French - useful in France, Belgium, Canada, French islands, Vietnam, Saint Martin in the Caribbean and around the world in French restaurants and daily conversation.
Problem
If you don't speak French, or very little, it would be good to have a few words to throw into a conversation or even sign language. Without knowing any French, you might be able to go into a bakery and raise your eyebrows, smile and ask croissants? How many French words do you think you know and use? One, ten, a hundred, a thousand?
Answers
We have list of more than three hundred words, not counting any for food. I speak fluent French. Other members of my family speak basic school French.
Wikipedia has lists of hundreds of words, but many are words you would never use.
French everyday Words
1 bouquet (bunch of flowers, usually in a circle, arranged by florist with matching or cotnrasting colours)
2 chauffeur - driver of a car, employed full time by hotels and VIPs
3 cuisine - style of food, eg French
4 encore - again! (shouted at the end of operas in the hope of getting an extra song, or the last one repeated)
5 matinée - afternoon (performance of a play)
6 naive - innocent and trusting, a pushover
7 ballet
8 banquette - long seat in restaurant or other place, often against the wall without arm rest dividers, like a bank or padded plank
9 bureau - desk or office or small shop as in bureau de change
French Erudite Words
The British Sunday newspapers such as The Sunday Times have articles by critics which frequently use longer French phrases.
1 brassiere - shortened to bra
2 etiquette (More than good manners or politeness - dress code, the rules at court, special occasions, polite society)
3 fait accompli (fact - already accomplished or done)
4 fin de siècle - end of the century or turn of the century
5 haute cuisine - high quality cooking
6 nom de plume (pen name)
7 suave (smart and knowing)
8 recherché - unusual - you have to research them or seek them out
9 coiffure - hairdo
10 corsage - buttonhole flower or pinned flower on lapel
French Food Words
1 baguette (long bread)
2 bain-marie (double boiler, lower half contains boiling water, top half has the ingredients such as chocolate)
3 brasserie
4 casserole (stew or heavy two-handled saucepan for a savoury stew)
5 croissant (curved puff pasty)
6 pot de chocolat (pot of chocolate)
7 hors d'oeuvre - starters (literally outside the work)
8 r.s.v.p. - respondez s'il vous plait - literally reply if you please
You could compile a list for your own amusement and education. If you are on a long trip, you could run a competition to see who could compile the longest list of words, or guess the words from your clues or definitions.
QUIZ
1 bouquet
2 chauffeur
3 cuisine
4 matinée
5 naive
6 brassiere
7 etiquette
8 fait accompli
9 fin de siècle
10 haute cuisine
1 nom de plume
2 suave
3 baguette
4 bain-marie
5 brasserie
6 casserole
7 croissant
8 pot de chocolat
Useful Websites
Your magic search words for the internet hunt include 'loan words'
google translate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, polyglot, teacher of English, French and other languages. Speeches and workshops on accents, languages, learning languages and pronunciation.
If you are interested in learning languages, or learning about languages, I have many more posts about French, German, Spanish, Esperanto and other languages and language courses.
Problem
If you don't speak French, or very little, it would be good to have a few words to throw into a conversation or even sign language. Without knowing any French, you might be able to go into a bakery and raise your eyebrows, smile and ask croissants? How many French words do you think you know and use? One, ten, a hundred, a thousand?
Answers
We have list of more than three hundred words, not counting any for food. I speak fluent French. Other members of my family speak basic school French.
Wikipedia has lists of hundreds of words, but many are words you would never use.
French everyday Words
1 bouquet (bunch of flowers, usually in a circle, arranged by florist with matching or cotnrasting colours)
2 chauffeur - driver of a car, employed full time by hotels and VIPs
3 cuisine - style of food, eg French
4 encore - again! (shouted at the end of operas in the hope of getting an extra song, or the last one repeated)
5 matinée - afternoon (performance of a play)
6 naive - innocent and trusting, a pushover
7 ballet
8 banquette - long seat in restaurant or other place, often against the wall without arm rest dividers, like a bank or padded plank
9 bureau - desk or office or small shop as in bureau de change
French Erudite Words
The British Sunday newspapers such as The Sunday Times have articles by critics which frequently use longer French phrases.
1 brassiere - shortened to bra
2 etiquette (More than good manners or politeness - dress code, the rules at court, special occasions, polite society)
3 fait accompli (fact - already accomplished or done)
4 fin de siècle - end of the century or turn of the century
5 haute cuisine - high quality cooking
6 nom de plume (pen name)
7 suave (smart and knowing)
8 recherché - unusual - you have to research them or seek them out
9 coiffure - hairdo
10 corsage - buttonhole flower or pinned flower on lapel
French Food Words
1 baguette (long bread)
2 bain-marie (double boiler, lower half contains boiling water, top half has the ingredients such as chocolate)
3 brasserie
4 casserole (stew or heavy two-handled saucepan for a savoury stew)
5 croissant (curved puff pasty)
6 pot de chocolat (pot of chocolate)
7 hors d'oeuvre - starters (literally outside the work)
8 r.s.v.p. - respondez s'il vous plait - literally reply if you please
You could compile a list for your own amusement and education. If you are on a long trip, you could run a competition to see who could compile the longest list of words, or guess the words from your clues or definitions.
QUIZ
1 bouquet
2 chauffeur
3 cuisine
4 matinée
5 naive
6 brassiere
7 etiquette
8 fait accompli
9 fin de siècle
10 haute cuisine
1 nom de plume
2 suave
3 baguette
4 bain-marie
5 brasserie
6 casserole
7 croissant
8 pot de chocolat
9 encore .....................
10 Find another French word /food ....................
Your Score
1- 4 Oo-la-la!
5-9 Bient fait. Encore!
10-15 Excellent!
16-20 Formidable!
Useful Websites
Your magic search words for the internet hunt include 'loan words'
google translate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, polyglot, teacher of English, French and other languages. Speeches and workshops on accents, languages, learning languages and pronunciation.
If you are interested in learning languages, or learning about languages, I have many more posts about French, German, Spanish, Esperanto and other languages and language courses.
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