French nature and animal vocabulary: 300 words
Animals, weather, plants and the natural world (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 |
|---|---|---|
| animal | animal | A living creature that moves about and feels, as opposed to a plant. |
| plant | plante | A living green organism fixed in the ground that grows leaves and needs sunlight. |
| tree | arbre | A tall woody plant with a single thick stem and spreading branches. |
| flower | fleur | The colourful blooming part of a plant that attracts insects. |
| grass | herbe | The low green covering of a lawn, which cattle and sheep feed on. |
| leaf | feuille | One of the flat green parts growing from a plant's stems and branches. |
| root | racine | The underground part of a plant that anchors it and draws up water. |
| stem | tige | The slender upright part of a small plant holding up its leaves and blooms. |
| branch | branche | A woody limb growing outward from the main body of a tree. |
| trunk | tronc | The thick woody main column of a tree. Not a case for luggage. |
| bark | écorce | The tough outer skin covering a tree. Not the sharp sound a dog makes. |
| seed | graine | The small hard grain from which a new plant grows. |
| soil | sol | The dark loose material on the ground in which plants grow. |
| rock | roche | A large solid mass of stone; not necessarily small like a pebble. |
| stone | pierre | Can mean a small rock, or the hard pit inside some fruits. |
| mountain | montagne | A very high rocky mass rising steeply above the land around it. |
| valley | vallée | A low stretch of land between heights, often with a river running through. |
| hill | colline | A rounded rise of land, lower and gentler than a peak. |
| plain | plaine | A wide flat stretch of open country with almost no rises. |
| forest | forêt | A large area densely covered with trees. |
| woodland | bois | Similar to forest but often smaller or less dense. |
| meadow | prairie | A grassy open piece of land where hay is cut or animals graze. |
| field | champ | An enclosed piece of farmland used for crops or grazing. |
| garden | jardin | A piece of land by a house where flowers and vegetables are grown. |
| shrub | arbuste | A woody plant smaller than a tree, with multiple stems. |
| bush | buisson | A dense woody plant; similar to shrub but often denser or more tangled. |
| moss | mousse | A soft low green growth forming a carpet on damp stones and wood. |
| fern | fougère | A shade-loving plant with feathery divided fronds and no blooms. |
| cactus | cactus | A spiny desert plant with a thick fleshy body that stores water. |
| vine | vigne | The climbing woody plant on which grapes grow. |
| weed | mauvaise herbe | An unwanted plant growing where it is not desired. |
| herb | herbe | A plant used for flavoring food or for medicinal purposes; not the leafy plant itself. |
| fruit | fruit | The sweet edible part of a plant grown around its seeds, eaten fresh or in desserts. |
| berry | baie | A small round soft juicy thing growing on a bush, like a raspberry or blueberry. |
| nut | noix | A hard-shelled seed with an edible kernel inside, such as a walnut or hazelnut. |
| grain | grain | The harvested seed of crops like oats or barley, used for flour and animal feed. |
| wheat | blé | The pale golden crop whose ground seeds make bread flour and pasta. |
| corn | maïs | Tall cereal plant with large seed-heads; not a hard bump on the foot. |
| rice | riz | Small white grains boiled as a staple food, common in Asian cooking. |
| potato | pomme de terre | A starchy underground tuber often boiled, mashed, or fried into chips. |
260 more words in the full “Nature & Animals” 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
- 81 of these 300 words are near-identical in English and French (27%) —
animal,cactus,fruit. 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 nature and animal vocabulary
Words come back just before you would forget them, and every language direction is tracked separately.