French phrases and common sentences

Why should you learn French?

Learning French is an excellent investment in your career. The idea that everyone only needs to speak English to do business internationally is dying out; instead, companies looking to take operations worldwide are increasingly turning to employees who can speak more than one language. With French being spoken in so many of the world's major destinations, and with the prediction that it will soon be the world's most popular language, learning French makes perfect business sense. Plus, French is very interconnected with other roman languages like Spanish and Italian, meaning it will be easier for you to pick up these languages too, should you need to.

Best beginner French phrases?

Which phrases are most important?

It's easy to learn a few words in French, but to be able to communicate effectively, you'll need to know some common phrases too. Learning some of these phrases is also ideal for advancing your knowledge of French as well, as you'll be able to better ask questions of a real native, and express to people that you'd like to learn!

"Je voudrais parler français"

Translation: "I'd like to speak in French"
Description: This phrase should be number one on your list to learn. Many French people speak excellent English, and as they won't expect you are trying to learn French, they will try to help by speaking to you in English. Learn this phrase so when you travel to a French-speaking country, you can let people know you're trying to learn their lingo!

"Comment dit-on X en français?"

Translation: "How do you say X in French?"
Description: This is another excellent one for advancing your knowledge of the French language, If you're mid flow in a conversation in French but suddenly find you've forgotten or don't know a word, you can ask how to say it, so you don't have to slip back into English.

"Comment ça s'ecrit?"

Translation: "How do you spell that?"
Description: This is useful for whether you're learning French in a classroom or working in an international business that requires dealing with French clients. Spelling in a foreign language is not as easy to guess as it is in English, so if you need to write something down and you're not sure how it is spelled, don't be ashamed to ask.

Best/helpful French holiday and travel phrases

Get your French skills holiday ready: Learn the most useful phrases before your feet hit the ground, so you can easily navigate your surroundings, chat to the locals and get the most out of your trip.

Learn French with Babbel

With its customised courses, Babbel makes learning French a doddle. You can choose from courses designed to suit beginners, intermediate and advanced languages speakers, and optimised for your native language too, to take account of how speakers of different languages learn. Courses are split into bite-sized lessons that are easy to learn on the go, and because your progress is saved on the cloud you can pick up where you left off, no matter which device you're using today.