Vocabulary: everyday nouns and adverbs

Common nouns and adverbs that turn up in every topic. Many reading and listening questions depend on them.

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Everyday nouns

L'argent = money; l'argent de poche = pocket money. Le nom = name (also surname, nom de famille).
FrenchEnglish
l'adresse (f)address
la réponseanswer
le choixchoice
le rêvedream
l'espoir (m)hope
l'erreur (f)mistake
l'exemple (m)example
l'expérience (f)experience
la raisonreason
la sortesort, kind
la manièreway, manner
la moitiéhalf
le niveaulevel
la languelanguage, tongue
le journalnewspaper
le nomname

More nouns

Le tort: avoir tort = to be wrong. Avoir raison = to be right.
FrenchEnglish
l'endroit (m)place
le projetplan, project
le plaisirpleasure
le progrèsprogress
la qualitéquality
le résultatresult
le risquerisk
le sujetsubject, topic
le succèssuccess
le goûttaste
la véritétruth
la valeurvalue
le cielsky
le nord / le sudnorth / south
l'est (m) / l'ouest (m)east / west
le tortwrong (avoir tort = to be wrong)

Adverbs and phrases

Par contre = on the other hand. Debout = standing up.
FrenchEnglish
longtemps(for) a long time
absolumentabsolutely
certainementcertainly
directementdirectly
exactementexactly
finalementfinally, in the end
généralementgenerally
malheureusementunfortunately
probablementprobably
seulementonly
simplementsimply
totalementtotally
par contreon the other hand
prochenear, close
dessus / dessouson top / underneath
deboutstanding up
Worked example

Translate: Unfortunately I made a mistake in my answer.

  1. Unfortunately = malheureusement
  2. I made a mistake = j'ai fait une erreur
  3. in my answer = dans ma réponse

Answer: Malheureusement, j'ai fait une erreur dans ma réponse.

Key idea

L'adresse, la réponse, le choix, le rêve, l'espoir, l'erreur, la raison, la moitié, le niveau, la langue, le journal. L'endroit, le projet, le plaisir, le résultat, le sujet, le goût, la vérité. Longtemps, malheureusement, probablement, seulement, par contre, debout.

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Extra practice

2 more questions

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  1. What does l'expérience (f) mean?

    1. hope
    2. way, manner
    3. experience
    4. language, tongue
    Show the answer

    Answer: experience

    L'expérience = experience.

  2. Which is the French for "newspaper"?

    1. le journal
    2. la moitié
    3. la réponse
    4. l'espoir (m)
    Show the answer

    Answer: le journal

    Newspaper = le journal.

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Sources and references

Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.

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