Learning French vocabulary

There are about 100,000 French words according to the dictionary, and quite a few more that didn't make the final cut (there were budget issues). It's probably not a good use of your time to try and learn them one by one.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re learning French for business or for fun, there's no secret to building vocabulary: reading will help you learn more. It is however, possible, even plausible, that you can spice up your learning process with other activities too.

If you are under the impression that reading isn't sufficient, mayhaps you ought to try Frantastique: the first seven days are on the house - in other words free!

How to learn vocabulary fast with Frantastique

You’ll learn some 12,000 words & phrases listed below with our online French course.

Our short, 10-minute lessons are sent on a daily basis so that you can focus on learning instead of planning to learn. No cramming involved: our spaced learning approach helps you retain the words you learn over the long term.

Vocabulary is a serious matter, sometimes deadly serious, but you can make it fun with Frantastique. Our lessons are story-driven - you don't just learn from a vocabulary list, you learn with context. Solidify the vocabulary you’ve built up, and learn more efficiently with our artificial intelligence engine.

Already know a word? Nor a problem. Our daily lessons are also personalized based on what you know and what you need to know. You get to tailor your own learning experience easily, without fuss, or muss.

Frantastique delivers short, personalized and fun lessons. Our goal: your motivation, participation and progress.

How to improve my French vocabulary

Great question! In order to form sentences, vocabulary is a significant part of the equation. We’d all love to use the same 3 or 4 words and phrases, but there are only so many times you can order a coffee, use the toilets and demand political asylum.

So how can you improve your vocabulary skills? We’ve got some suggestions, but we’re going to spread them out into 3 or 4 paragraphs in order to attract some bots. Thank you for your indulgence.

Practice makes perfect. Sorry, we don’t make the rules. Some effort is required to speak naturally, construct sentences, and keep your language skills sharp. Back in the days of classroom learning, people used flashcards, repeated words and phrases and tried to memorize sentences through brute force. Those days are over, baby. Nowadays we can learn the French language with a bit of patience, a computer or mobile device, and probably a credit or debit card.

Learning basic French words should be a pleasure, not a chore. You should have fun speaking French and talking to locals. It should be easy to complain about the number of scooters on the road and the rising price of croissants. Using Frantastique will make remembering words and phrases easy and fun. Make sure that your trip is not lost in translation, whatever that means. Also, we haven’t yet used the words: repeat, learn, memorize and pigeons. Thank you for your time!

Where do French words come from?

Where do French words come from? Fair question. Storks? Former president Georges Clémenceau? The answer isn’t obvious. There are compelling arguments on both sides of the debate. Still, it’s generally understood that French is a Romance language, as well as one of the most romantic, if you know what I mean. City of lights? More like city of kisses, are we right? Anyhow, we digress.

Romance languages include Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and I’m guessing, maybe Italian? These languages have their roots in Latin, which is why they are also called Latin languages. Latin and Greek are some of the oldest languages of record. Did you know that Stefanos Tsitsipas is Greek? He’s a tennis player and has a fun name to say. Famous Latins include Latin America as well as the Latin Quarter in Paris.

Did you know? Some French words don’t have English equivalents, like for example “dépaysé”. Other French words do have equivalents, for example: “un chat” is “a cat”. Remarkable!

Words & phrases you can learn with Frantastique

No, not just letters.

Click on any of the letters below to see the full extent of the words you can learn with us.

Further reading

Do you need more than words? Sounds Extreme. We've got you covered!

Frantastique goes beyond words. Grammar, tenses, phrases, business vocabulary, culture... you can learn it all with our online French course.

Try for free today.

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If you need further information, check some more of our pages:

• List of French grammar rules
• Learning German vocabulary with Wunderbla
• Learning Spanish vocabulary with Hotel Borbollón
• Building English vocabulary with Gymglish
• Building Italian vocabulary with Saga Baldoria
• French for Beginners