Scholarly French Vocabulary
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When it’s time for school, students and teachers will be glad to know this French vocabulary.
| school (in general) | une école | |
| grade school grade school student |
une école un écolier / une écolière |
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| middle school, junior high middle school student |
un collège un collégien / une collégienne |
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| high school high school student |
un lycée un lycéen / une lycéenne |
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| college, university college student |
une université un étudiant / une étudiante |
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| teacher | un professeur / une professeure un/e prof (informal)* |
* Until 1999, France had only le professeur regardless of the gender of the teacher. However, other Francophone countries had the feminine form long before that, and the informal apocope, which you might use when talking to friends (not to your teacher!), could always be masculine or feminine.
| backpack | un sac à dos | ||
| binder | un classeur | ||
| book | un livre | ||
| calculator | une calculatrice | ||
| chalk | une craie | ||
| chalkboard | un tableau | ||
| class | une classe | ||
| classroom | une salle de classe | ||
| computer (informal) laptop tablet |
un ordinateur un ordi un portable une tablette |
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| course | un cours | ||
| desk | (student) | un pupitre | |
| (teacher) | un bureau | ||
| dictionary | un dictionnaire | ||
| distance learning | apprentissage (m) à distance | ||
| earbuds | des écouteurs | ||
| eraser | une gomme | ||
| headphones | des écouteurs | ||
| homeschooling | enseignement (m) à la maison | ||
| homework | des devoirs (m) | ||
| map | une carte | ||
| meeting | la réunion | ||
| microphone | le microphone | ||
| notebook | un cahier | ||
| paper piece of paper front and back, both sides |
le papier une feuille de papier recto verso |
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| pen | un stylo | ||
| fountain pen | un stylo-plume | ||
| pencil | un crayon (à papier) | ||
| pencil sharpener | un taille-crayon | ||
| pencil case | une trousse | ||
| ruler | une règle | ||
| schoolbag, satchel | un cartable | ||
| speakers | les haut-parleurs | ||
| test | un examen | ||
School verbs
(click for conjugations)
| to attend | assister | |
| to do one’s homework | faire ses devoirs | |
| to pass a test | réussir à un examen | |
| to read | lire | |
| to study | étudier | |
| to take a test | passer un examen | |
| to type | taper | |
| to write | écrire |
Expressions
- À la rentrée ~ See you in September!
- faire l’école buissonnière – to play hooky
Quiz
Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on French school terms with this fill-in-the-blanks exercise:
Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take this test. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!
Related features
- Essential French
- French class phrases
- Office vocabulary
- People
- Teaching resources
- Listening: La rentrée | Traditions liées à la rentrée
French lesson plans
- Classroom (Worksheet, 2nd grade)
- School (Worksheet, 2nd grade)
- Student’s desk (Worksheet, 1st grade)
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