French · Essentials

Polite French Essentials

S'il vous plaît, merci, pardon — the small phrases that make a French stranger soften toward you.

50 entries ·Please, thanks, sorry · Audio on every entry · cross-checked

You walk into a boulangerie in Lyon. You want a croissant. The woman behind the counter is busy, the line is short, and you have about four seconds to make a decent impression. You say bonjour, you point, you say s'il vous plaît, you hand over the coins, you say merci. She smiles. That's it. That's the whole game, and you just won it.

This page covers the small words that carry enormous social weight in French: greetings, thanks, apologies, polite requests, and the phrases that soften a question or buy you a moment when your brain stalls. They are not glamorous vocabulary. They will not help you discuss philosophy. But they will stop a Parisian cashier from switching to English the second you open your mouth.

Each phrase comes with its formal and informal register clearly marked, because tu and vous are not interchangeable and getting that wrong matters more than people admit. The entries are grouped by situation — arriving somewhere, asking for something, apologizing, leaving — so you can scan quickly before you need them.

Every translation and audio clip on this page has been checked by a native speaker. If something sounds off to you, the contact link is at the bottom.

Essential French phrases

Full index · ordered A → Z

Absolument ! ab-so-loo-MAHN
Après vous. ah-PREH voo
Pouvez-vous m'aider ? poo-VAY voo med-AY
Puis-je vous poser une question ? pweezh voo poh-ZAY oon kes-TYOHN
Pourriez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ? poo-ree-ay-VOO ray-pay-TAY, seel voo PLAY
Pourriez-vous l'écrire ? pooh-ree-ay VOO la-eh-KREER
Parlez-vous anglais ? par-LAY voo ahn-GLAY
Exactement eg-ZAK-tuh-MAHN
Excusez-moi ex-koo-zay-MWAH
Allez-y ah-lay-ZEE
Au secours ! oh-SKOO-r
Comment dit-on koh-MAHN dee-TOHN
Comment ça s'écrit ? koh-MAHN sah seh-KREE
Combien ça coûte ? kohmb-YEN sah KOOt
J'ai changé d'avis. zhay shahng-ZHAY dah-VEE
Je ne sais pas. zhuh nuh say PAH
Ça m'est égal. sah meh-TAY-gahl
Je ne parle pas bien espagnol. zhuh nuh parl pah BYAN ess-pan-YOL
Je ne comprends pas. zhuh nuh kohn-prahn PAH
J'ai besoin de zhay buh-ZHWAN duh
Je voudrais zhuh voo-DRAY
Je voudrais zhuh voo-DRAY
Je préférerais ne pas. zhuh preh-feh-reh-RAY nuh pah
Je reviens tout de suite. zhuh ruh-VYAN too-t SWEET
Je regarde juste. zhuh ruh-GARD zhust
Je suis perdu(e). zhuh swee pehr-DOO
Je suis désolé(e). zhuh swee DEH-zo-LAY
Peut-être puh-TET-ruh
C'est ma faute. seh mah FOTE
Non nohn
Pas de problème pah duh proh-BLEM
Non merci nohn mehr-SEE
Bien sûr byan SOOR
Un instant, s'il vous plaît. uh-nuh(n)-STAHN, seel voo PLEH
Pardon pahr-DOHN
S'il vous plaît seel voo PLEH
Un instant, s'il vous plaît. uhN-nahN-stahN, SEEL voo PLEH
Pardon de vous déranger. par-DOHN duh vooz day-ron-ZHAY
Parlez plus lentement, s'il vous plaît. par-LAY ploo LAHN-tuh-MAHN, seel voo PLAY
Merci mehr-SEE
Merci beaucoup mehr-SEE boh-KOO
Merci quand même mehr-SEE kahn-TEM
celui-là suh-LOO-ee-LAH
C'est ça say SAH
celui-ci suh-LOO-ee-SEE
Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ? kes-kes-suh-vuh-DEER
Quand KAHN
Où est ? oo EH
Oui WEE
De rien duh ree-EN

Frequently asked

when do I use vous vs tu in French

Use vous with strangers, shopkeepers, anyone older than you, and anyone in a professional setting until they invite you to switch. Use tu with friends, children, and people who have already used it with you. When in doubt, vous is always the safer choice — no one has ever been offended by being treated with too much respect.

is pardon or excusez-moi more polite in French

Pardon is quick and natural for bumping into someone or slipping past in a crowd. Excusez-moi is slightly more deliberate and works better when you need to get someone's attention before asking a question. Both are perfectly polite; the difference is mostly one of weight and timing.

do French people actually care if tourists try to speak French

Yes, and the bar is lower than you think. Starting with bonjour and attempting even one phrase in French signals respect, and that changes the entire interaction. You do not need to be fluent — you need to try, and then it is fine to ask if they speak English.

how do you pronounce s'il vous plaît correctly

It sounds roughly like seel voo play, with the t at the end completely silent. The trickiest part is the liaison: the s at the end of vous links softly into plaît, so it flows as one smooth phrase rather than three separate words. Hearing the audio clip a few times is worth more than any written guide.