Vocabulary Lists

French Vocabulary

Vocabulaire

Themed vocabulary lists and other wordy lessons (synonyms, prefixes, suffixes, abbreviations …) to help you become more verbose in French.

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Grammar Lessons

-ci Suffix

French suffix -ciUnlike other French suffixes, -ci does not create new words, but rather adds additional meaning to the nouns and pronouns it's attached to.

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Grammar Lessons

-issime Suffix

French suffix -issime
The French suffix -issime is added to adjectives and acts as an intensifier or superlative, adding meanings like "very," "extremely," or "most."

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Grammar Lessons

-là Suffix

French suffix là-Unlike other French suffixes, -là does not create new words, but rather adds additional meaning to the nouns and pronouns it's added to.

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Holidays and Celebrations

7 Things to Know About Bastille

BastilleFor Francophiles, the word "Bastille" is likely to conjure up memories (or dreams) of fireworks and military parades, because the idea of la Bastille is inherently linked to 14 July - at least for English speakers. Chez les Français, not so much. Here are 7 things you should know about la Bastille: the holiday, the prison, and the word itself.

Grammar Lessons

A- Prefix

French prefix a-
The French prefix a- is added to adjectives and nouns to create their antonyms; it's sometimes called the "alpha privative" (a privatif). The most common English equivalents are a- and non-.

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Vocabulary Lists

Acronyms and Initialisms

French acronyms and initialisms
Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations created by stringing together the first initial of each word in a phrase. Learning some common French acronyms and initialisms can help you make sense of news, political discussions, administration, and more.

   

Mistakes and Difficulties

Ages, Birthdays, Anniversaries

Age and birthdays in French
One of the confusing things for beginning French students is that age is expressed with avoir (to have), rather than être (to be). French also has nouns and adjectives for a person whose age falls within a specific decade.

Vocabulary Lists

Airport

French airport vocabulary
If there's anything worse than having to spend time at the airport, it's having to spend time at the airport when you don't speak the local language. Sure, most airport employees speak another language or two, but you'll still be better off if you have these key words and phrases in your pocket. Bon voyage !

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Vocabulary Lists

Aphereses

French aphereses
A few dozen French words have a shortened form called an apheresis or aphaeresis, which is created by dropping one or more syllables at the beginning of the word. Some of these are further modified by adding an extra sound to the end.