French essential verb vocabulary: 300 words
The everyday verbs that carry most conversations (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese). This page lists 40 of them with their French translations, then lets you practise the full set in either direction with spaced repetition.
English to French: the first 40 words
| English | French | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| be | être | |
| have | avoir | |
| do | faire | |
| go | aller | |
| get | obtenir | To obtain or receive something; not become. |
| make | faire | |
| take | prendre | |
| come | venir | |
| see | voir | |
| know | savoir | To have knowledge or be aware of facts; not to understand or meet. |
| think | penser | |
| say | dire | |
| find | trouver | |
| give | donner | |
| tell | raconter | To narrate or recount; also to communicate information to someone. |
| work | travailler | |
| call | appeler | |
| try | essayer | |
| feel | sentir | |
| become | devenir | |
| put | mettre | |
| mean | signifier | |
| keep | garder | To retain or maintain possession; not just to guard. |
| let | laisser | |
| begin | commencer | |
| seem | sembler | |
| help | aider | |
| talk | parler | |
| turn | tourner | |
| start | commencer | |
| show | montrer | |
| hear | entendre | |
| play | jouer | |
| run | courir | |
| move | bouger | |
| like | aimer | |
| live | vivre | |
| believe | croire | |
| hold | tenir | |
| bring | apporter |
260 more words in the full “Essential Verbs” library, each aligned across seven languages and scheduled for you by spaced repetition. Add it to your account and start drilling English to French in one click.
What to watch out for in French
- Accents count. Answers are graded accent-sensitively, so you need
àâçéèêîïô— LinguaSwap shows a one-tap keypad for them while you type. - 36 words carry a usage note in the full library, for the cases where a direct translation would mislead you.
Practise French essential verb vocabulary
Words come back just before you would forget them, and every language direction is tracked separately.