The first 100 French words to learn are the small ones that hold sentences together (elle, il, la, le, de, à, pas), a few verb forms (est, a, regarde, dit) and everyday nouns such as porte and café. In the free A1 and A2 chapters of Contos, these 100 words make up about 57% of all the words.
- Counted from
- 48 free A1 and A2 chapters, 10,279 words
- Share of those chapters
- About 57% of all the words
- Share of A1 chapters alone
- About 59%
- Most common word
- elle, used 431 times
- Left out
- Character names, and words found in fewer than 5 chapters
How was this list of French words chosen?
It was counted, not guessed. We took the free chapters (1 and 2) of all 24 A1 and A2 series in the Contos French library, October 2026 export: 48 chapters and 10,279 words of story text. We counted every word form, splitting elided words, so l'immeuble counts as l' plus immeuble. Then we removed character names and any word found in fewer than 5 of the 48 chapters, so one story's notebook or suitcase can't dominate. The 100 most frequent forms left are below.
Together they make up about 57% of every word in those chapters, and about 59% of the A1 chapters alone. Know them and more than half of a beginner story is already familiar.
For a general ranking, Deryle Lonsdale and Yvon Le Bras's A Frequency Dictionary of French (Routledge) lists the 5,000 most frequent words of a 23-million-word corpus. For why a short list goes so far, see how many French words you need.
Which little words hold French sentences together?
These 49 words are short and easy to skim past, but they carry the biggest share of every page. You don't need to study them so much as recognise them instantly.
Articles: the, a and some (9)
| French | English | Times in the chapters |
|---|---|---|
| la | the (feminine) | 291 |
| le | the (masculine) | 268 |
| un | a, one (masculine) | 138 |
| l' | the, before a vowel or silent h (l'immeuble) | 122 |
| une | a, one (feminine) | 118 |
| les | the (plural) | 111 |
| du | some; of the (de + le) | 64 |
| au | to the, at the (à + le) | 54 |
| des | some (plural of un, une); of the | 43 |
Linking words (16)
| French | English | Times in the chapters |
|---|---|---|
| de | of, from | 212 |
| à | to, at, in (à Paris) | 155 |
| et | and | 120 |
| dans | in, inside | 88 |
| mais | but | 82 |
| avec | with | 71 |
| qui | who, which, that | 56 |
| en | in; of it, some (pronoun) | 48 |
| d' | of, from (de before a vowel) | 47 |
| sur | on | 42 |
| que | that, than, what | 35 |
| pour | for, in order to | 32 |
| puis | then, next | 30 |
| qu' | that (que before a vowel) | 29 |
| derrière | behind | 21 |
| comme | like, as | 20 |
Pronouns, possessives and this (17)
| French | English | Times in the chapters |
|---|---|---|
| elle | she, it (feminine), her | 431 |
| il | he, it (masculine) | 304 |
| son | his, her (before a masculine noun or a vowel) | 113 |
| c' | it, this (in c'est) | 112 |
| ce | this, that, it (ce n'est pas) | 64 |
| sa | his, her (before a feminine noun) | 55 |
| s' | himself, herself (se before a vowel) | 46 |
| je | I | 39 |
| tu | you (a friend, a child, family) | 38 |
| tout | all, everything | 37 |
| ses | his, her (plural nouns) | 35 |
| se | himself, herself, each other | 34 |
| y | there (in il y a, there is) | 30 |
| quelque | some (in quelque chose, something) | 29 |
| vous | you (polite, or more than one person) | 26 |
| cette | this, that (feminine) | 25 |
| quelqu'un | someone | 19 |
No, not and yes (7)
| French | English | Times in the chapters |
|---|---|---|
| pas | not (second half of ne … pas) | 142 |
| ne | not (first half of ne … pas) | 112 |
| n' | ne before a vowel (n'est pas) | 53 |
| non | no | 27 |
| plus | more; no longer (ne … plus) | 24 |
| rien | nothing | 23 |
| oui | yes | 20 |
Accents and apostrophes matter in this group. A (has) and à (to), la (the) and là (there) sound alike; the accent tells you which word you are reading. The apostrophe forms (l', c', n', s', d', qu') are ordinary words that lost their vowel before another vowel: c'est is ce + est, n'est pas is ne + est + pas.
Which French verb forms come first?
Beginner stories are told in the present tense, mostly about one person at a time, so the commonest forms are third person singular: he or she "looks", "says", "opens". That is why the list has regarde, not regarder. Learn the form you see; the dictionary form is there so you can find the rest of the verb later.
| Form | Dictionary form | English | Times in the chapters |
|---|---|---|---|
| est | être | is | 295 |
| a | avoir | has | 116 |
| regarde | regarder | looks at, watches | 109 |
| dit | dire | says | 90 |
| voit | voir | sees | 60 |
| ouvre | ouvrir | opens | 46 |
| arrive | arriver | arrives | 43 |
| demande | demander | asks | 38 |
| parle | parler | speaks, talks | 35 |
| sourit | sourire | smiles | 33 |
| répond | répondre | answers | 28 |
| devient | devenir | becomes, turns (devient pâle) | 26 |
| entre | entrer | goes in; also a preposition, between | 25 |
| écrit | écrire | writes | 25 |
| descend | descendre | goes down | 24 |
| monte | monter | goes up, climbs | 23 |
| lit | lire | reads | 23 |
| prend | prendre | takes | 23 |
| sont | être | are | 22 |
| pense | penser | thinks | 21 |
| sort | sortir | goes out | 19 |
| ai | avoir | have (j'ai, I have) | 17 |
| cherche | chercher | looks for | 17 |
Est and a do a lot of work: they also build the past (elle est partie, il a dit) once you reach A2. Dit shows up after nearly every line of dialogue, and all 10 uses of devient in the free A1 chapters describe someone changing colour: devient blanche, devient rouge, devient pâle. Cliffhangers make characters go pale.
Which everyday nouns and adverbs should you know?
When, how and how much (9)
| French | English | Times in the chapters |
|---|---|---|
| très | very | 63 |
| pourquoi | why | 31 |
| vite | quickly | 28 |
| deux | two | 24 |
| lentement | slowly | 22 |
| toujours | always, still | 20 |
| là | there | 19 |
| maintenant | now | 18 |
| aussi | also, too | 18 |
Things, people and places (19)
| French | With its article | English | Times in the chapters |
|---|---|---|---|
| porte | la porte | door (also: carries, wears) | 50 |
| matin | le matin | morning | 32 |
| café | le café | coffee; café | 32 |
| chose | la chose | thing (quelque chose, something) | 32 |
| madame | — | Mrs, madam | 30 |
| monsieur | — | Mr, sir | 30 |
| carnet | le carnet | notebook | 28 |
| téléphone | le téléphone | phone | 25 |
| lettre | la lettre | letter | 24 |
| petit | — | small, little (petite: feminine) | 22 |
| voix | la voix | voice | 20 |
| ans | un an | years (old) | 20 |
| fenêtre | la fenêtre | window | 20 |
| heures | une heure | hours; o'clock | 19 |
| mains | une main | hands | 19 |
| appartement | l'appartement (masculine) | flat | 19 |
| sac | le sac | bag | 18 |
| homme | l'homme (masculine) | man | 17 |
| escalier | l'escalier (masculine) | stairs, staircase | 17 |
Learn nouns with their article, because the article carries the gender: la porte, le carnet. Where the article is l', the gender is hidden, so note it once: l'appartement and l'escalier are masculine. Petit is the one adjective in the list; it becomes petite with a feminine noun, as in la petite chambre of Madame Lefèvre in The Building at No. 14.
Elle regarde par la fenêtre.The quickest way to fix these words is to meet them in a story rather than a table. For a themed set, try our French words for emotions.
Read an A1 French chapter and count how many of these 100 words you spot. Tap any you have forgotten.
Read free in your browserFrequently asked questions
What are the most common words in French?
In the beginner chapters we counted, the top five were elle (she), il (he), la (the), est (is) and le (the). Small grammar words lead because every sentence needs them, whatever the story is about.
Should I learn French words from a list?
Use the list as a checklist, not a script. Words stick better when you meet them in a sentence. Read the list once, then read stories and save the words that keep turning up. Every word here appears in at least 5 of the 48 beginner chapters we counted.
Why does the list show regarde instead of regarder?
Because regarde is what you see on the page. In beginner stories the third person present appears far more often than the infinitive. Knowing the form lets you read now; the verb tables can come later.
Why are l' and c' counted as words?
Because they are words: le or la, and ce, with the vowel dropped before another vowel. L' alone appears 122 times in the 48 chapters, more than most nouns. Recognising it quickly makes French text much easier to scan.
How much of a French story will I understand with 100 words?
In the free A1 and A2 chapters of Contos, these 100 words cover about 57% of the text. That is a strong start, not comprehension: you still need the nouns and verbs that carry each story, which is what tapping and flashcards are for.