French A1 Vocabulary: 300 Essential Words and Phrases

Build a practical A1 foundation with 300 essential French entries.

300 cardsLast updated 2026-08-16

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This deck gives a new learner a compact but usable French foundation. Its 300 independently selected words and phrases cover greetings, identity, numbers, time, family, home, food, shopping, town, transport, health and the most useful verbs and connectors. Nouns include an article so grammatical gender is learned with the word; verbs use the infinitive; phrases model natural beginner exchanges. Every answer adds a concise English meaning and an original French example with translation. Import it and the whole deck joins your spaced-repetition schedule. Entries you already know stretch out and drop out of sight; the ones that keep slipping come back until they stop slipping. What goes down is the number of entries you still don't know — not the time it takes to flip past 300 cards you mostly do.

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What's inside

Showing 100 representative cards from the full 300-card deck.

Front	Back
bonjour — what does it mean?	hello; good morning.
au revoir — what does it mean?	goodbye.
à demain — what does it mean?	see you tomorrow.
s’il vous plaît — what does it mean?	please.
oui — what does it mean?	yes.
qui — what does it mean?	who.
quel est ton nom ? — what does it mean?	what is your name?
je suis — what does it mean?	I am.
voici — what does it mean?	here is; this is.
moi — what does it mean?	me; I, for emphasis.
lui — what does it mean?	him; he.
vous — what does it mean?	you; you all; polite you.
un homme — what does it mean?	a man.
une jeune fille — what does it mean?	a girl; a young woman.
une amie — what does it mean?	a female friend; a friend.
le mercredi — what does it mean?	Wednesday.
le vendredi — what does it mean?	Friday.
un élève — what does it mean?	a pupil; a student.
une salle de classe — what does it mean?	a classroom.
un livre — what does it mean?	a book.
un crayon — what does it mean?	a pencil.
une règle — what does it mean?	a ruler.
le travail — what does it mean?	work; job.
la fenêtre — what does it mean?	the window.
la France — what does it mean?	France.
l’Espagne — what does it mean?	Spain.
les États-Unis — what does it mean?	the United States.
le Japon — what does it mean?	Japan.
français — what does it mean?	French.
allemand — what does it mean?	German.
zéro — what does it mean?	zero.
deux — what does it mean?	two.
quatre — what does it mean?	four.
six — what does it mean?	six.
huit — what does it mean?	eight.
dix — what does it mean?	ten.
douze — what does it mean?	twelve.
quatorze — what does it mean?	fourteen.
d’où viens-tu ? — what does it mean?	where are you from?
la nationalité — what does it mean?	nationality.
l’âge — what does it mean?	age.
l’après-midi — what does it mean?	afternoon; the part of the day after lunch.
aujourd’hui — what does it mean?	today.
hier — what does it mean?	yesterday.
toujours — what does it mean?	always; every time.
parfois — what does it mean?	sometimes.
la semaine — what does it mean?	week.
le mois — what does it mean?	month.
le calendrier — what does it mean?	calendar; a page or app that shows dates.
le jour de congé — what does it mean?	day off; a day without work or school.
à l’heure — what does it mean?	on time; not late.
tôt — what does it mean?	early.
se lever — what does it mean?	to get up.
se doucher — what does it mean?	to shower.
le petit déjeuner — what does it mean?	breakfast; the morning meal.
la famille — what does it mean?	family.
les parents — what does it mean?	parents; father and mother.
la fille — what does it mean?	daughter; girl.
la sœur — what does it mean?	sister.
la maison — what does it mean?	house; home.
la salle de bain — what does it mean?	bathroom.
le mur — what does it mean?	wall.
le jardin — what does it mean?	garden; yard.
le sac — what does it mean?	bag.
faire le lit — what does it mean?	to make the bed.
porter — what does it mean?	to wear; to carry.
le pantalon — what does it mean?	trousers; pants.
la veste — what does it mean?	jacket.
le chapeau — what does it mean?	hat.
grand — what does it mean?	big; tall.
beau — what does it mean?	beautiful; handsome.
le pain — what does it mean?	bread; a basic baked food.
la pomme — what does it mean?	apple; a round fruit with a crisp taste.
le riz — what does it mean?	rice; a common grain eaten as a side or main dish.
l’eau — what does it mean?	water; a basic drink.
le marché — what does it mean?	market; a place where people buy fresh food and goods.
le prix — what does it mean?	price; the amount of money something costs.
le panier — what does it mean?	basket; a container for carrying shopping.
la ville — what does it mean?	town/city; a populated urban place.
la gare — what does it mean?	train station; the place where trains leave and arrive.
l’aéroport — what does it mean?	airport; the place where planes leave and arrive.
le taxi — what does it mean?	taxi; a car you pay to take you somewhere.
la valise — what does it mean?	suitcase; a case for carrying clothes and travel items.
la mer — what does it mean?	sea; a large body of salt water.
le vent — what does it mean?	wind; moving air.
froid — what does it mean?	cold; having a low temperature.
aller — what does it mean?	to go; to move from one place to another.
boire — what does it mean?	to drink; to take a liquid into the body.
trouver — what does it mean?	to find; to discover or locate something.
habiter — what does it mean?	to live; to have your home in a place.
avec — what does it mean?	with; indicates accompaniment or connection.
et — what does it mean?	and; links words or ideas.
donc — what does it mean?	so/therefore; shows a result.
d’abord — what does it mean?	first; before the other steps.
ici — what does it mean?	here; in this place.
la pharmacie — what does it mean?	pharmacy; a shop that sells medicine and health products.
un cousin — what does it mean?	male cousin.
un animal — what does it mean?	animal.
la musique — what does it mean?	music.
le rendez-vous — what does it mean?	appointment; meeting.

Frequently asked

Does importing this deck use my AI allowance?

No. Importing uses the saved deck as published; it does not run AI generation or use your AI allowance. The complete deck can therefore be imported on the free plan.

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Existing cards are skipped. A later import only adds genuinely new cards, so it does not create a second copy of the same material. Including re-imports after deletion, the same Memly curated deck can be imported up to three times per account over its lifetime.

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Can I study the same deck on web and mobile?

Yes. The deck is added to your Memly account and stays available across the web app and the iOS and Android apps.

Is this an official CEFR A1 word list?

No. CEFR specifies communicative ability, not one mandatory 300-word list. Memly independently selected these entries to support common A1 tasks.

Why do French nouns include an article?

The article helps you learn grammatical gender with the noun from the start. Cards also flag common elision or plural patterns where useful.

Editorial method and sources

Memly's editors use the primary sources below to check scope and terminology, then independently write and review the cards.

Europass (European Commission): CEFR self-assessment grid