· 6 min read
French Phrases for Beginners: First 30
By Language Lab editorial team
30 French phrases for beginners: greetings, introducing yourself, polite words, first questions, good wishes and reactions, with pronunciation tips.
Your first French phrases should be the ones you will say every day. Bonjour is hello and Au revoir is goodbye. Je m'appelle followed by your name means my name is, and Enchanté, written Enchantée if you are a woman, means pleased to meet you. Merci is thank you and s'il vous plaît is please. For questions, start with C'est où ? for where is it and C'est combien ? for how much is it. Comment ? is the short way to say pardon when you did not catch something. French also separates informal from formal address: have fun is Amuse-toi bien to a friend and Amusez-vous bien in formal speech or to a group. The 30 phrases below come from the BBC's French Quick Fix lists.
Hello and goodbye
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Bonjour | Hello |
| Bienvenue | Welcome |
| Bonne soirée | Have a nice evening |
| Bonne nuit | Good night |
| Au revoir | Goodbye |
| À bientôt ! | See you soon! |
Introduce yourself
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Je m'appelle... | My name is... |
| Enchanté ! Enchantée ! | Pleased to meet you |
| Vous parlez anglais ? | Do you speak English? |
| Comment ? | Pardon? |
The BBC gives two spellings for pleased to meet you: Enchanté and Enchantée. The second is the feminine form, used when the speaker is a woman.
Polite words
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| s'il vous plaît | please |
| Merci | Thank you |
| Excusez-moi | Excuse me |
| oui | yes |
| non | no |
First questions and requests
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| C'est où ? | Where is it? |
| C'est combien ? | How much is it? |
| Qu'est-ce que c'est ? | What is it? |
| Vous avez...? | Do you have...? |
| Je voudrais... | I would like... |
Good wishes
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Bon voyage ! | Have a great trip! |
| Bon week-end | Have a good weekend |
| Bonne chance | Good luck |
| Bon appétit | Enjoy your meal |
| Joyeux anniversaire ! | Happy birthday! |
Notice bon and bonne: two forms of the same word, both in this table. Telling masculine from feminine forms is one of the stated outcomes of The Open University's first beginner French course, so you will meet this again very soon.
Reactions
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Génial ! | Great! |
| Bravo ! | Well done! |
| Félicitations ! | Congratulations! |
| Quel dommage ! | What a shame! |
| Santé ! | Cheers! |
Saying them well
French pronunciation needs deliberate practice from the start. The Open University's free beginner courses name it in their learning outcomes: recognising the u and ou sounds and the basic rules of French pronunciation in the first course, and pronouncing un, une and the letters h and r in the third. Listen before you speak, and copy the audio.
- Say each phrase aloud several times.
- Cover the French and produce it from the English.
- Review tomorrow and next week. A 2013 review of learning research rated practice testing and distributed practice as high utility, and rereading as low.
- Use slow, clear audio: RFI's Le français facile has podcasts and exercises from A1 upwards.
Language Lab's French course is built around voiced real-life scenarios with an AI tutor, so you can hear these phrases and say them back.
Frequently asked
What French phrases should a beginner learn first?
Bonjour, Au revoir, Merci and s'il vous plaît, then Je m'appelle for my name is, C'est où ? for where is it and C'est combien ? for how much is it.
How do I introduce myself in French?
Bonjour, je m'appelle and your name. Then Enchanté, or Enchantée if you are a woman: pleased to meet you.
How do I say I don't understand, or pardon, in French?
Comment ? is the BBC's phrase for pardon. You can also ask Vous parlez anglais ?, do you speak English.
What is the difference between Amuse-toi bien and Amusez-vous bien?
Both mean have fun. The BBC marks Amuse-toi bien as informal and Amusez-vous bien as formal or plural.
How do I say cheers in French?
Santé ! Before a meal, say Bon appétit.
Why is it Bon voyage but Bonne chance?
Bon and bonne are two forms of the same word. French distinguishes masculine and feminine forms, and telling them apart is a stated outcome of The Open University's first beginner French course.
Sources: BBC Languages, French Quick Fix: basic, food and drink, shopping, getting around, social and celebration phrases (archived pages); The Open University, OpenLearn, Getting started with French 1 and 3; RFI, Le français facile; Dunlosky et al., Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2013. Checked on 13 October 2026. Photo: Little Venice, Colmar, Krzysztof Golik / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
