast participle of naître
plusfirst/second-person singular past historic of plaire
jclitic form of je
nPrevocalic form of ne
avecwith
maisbut, although
sehimself
vousyou (all)
çathat (distal demonstrative pronoun)
sElision of se before a word beginning with a vowel
tuyou (singular)
elleshe
sonhis, her, their, its (used to qualify masculine nouns and be
ythere (at a place)
ouor
aifirst-person singular present indicative of avoir
siif, whether
toutall
nouswe
faitthird-person singular present indicative of faire
commeas (in the role of, by way of)
êtreto be
bienwell
ilsthey (male or mixed group)
faireto do
sahis, her, its, their, one's
auxContraction of à + les ('to the' or 'of the')
mêmeeven
meme (direct object)
ontthird-person plural present indicative of avoir
telided form of te
mprevocalic form of me
étépast participle of être
monmy (used to qualify masculine nouns and vowel-initial words
seshis, her, its, their, one's (when referring to a plural noun
luihim, he, it; the third-person masculine singular personal pr
peutthird-person singular present indicative of pouvoir
aussitherefore
deuxtwo
leurtheir
moime (first-person singular disjunctive pronoun)
cesmasculine/feminine plural of ce: these, those
quandwhen (at the time that)
trèsvery
aprèsafter, later than in time
tousall
sanswithout (not having)
nonnot
avoirto have; to own; to possess; to get
vathird-person singular present active indicative
encorestill
alorsthen (at that time)
entrebetween
tempstime (in general)
mafeminine singular of mon
ditpast participle of dire
peulittle; not very much/many
autreanother
2alternative form of de
riennothing
teyou
mondepast participle of monder
direto say, to tell (to express through speech)
foistimes, multiplied by
toujoursalways
voirto see (visually)
bongood
contreagainst (in physical contact with)
votreyour, belonging to you (plural or formal)
donctherefore, consequently; thus
depuissince
avantbefore (in time)
sousbelow, under
notreour
jamaisnever
vielife, the state of organisms (organic beings) prior to death
moinsminus
toiyou (informal second-person singular personal pronoun, disju
dontof/from whom/which, whose; whereof
déjàalready, before
quoiwhat
troptoo; too much
soitor, meaning, that is to say
tonyour
gensset of people
chezto, at, in or into the place of
justeexactly, precisely
ouipast participle of ouïr
vraimenttruly, really, genuinely
ainsiin this way, thus
paysland; region; home ground; homeland; home country; country;
grandbig
assecond-person singular present indicative of avoir
françaisFrench
mesmy (when referring to a plural noun)
quelquesplural of quelque (“some”)
jourday
beaucoupmuch, very much, a lot
essecond-person singular present indicative of être
premierfirst
serathird-person singular future indicative of être
commenthow
parceonly used in parce que
nosplural of notre; our
personneno one, nobody
troisthree
celathat
icihere
vugiven (based on)
hommeman (adult male human)
doitthird-person singular present indicative of devoir: must, ha
cascase, situation
partiefeminine singular of parti
chosething
eupast participle of avoir
premièrefeminine singular of premier
caras, since, because, for
malbadly
bonnefeminine singular of bon
finthin, fine
mieuxcomparative degree of bien; better
puisand

Order: written frequency in French (wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media)).

Spelled like an English word, meaning something else

French	In French	In English
de	from (used to indicate origin)	The name of the Cyrillic script letter Д / д.
la	her, it (direct object)	Initialism of left atrium.
et	and	Pronunciation spelling of ate, the simple past and past participle of eat.
à	The first letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.	The first letter of the English alphabet, called a and written in the Latin script.
les	alternative form of lez	Initialism of launch escape system.
est	east	Grace; favour.
en	in (used to indicate space, also see usage notes)	The name of the Latin script letter N/n.
des	contraction of de + les, literally “of the, from the, some”	Desflurane.
d	The fourth letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.	The fourth letter of the English alphabet, called dee and written in the Latin script.
un	an, a	Alternative spelling of 'un.
que	that (introduces a subordinate noun clause and connects it to its parent clause)	The name of the Latin script letter Q/q. Alternative form of cue.
pas	step, pace, footstep	The right of going foremost; precedence.
du	contraction of de + le, literally “of the”	Initialism of depleted uranium.
pour	for (meant for, intended for)	To cause (liquid, or liquid-like substance) to flow in a stream, either out of a container or into it.
il	eye, organ that is sensitive to light, helping organisms to see	Intermediate language
je	I	Initialism of journal entry.
au	contraction of à + le, literally “to the, for the, at the”	Abbreviation of atomic unit.
ce	a part of the primary school	Initialism of civil engineer.
qu	alternative spelling of ku	An administrative subdivision of China roughly equivalent to districts, distinguished from the more rural "counties" (xi
par	through	Abbreviation of paragraph.
plus	more, -er (comparative)	And; sum of the previous one and the following one.
j	The tenth letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.	The tenth letter of the English alphabet, called jay and written in the Latin script.
ça	initialism of conseil d'administration	Initialism of cellular automaton.
tu	you (singular)	Pronunciation spelling of to, representing African-American Vernacular English.
son	sound	One's male offspring.
y	a letter in the French alphabet, after x and before z	The twenty-fifth letter of the English alphabet, called wy or wye and written in the Latin script.
ou	or	A probably extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper, Psittirostra psittacea.
ai	forms the first-person singular past historic indicative form of an -er verb	A pale-throated sloth (Bradypus tridactylus), endemic to forests of southern Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern Brazil
si	if, whether	Initialism of signal integrity.
tout	all	Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.
sa	initialism of société anonyme (Incorporated (Inc.)) (Limited liability company (Ltd.))	Abbreviation of sinoatrial or sinoauricular.
aux	Contraction of à + les ('to the' or 'of the')	Abbreviation of auxiliary.
même	even	Any unit of (originally cultural) information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated a
m	The thirteenth letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.	The thirteenth letter of the English alphabet, called em and written in the Latin script.
mon	my (used to qualify masculine nouns and vowel-initial words regardless of gender)	The former currency of Japan until 1870, before the yen.
ses	his, her, its, their, one's (when referring to a plural noun)	Alternative spelling of sess (sensimilla)
moi	me (first-person singular disjunctive pronoun)	Me.
ces	initialism of certificat d’études secondaires: ≈ GED (high-school diploma), GCSE	Initialism of cauda equina syndrome.
très	very	A three-course stringed instrument similar to a guitar; the Cuban variant has six strings, and the Puerto Rican has nine
sans	without (not having)	Without; lacking; especially with regard to something expected or with precedent.

Source: the first sense of each word in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026); a pair is listed when the French meaning does not contain the word itself.