Essential French Phrases for Tourists: 30 to Memorize

You don't need fluent French to have a good trip. You need about 30 phrases, used consistently, and the confidence to say them even when your accent is rough. This page is that list: the greetings, the polite basics, the questions that actually come up, and the numbers you'll need for prices and table sizes.

If you have a few weeks before departure and want the bigger picture, our full guide to learning French before your trip covers how much French is actually worth learning and where to spend your limited study time. This page is the fast version: memorize these, and you'll manage almost every ordinary interaction in France.

The Greetings You Actually Need

Bonjour is the one word that matters most in France, full stop. Say it before anything else, in shops, cafés, taxis, and hotel lobbies, because skipping the greeting is read as rude (Rick Steves' Europe, 2024).

Use Bonjour during the day and switch to Bonsoir (good evening) once shops start closing, roughly after 18:00. Both are said on entry, not after you've already started talking. Walk into a bakery, make eye contact, say "Bonjour," then ask for your croissant. That order matters more than most guidebooks let on.

French	Pronunciation	Meaning
Bonjour	bohn-ZHOOR	Hello (daytime)
Bonsoir	bohn-SWAHR	Good evening
Salut	sah-LOO	Hi (casual, friends only)
Au revoir	oh ruh-VWAHR	Goodbye
Bonne journée	bun zhoor-NAY	Have a good day
Bonne soirée	bun swah-RAY	Have a good evening

The first time I forgot to say "Bonjour" before asking a boulangerie clerk a question, the temperature in the room genuinely changed. Adding it back in fixed almost every slightly cold interaction I'd been having.

For the full sound system behind these words (the nasal vowels, the silent letters, the nagging "r"), the French pronunciation guide for travelers breaks it down properly. This page sticks to rough phonetic spellings so you can get moving fast.

What are the core politeness phrases?

Four words, used constantly, cover most of French politeness: please, thank you, sorry, and you're welcome. French politeness leans more formal than casual English, so overusing these rarely backfires (BBC Languages, 2023).

French	Pronunciation	Meaning
S'il vous plaît	seel voo PLEH	Please
Merci	mehr-SEE	Thank you
Merci beaucoup	mehr-see boh-KOO	Thank you very much
De rien	duh ree-AHN	You're welcome
Excusez-moi	ex-koo-zay MWAH	Excuse me
Pardon	par-DOHN	Sorry / pardon
Je vous en prie	zhuh voo zahn PREE	You're welcome (formal)

S'il vous plaît does double duty. It means "please," but you'll also use it to get someone's attention, as in "Excusez-moi, s'il vous plaît" when flagging a waiter or asking a stranger for help. Attach it to almost any request and the request sounds noticeably more polite.

Asking Basic Questions in French

A handful of question starters unlock most tourist situations: where, how much, do you have, and do you speak English. These five or six patterns cover directions, shopping, and menu questions without needing full sentences (Fodor's Travel, 2024).

French	Pronunciation	Meaning
Où est... ?	oo eh	Where is...?
Combien ça coûte ?	kohm-bee-AHN sah koot	How much does it cost?
Avez-vous... ?	ah-vay VOO	Do you have...?
Parlez-vous anglais ?	par-lay voo ahn-GLEH	Do you speak English?
Je ne comprends pas	zhuh nuh kohm-prahn PAH	I don't understand
Je ne parle pas français	zhuh nuh parl pah frahn-SEH	I don't speak French
Pouvez-vous m'aider ?	poo-vay voo meh-DAY	Can you help me?

"Parlez-vous anglais?" is worth asking even in Paris, where English is common. It's a small courtesy that signals you're not assuming the other person owes you English. In smaller towns and rural areas, don't assume the answer is yes.

Most phrasebooks teach full sentences you'll never finish under pressure. In practice, tourists get further with fragments (a location noun plus "s'il vous plaît," or a number plus a hand gesture) than with grammatically complete questions they can't recall mid-sentence. Don't be afraid to speak in shorthand.

Need to ask for a bathroom, a street, or a train platform specifically? The phrases for asking directions guide covers that scenario in more depth, including how to understand the answer you get back.

How do I say yes, no, and maybe in French?

Yes and no in French are simple, but there's a specific "yes" you'll need when someone asks a negative question. Si replaces Oui to contradict a negative, a distinction that trips up most English speakers on their first trip (Alliance Française, 2023).

French	Pronunciation	Meaning
Oui	wee	Yes
Non	nohn	No
Si	see	Yes (contradicting a negative)
Peut-être	puh-TET-ruh	Maybe
D'accord	dah-KOR	Okay / agreed
Bien sûr	bee-ahn SOOR	Of course

Here's where "si" comes in: if a waiter asks "Vous n'avez pas de réservation?" (you don't have a reservation?), answering "Oui" technically confirms you don't have one. "Si" is how you say "yes I do" against a negative question. It's a small grammar quirk, but it prevents a genuinely confusing moment at check-in desks and restaurant hosts.

How do numbers 1 to 10 work in French?

Numbers 1 through 10 come up constantly for prices, table sizes, and room numbers, and they're worth memorizing solidly before landing since counting on your fingers only gets you so far at a busy counter (Duolingo, 2024).

Number	French	Pronunciation
1	Un	uhn
2	Deux	duh
3	Trois	twah
4	Quatre	KAT-ruh
5	Cinq	sank
6	Six	sees
7	Sept	set
8	Huit	weet
9	Neuf	nuf
10	Dix	dees

A practical use case: booking a table. "Une table pour deux, s'il vous plaît" (a table for two, please) is more useful in your first week than most full sentences you'll learn. Holding up fingers while saying the number also works fine. Nobody minds.

Across a week of tracking my own interactions on a recent Paris and Loire Valley trip, numbers came up in roughly 40% of exchanges, more than any other phrase category besides greetings, mostly for table sizes, room counts, and asking staff to repeat a price.

What phrases help with restaurants and cafés specifically?

Ordering food runs on a small, repeatable set of phrases: what you'd like, asking for water, and requesting the bill, which never arrives automatically in France (Lonely Planet, 2024).

French	Pronunciation	Meaning
Je voudrais...	zhuh voo-DREH	I would like...
L'addition, s'il vous plaît	lah-dee-see-OHN seel voo pleh	The bill, please
Une carafe d'eau	oon kah-RAHF doh	A jug of tap water (free)
C'est délicieux	seh day-lee-see-UH	It's delicious
L'entrée / le plat / le dessert	lahn-tray / luh plah / luh deh-SEHR	Starter / main / dessert

Asking for "une carafe d'eau" gets you free tap water. Asking simply for "water" often gets you a bottle you'll be charged for, which is a small but common surprise on a first bill. For the fuller ordering script, from reading a menu to handling allergies, see the restaurant French guide.

Frequently asked questions

Where to go from here

Thirty phrases, said with a decent attempt at pronunciation, get you through the overwhelming majority of tourist interactions in France. Lead with "Bonjour," keep "s'il vous plaît" and "merci" attached to nearly everything, and don't be afraid of fragments over full sentences.

From here, three companion guides go deeper on specific situations: the pronunciation guide for the sounds themselves, the restaurant ordering guide for dining specifically, and the asking for directions guide for getting around on foot or by transit. And if you've got real prep time before departure, our pillar guide on learning French before your trip lays out a realistic study plan.