Top 10 Basic French Words Every BEGINNER Should Know

Bonjour à tous, in this lesson we're going to learn 10 basic words every beginner should know. If you'd like to take lessons with a native French teacher, I recommend italki. Have a look in the description for the offer they're offering my viewers. Or should I say, for the offer they're making my viewers. I'm a native French speaker, not a native English speaker as you can tell. So, le premier mot est bonjour. Bonjour. Repeat? Bonjour. So obviously, the reason every beginner should know bonjour is because it's the first thing you say to anyone you meet. Bonjour. Comment ça va aujourd'hui? Bonjour. Bonjour means hello, and it's made up of two words. Bon, which means good, and jour, which means day. So literally, bonjour means good day, but it usually translates to hello. You can use bonjour to greet someone in France if you're greeting them before about 5 in the afternoon. After 5, you would say bonsoir. Repeat? Bonsoir. Bonsoir is also made up of two words. Bon, meaning good, and soir, meaning evening. Bonsoir. Repeat? Bonsoir. There are two new sounds you need to be aware of in bonjour and bonsoir. Which are made with the letters O and U, ou, ou, and O and I, oi, oi. When the letters O and I occur together, they're pronounced like the letters WA in English. Le deuxième mot est bienvenue. Bienvenue. Repeat? Bienvenue. Bienvenue means welcome. Bienvenue en France. Welcome to France. Bienvenue is also made up of two words. Bien, meaning well, and venue, meaning come. Bienvenue. Repeat? Bienvenue. Le troisième mot is particularly useful when you meet someone for the first time. Enchanté. And then, if you're feeling brave enough, you can say Enchanté de faire votre connaissance. Enchanté de faire votre connaissance. Whether you're using the short version or the long version, both mean nice to meet you. Enchanté. Enchanté de faire votre connaissance. Repeat? Enchanté. Now if you're a girl or a woman, you need to spell Enchanté with an E at the end. But this E is silent. So whether you're male or female, Enchanté is pronounced exactly the same. Another sound you need to know in Enchanté is en. En. En is a nasal sound that is made by the letters E-N and A-N. It's pronounced like A-N in the English word restaurant. So repeat again? Enchanté. Le quatrième mot que nous allons apprendre aujourd'hui, the fourth word we're going to learn today is S'il te plaît and S'il vous plaît. S'il te plaît and S'il vous plaît both mean please. However you need to use S'il te plaît with friends, family or children and S'il vous plaît with adults you don't know very well. Repeat? S'il te plaît. S'il vous plaît. S'il te plaît. S'il vous plaît. Please. Another sound you need to know is the one made by the letters A and I. When A and I occur together they're pronounced like A-I in the English word said. So when A-I occur together they're pronounced like E. S'il te plaît. S'il vous plaît. Ok? So when someone gives you what you were asking for saying S'il te plaît or S'il vous plaît you need to say le cinquième mot. Merci. Merci means thank you. And of course if you want to say thank you very much you can as well in French. Merci beaucoup. Another new sound again. When E, A and U occur together they're pronounced like the French letter O. Beaucoup. Merci beaucoup. Repeat? Merci beaucoup. Le sixième mot que je veux vous apprendre aujourd'hui, the sixth word I want to teach you today, which is actually a phrase, is de rien. De rien. This is what most people reply when you tell them merci. Merci beaucoup. De rien. De rien literally means of nothing and it translates to you're welcome. De rien. Repeat? De rien. So when I taught you the word enchanté, nice to meet you, I told you that when the letters E and N occur together they're usually pronounced en. However, when E and N are preceded by the letter I, E and N are pronounced like the French number one. Un. Rien. De rien. Okay? Good. Now, le septième mot. If you need to apologize you can say excuse-moi or excusez-moi. Excuse-moi or excusez-moi. The difference between the two is that you use excuse-moi with people you know very well or children and excuse-moi with adults you don't know very well. Or when you're talking to several people at once. Excuse-moi and excusez-moi both mean excuse me. And as a bonus, another word you can use to apologize is désolé. Désolé. And just like with enchanté, you need to add an E at the end if you're female. Excusez-moi. Repeat. Excusez-moi. Désolé. Excuse-moi, je n'ai pas fait exprès. Sorry, I didn't do this on purpose. Le huitième mot, well actually that's a lie, I'm actually going to teach you two words here are the two words you need to know to accept or refuse something. Yes and no. Oui. And non. Non. Repeat. Oui. Yes. Non. So as you may have noticed, O and N also create a new vowel sound. The sound N does not exist in English. It's a very nasal sound that you can produce by putting your mouth in exactly the same position as you would when saying O but tighten your lips a little bit more so that less air can come out of your mouth. So practice with me. So repeat again. Oui. Non. Yes. No. Very basic but very important words. So as you know, food is a very important part of French culture. So the ninth word I want to teach you, le neuvième mot, or should I say phrase, is bon appétit. Bon appétit. Now the only reason we pronounce bon as bon here is because appétit starts with a vowel. So we have to link the two words together and make the liaison. Bon appétit. Repeat. Bon appétit. That's good. Also notice that the T at the end of appétit is silent. When a consonant is the last letter of a French word, it's usually silent. Hence why we say appétit and not appétit. So repeat after me. Bon appétit. Bon appétit literally translates to good appetite and it basically means enjoy your meal. So it's a good idea to say that before people start eating. That's what French people often do. Bon appétit. And finally, the tenth word I want to teach you today is au revoir. Au revoir literally translates to something like till we see each other again and it means goodbye. Au revoir. Repeat. Au revoir. Just like the letters EAU, when the letters A and U occur together, they're also pronounced like the French letter O. Au revoir. And remember O and I are pronounced like WA in English. Au revoir. Now you've got two R's in au revoir, which is usually a sound English speakers find quite tricky. But basically it's exactly the same movement in your throat as you would do when you're gurgling, which is kind of odd, but that's how it is. So au revoir. Au revoir. Try it. Au revoir. Goodbye. So now you've learnt these words, you should be able to say yes please. How would you say yes please? Oui, s'il te plaît. Oui, s'il vous plaît. How would you say no thank you? You should be able to say that as well. No thank you. Non merci. Do you know how you would say hello and welcome? Hello and welcome. Bonjour et bienvenue. Et spelled ET means and. Bonjour et bienvenue. That said, this is the end of the lesson. So au revoir. This is the end of the lesson. Thank you very much for watching and a very special thanks to my patrons as well without whom this channel would simply not be the same. Please check out my Patreon page, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well. I'll see you there. Bye. A bientôt. A bientot.