French Vocabulary and Phrases

Flashcards from French Lecture Notes

Appartenir

To belong

Rusticité

Hardiness

Quotidien

Daily life

Rater

To fail (a test/exam), to miss (used more than manquer)

Louper

To miss (used more often)

Rendre

To give something back (to someone), to render

Estimer

To reckon, to think highly of, to estimate, to value. Example: J’estime que la course durera une heure (I reckon that the race will last an hour).

Redouter

To dread

Ménager

To go easy on or to spare. Example: Tu ne me ménages pas - don’t go easy on me

Réfléchir deux fois

To think twice

Foirer

To screw up

Force de volonte

Will power

Arriver à (verb) / Parvenir (used less)

To manage to (verb). Example: J'espère que j’arriverai à obtenir la médaille - I hope that I will get the medal

Mi-parcours

Halfway

S'inspirer

To take inspiration from

Soi

Oneself

Maître (adjective)

Key (most important). Example: Les maître mots - the motto

Au-delà

Beyond

Couramment

Fluently

S’imprimer

To print (to remember) or to print (something)

Dégager

Get out, clear

Galet

Pebble

Espèce

Species

S'evanouir

To faint

Charger

To load. Example: On va charger l'arrière de la voiture - we need to load the back of the car

Adaptée

Suitable

Là

Can be translated as «now»

S’occuper

To take care of

Primo (informal)

First of all; Premiérement (formal) - first of all

Deuxio (informal)

Second of all; Deuxiement - second of all

Avouer

To admit

S’épuiser

To get exhausted

Étaler

To flaunt, to show off

Plaire

Like

Raconter

To tell, to describe, to recount

Poser

To put down. Example: Il pose la papier sur la tableau - he puts down the paper on the table

Prier

To pray, to ask, to beg. Example: Je vous en prie - please (extremely formal)

Inculte

Uneducated. Example: Je suis complètement inculte dans la musique - I am completely musically uneducated

Entretien d’embauche

Job interview

Chômage

Unemployment

Délais

Deadlines

Bascule

A shift

Embêter

To bother or to annoy

Ranger

To tidy up, to arrange

Rentrer

To enter (implies entering again or returning: oftentimes a place where you usually belong like home, school, or work)

Toujour

Still (some contexts)

Omettre

Omit

Passer

(Multiple meanings). Example: J’ai passé un bon week-end - I had a good weekend

Décoller

To take off (planes)

Décollage

Take-off (noun)

Tout

All the way

Nuance

Nuance

Engager à

Commit to

Poisson d’Avril

April Fool’s joke

Décaler

To shift, to reschedule

Coup de fil

Phone call

Centaine

About a hundred

Amplement convenable

More than adequate

Lutter

To fight

Se devoir

To own it to oneself

Mener à bien

To complete, to carry out, etc.

Mener

To lead, to carry out, to conduct

Dés la, le, les

From the… or since the… Example: Dés - first thing, right from the; Au départ - since the beginning

Poubelles

Garbage. Example: Sortir la poubelle - to take out the garbage

Petit boulot tranquille

A small easy job - often temporary job

Se priver

Go without

Encore

Can be “even”. Example: Ou encore - or even, or perhaps

Se régaler

To enjoy oneself

Bout

Bit, end, tip

Jaser

To chat

Quasi

Almost. Example: Quasi-totalité - almost all of them; La totalité - all (noun)

Être au courant

To be aware, to be in the know

Ignorer

To be unaware, don’t know

Dépens

Expense. Example: À la dépens de quelqu’un - at one’s expense

Nous deux

The two of us

Promettre

To promise

Avoir quelqu’un

To have someone (to fool them)

Navré

Sorry (with a deep sense of regret)

Si ça se trouve

It could be that… its possible that

Faible

Sometimes can mean not a lot

CV

Resume

Résumé

Summary

Rez-de-chaussée

Ground floor

Petit service

Favour

On m'attends au

I am expected at…

Moindre

Slightest

Frissons

The chills

La chair de poule

Goosebumps

Faufiler entre

To sneak in

Au tant que

As much as

Montant

Amount

Raccourci

Shortened

Béton

Concrete. Example: En béton - concrete

Pointer au travaille

Clock in and clock out of work

Épater, impressioner

Dazzle, to impress

Rencard

A date (like a date between two people)

S’y attendre

To expect

Crasse

Dirt

Le trac

Stage fright

Un coffre-fort

A safe