Level A2 (Upper Beginner / Pre-Intermediate)
🎧 Audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a native speaker & professional voice artist from France
In the French language, there are countless fun and useful expressions and idioms that bring color and personality to everyday conversation. Here, I’ve hand-picked my top 20 favorites — expressions that every French student should know and that make an excellent starting point for learning real spoken French. Each one links to a full Word of the Day lesson with further explanations, native-speaker audio, and example sentences.
Top 20 Common French Expressions (With Audio)
1. C’est la vie ! — That’s life!
2. Tant pis ! — Oh well / Too bad!
3. C’est parti ! — Here we go!
4. Oh là là ! — Oh wow / Oh dear!
5. Ça y est ! — That’s it / It’s done!
6. On y va ! — Let’s go!
7. Pas de souci ! — No worries!
8. Ça marche ! — That works / Okay!
9. Laisse tomber ! — Forget it / Never mind!
10. Fais gaffe ! — Watch out / Be careful!
11. Il faut ! — You have to! / It’s necessary!
12. Figure-toi ! — Guess what!
13. Gros bisous ! — Big kisses!
14. Du coup — So / As a result
15. Rien à voir ! — Has nothing to do with it!
16. C’est pas grave ! — It’s no big deal!
17. Vive la France ! — Long live France!
18. C’est la fin des haricots ! — That’s the last straw!
19. Tomber dans les pommes — To faint / pass out
20. Avoir la pêche — To feel great / be full of energy
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🗂️ Common Expressions Reference Card
Save this visual list for your future reference — it’s a quick guide to the 20 most useful French expressions and their meanings.
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