French essential adjective vocabulary: 300 words
Describe anything — the adjectives you reach for every day (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese). This page lists 40 of them with their French translations, then lets you practise the full set in either direction with spaced repetition.
English to French: the first 40 words
| English | French | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| good | bon | Of high quality, or morally right and pleasing. |
| bad | mauvais | Of poor quality, unpleasant, or morally wrong. |
| big | grand | Large in size or amount. |
| small | petit | Little in size or amount. |
| hot | chaud | Having a high temperature. |
| cold | froid | Having a low temperature, like ice or winter air. Not the illness with sneezing. |
| fast | rapide | Moving or happening at high speed. |
| slow | lent | Moving or happening with little speed. |
| happy | heureux | Feeling pleasure and contentment. |
| sad | triste | Feeling sorrow or low spirits. |
| angry | en colère | Feeling strong displeasure and wanting to shout or lash out. |
| afraid | effrayé | Feeling fear because of danger or threat. |
| tired | fatigué | In need of rest or sleep after exertion. |
| hungry | affamé | Feeling a strong need to eat. |
| thirsty | assoiffé | Feeling a strong need to drink. |
| sick | malade | Suffering from an illness or disease. |
| healthy | sain | In good bodily condition and free from illness. |
| strong | fort | Having great physical power or firmness. |
| weak | faible | Lacking power, energy, or firmness. |
| tall | grand | Of greater than average height. |
| short | petit | Of less than average height, said of a person. |
| long | long | Measuring much from one end to the other. |
| new | nouveau | Recently made, bought, or met for the first time. |
| old | vieux | Having existed or lived for many years. |
| young | jeune | Having lived or existed for only a few years. |
| dirty | sale | Covered in mud, stains or grime and needing a wash. |
| clean | propre | Free of dirt, stains or germs. |
| wet | mouillé | Covered or soaked with water or another liquid. |
| dry | sec | Having no moisture in or on it. |
| soft | doux | Yielding pleasantly to the touch, like a pillow or fine fur. |
| hard | dur | Firm and solid, resisting pressure like stone or metal. |
| smooth | lisse | Having an even surface with no bumps or ridges. |
| rough | rugueux | Having an uneven, scratchy surface like sandpaper. |
| dark | sombre | Having little or no light, or of a deep shade of colour. |
| heavy | lourd | Weighing a lot and so difficult to lift or carry. |
| sweet | sucré | Tasting like sugar or honey. |
| bitter | amer | Having a sharp, unpleasant taste like strong coffee or quinine. |
| salty | salé | Tasting of the white mineral used to season food, or of seawater. |
| sour | acide | Having a sharp taste like lemon juice or vinegar. |
| beautiful | beau | Very pleasing to look at or hear. |
260 more words in the full “Essential Adjectives” library, each aligned across seven languages and scheduled for you by spaced repetition. Add it to your account and start drilling English to French in one click.
What to watch out for in French
- 97 of these 300 words are near-identical in English and French (32%) —
long,simple,cruel. Those are free; the value of drilling is in the rest. - Accents count. Answers are graded accent-sensitively, so you need
àâçéèêîïô— LinguaSwap shows a one-tap keypad for them while you type. - 300 words carry a usage note in the full library, for the cases where a direct translation would mislead you.
Practise French essential adjective vocabulary
Words come back just before you would forget them, and every language direction is tracked separately.