Top 8 Words and Phrases You Should Know while Visiting France

Top 8 Words and Phrases You Should Know while Visiting France

Hey there! We all have dreamed of visiting the city of love at least once in our not-so-royal lives. And now that we get the chance to actually live our dream, do we want to be lost and misunderstood there? Of course not! So here's a handy list of top 10 words and phrases that we all must know in order to survive the highly fashionable life in Paris! 

1. Bonjour Madame / Monsieur (Good morning / hello ma'am /sir) 

It's always a polite gesture to greet someone when you meet them, right? So here's the sophisticated, respectful greeting in French. To make use easier, note that-

• It's pronounced as bone-shzour, with a less sharp ending of bone.
• The next word is pronounced as Maadaam, and is used for addressing females. 
• For males we use the other word pronounced as Mone-seeyur, a similar soft ending to moan. 

2. Merci beaucoup (Thanks a lot) 

Expressing your gratitude towards someone makes yours as well as the other person's day. So why not say it? 

• The first word is mair - ci, almost like mercy but with a softer r sound and a higher e sound. 
• The next word is bow-coo, bow pronounced as in bow tie. 

3. Désolé (Sorry) 

Bumped into someone? Need to apologize? Don't come across as rude because you don't know how to say sorry. Learn this one up. 

• It is dey-zo-ley, with a softer d sound. 

4. S'il Vous Plait (Please) 

Well, everyone likes to hear a 'please' every now and then. Even better if it's in a language they relate to and understand well. Bonus points, it's super polite! 

• The first part is seal, pronounced the usual seal. 
• Next comes voo, the s is silent. 
• Last is play, also pronounced the usual way. 

5. Salut (Hello) 

Bonjour is the more formal way of greeting someone. If you're meeting a friend or someone close with whom you can be less formal, you use this. 

• It's not salute but it's sal-yu, sal as the sal tree. 

6. Je parle un petite peu francais. (I speak a little French) 

Well, if you're trying to impress someone, or just simply want to make the listener aware of your abilities, it's good to know this phrase. 

• First word is shze, a mix of j and z. 
• Next is paarl, with a very soft and slight r sound. 
• Then comes uhn, an n sound coming from the nose. 
• Next we have Pati, the hindi Pati with a soft t. 
• Then it's pah, the hindi letter p. 
• Last is fron-say, again a soft r sound. 

7. Oui / Non (Yes/No) 

Yes or no are quite handy responses to a majority of questions. Learn how to respond to yes no questions in French. 

• We say yes as we, the sweet usual English we. 
• No is pronounced as noh. 

8. Je m'appelle..... (My Name is....) 

Last but not the least, we absolutely need to introduce ourselves to anyone me meet. So let's get over with this one too. 

• The shze
• Then we have maa-pell, Pell similar to bell. 

So this was a handy list of top 8 words and phrases you need to know to survive a journey to France. Hope you liked it. Subscribe for more!