daily-routine-french-vocabulary

Daily Routine in French: 76 Essential Words and Phrases to Shape Your Day

Mornings. It may seem like you can’t live with ’em, but one thing’s for sure: You definitely can’t live without ’em.

The same goes for vocabulary for your daily routine in French.

So grab a coffee and read on to learn 76 important daily routine words and phrases to help you talk about your day from start to finish!

Contents

French Vocabulary for Waking Up

Wake up and smell the coffee! Seize the day!

FrenchEnglishExample sentences
Les étirements stretch J'aime faire des étirements le matin.
(I like doing stretches in the morning.)
La chambre bedroom Je range toujours ma chambre le matin.
(I always tidy my room in the morning.)
Le lit bed J'ai un grand lit.
(I have a big bed.)
Le réveil alarm/the process of waking up C'est dur le réveil !
(It's hard waking up!)
Sonner to ring Je suis comme tout le monde ; je n'aime pas quand le réveil sonne.
(Like everyone, I don't like when my alarm clock rings.)
Avoir sommeil to be sleepy J'ai sommeil.
(I am sleepy.)
Bâiller to yawn Jeanne bâille sans arrêt.
(Jeanne is yawning nonstop.)
Se réveiller to wake up Ma fille Élise se réveille sans réveil.
(My daughter Élise wakes up without an alarm clock.)
Se rendormir to fall back asleep Je me suis rendormi/rendormie ce matin et j'ai raté mon rendez-vous.
(I fell asleep this morning and I missed my appointment.)
Se lever to get up Je me lève à 6 heures.
(I wake up at 6 o'clock.)
Se lever du mauvais pied to wake up on the wrong side of the bed (to be in a bad mood) Alain s'est levé du mauvais pied.
(Alain woke up on the wrong side of the bed.)
Tomber du lit to wake up early (lit. "to fall from the bed") Je suis tombé/tombée du lit beaucoup trop tôt pour réfléchir clairement.
(I woke up too early to think clearly.)
La nuit blanche sleepless night, all-nighter J'ai passé une nuit blanche.
(I had a sleepless night.)

French Vocabulary for Getting Ready

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Congratulations! You’ve gotten through the hardest part of the morning: waking up. Here are some useful words to talk about getting ready.

FrenchEnglishExample sentences
La baignoire bathtub À mon avis, prendre un bain dans une baignoire n'est pas très écologique.
(In my opinion, taking a bath in a bathtub is not very environment-friendly.)
La brosse à dents toothbrush J'ai une brosse à dents électrique.
(I have an electric toothbrush.)
La dentifrice toothpaste J'utilise un dentifrice à la menthe.
(I use a mint toothpaste.)
La douche shower J'ai pris une douche chaude.
(I took a hot shower.)
Les chaussures shoes Je ne porte que des chaussures confortables.
(I only wear comfortable shoes.)
Les fringues clothes (used in more informal contexts) Je n'ai pas beaucoup de fringues.
(I do not have a lot of clothes.)
Les vêtements clothes En septembre, je commence généralement à porter mes vêtements d'hiver.
(In September, I usually start wearing my winter clothes.)
Les informations the news (often shortened to  les infos .) Ma radio préférée pour écouter les informations est France Inter.
(My favorite radio (station) for listening to the news is France Inter.)
La salle de bains bathroom* La salle de bains est à côté de ma chambre.
(The bathroom is next to my bedroom.)
Le lavabo bathroom sink Le lavabo est propre.
(The bathroom sink is clean.)
Le miroir mirror Je me regarde dans le miroir.
(I am looking at myself in the mirror.)
Le peigne comb J'oublie toujours mon peigne quand je voyage.
(I always forget my comb when I am traveling.)
Le peignoir bathrobe J'enfile un peignoir à la sortie de la douche.
(I put on a robe upon getting out of the shower.)
Le petit-déjeuner breakfast Pour le petit-déjeuner j'ai mangé une tartine grillée.
(For breakfast I ate a piece of toast.)
Prendre le petit-déjeuner to have breakfast Il prend habituellement son petit-déjeuner à son bureau.
(He usually has breakfast at his office.)
Boire to drink Boire du café le matin est non négociable.
(Drinking coffee in the morning is non-negotiable.)
Être à l'heure to be on time La plupart du temps je suis à l'heure.
(Most of the time I am on time.)
Être en avance to be early Je suis fier/fière de moi: je suis arrivé/arrivée en avance.
(I am proud of myself; I arrived early.)
Faire son lit to make one's bed Chacun de mes enfants doit faire son lit.
(Each of my kids must make their bed.)
Se brosser to brush (one's teeth or one's hair) Je me brosse les dents deux fois par jour.
(I brush my teeth twice a day.)
Se depêcher to hurry up Il faut que je me dépêche.
(I must hurry up.)
Se doucher to shower Je me douche et puis je prends un café.
(I take a shower and then I drink a coffee.)
S'habiller to get dressed Mon mari s'habille très vite le matin.
(My husband dresses quickly in the morning.)
Se laver to wash (oneself) Je me lave avec du savon biologique.
(I wash with organic soap.)
Se peigner to comb one's hair Élise ne se peigne pas.
(Élise does not comb her hair.)
Prendre to take (both literally and figuratively)** Je prends un petit-déjeuner léger.
(I am having a light breakfast.)

Je prends une douche tous les jours.
(I take a shower every day.)
Se raser to shave L'homme se rase tous les matins avant de sortir.
(The man shaves every morning before going out.)
Se maquiller to put makeup on La femme se maquille après avoir pris le petit-déjeuner.
(The woman puts makeup on after having breakfast.)
Le maquillage makeup Ma mère m'a acheté du nouveau maquillage la semaine dernière quand elle est allée à Paris.
(My mom bought me new makeup last week when she went to Paris.)

*Especially in France, the salle de bains is often a separate room from les toilettes . The salle de bains is dedicated to washing up, whereas les toilettes have the sole function of being, well, the toilet room.

**Prendre is quite a versatile verb, much like faire (to do, to make) and is present in many idiomatic expressions.

French Vocabulary for Going to Work

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During the week, many people commute to work, either on foot, by car or by other methods of transport. Here are some useful words and phrases to describe the morning commute.

FrenchEnglishExample sentences
Aller au travail to go to work Quand le temps est mauvais, je vais au travail en bus.
(When the weather is bad, I go to work by bus.)
Faire la navette to commute Je fais habituellement la navette avec mes collègues de travail.
(I usually commute to work with my work colleagues.)
La route the route Il a dû trouver une route différente à cause de la neige.
(He had to find a different route due to the snow.)
Les horaires (de bus) (bus) timetable/schedule Où puis-je trouver les horaires de bus ?
(Where can I find the bus timetable?)
L'accident accident Tous les services de bus vers le centre-ville ont été annulés en raison d'un accident.
(All of the bus services into the city center were canceled due to an accident.)
Les bouchons traffic jam Les infos ont annoncé 10km de bouchons sur l'autoroute.
(The news announced 10km of traffic jams on the highway.)
L'embouteillage traffic jam (used in formal contexts) Il y a eu un très long embouteillage ce matin.
(There was a very long traffic jam this morning.)
La circulation traffic flow La circulation est mauvaise.
(The traffic flow is bad.)
La déviation detour J'ai dû prendre une déviation ce matin.
(I had to take a detour this morning.)
Le temps peu clément inclement weather Je suis arrivé/arrivée en retard à cause du temps peu clément.
(I arrived late because of the inclement weather.)
Les travaux [routiers] road work, road construction Ils font des travaux sur ma route habituelle.
(They are doing road construction on my normal route.)
Être en retard to be late Marie est en retard.
(Marie is late.)
Patienter to wait patiently Le train va redémarrer dans quelques instants ; veuillez patienter.
(The train will restart in a few moments; please be patient.)
Ralentir to slow down La circulation est ralentie sur l'autoroute.
(Traffic on the highway is slowed down.)
Tomber en panne to break down Ma voiture est tombée en panne.
(My car broke down.)

French Vocabulary for the Evening

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Below, you’ll find some important vocabulary and verbs related to the evening in French. Remember that a lot of the terms listed under the morning table in this post will also be used when talking about the evening.

FrenchEnglishExample sentences
Rentrer à la maison to go home Après avoir terminé le travail, je rentre à la maison pour dîner avant d'aller à mon cours de français du soir.
(After finishing work, I go home to have dinner before going to my evening French class.)
Faire de l'exercice to exercise J'essaie de faire de l'exercice quatre à cinq fois par semaine.
(I try to exercise four to five times a week.)
Se détendre to relax Je trouve plus facile de me détendre à la fin de la journée si je lis ou écris dans mon journal.
(I find it easier to relax at the end of the day if I read or write in my journal.)
Une série / Un film TV show/movie Parfois, il m'est difficile de choisir entre regarder une série ou un film.
(Sometimes I find it hard to choose between watching a TV show or a movie.)
Le livre book Cette année, l'un de mes objectifs est de lire plus de livres.
(This year, one of my goals is to read more books.)
Sortir dîner to go out for dinner Préfères-tu sortir dîner ou manger chez toi ?
(Do you prefer to go out for dinner or eat at home?)
Commander à emporter to order takeout Devrais-je cuisiner le dîner ou commander à emporter ce soir ?
(Should I cook dinner or order takeout tonight?)
Cuisiner to cook Pierre cuisine toujours le dîner pour sa famille.
(Pierre always cooks dinner for his family.)
Dîner to have dinner Mon mari et moi avons décidé de dîner dans un nouveau restaurant.
(My husband and I decided to have dinner at a new restaurant.)
Le dîner dinner Charlotte a retrouvé ses amis de l'université pour dîner.
(Charlotte met her friends from university for dinner.)
Le dessert dessert Mon dessert préféré est la crème brûlée.
(My favorite dessert is crème brûlée.)
Aller au lit to go to bed Mon fils de 6 ans va au lit généralement à 20 heures.
(My 6 year old son usually goes to bed at 8 p.m.)

French Vocabulary for Your Weekend Routine

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T.G.I.F.! Weekend mornings are great for sleeping in and, of course, reviewing French grammatical structures. Walk right this way, please.

FrenchEnglishExample sentences
La gueule de bois hangover J'ai fait la fête hier soir et j'ai la gueule de bois.
(I partied last night and I have a hangover.)
Bruncher to have brunch Le dimanche je brunche avec Carole.
(On Sundays, I have brunch with Carole.)
Faire la grasse-matinée to sleep in Le samedi je fais la grasse-matinée.
(I sleep in on Saturdays.)
Faire les courses to do the grocery shopping Je préfère faire les courses le week-end et acheter tout ce dont j'ai besoin pour la semaine à venir.
(I prefer to do the grocery shopping at the weekend and buy everything I need for the week ahead.)
Nettoyer la maison to clean the house Les dimanches après-midi, je nettoie la maison et j'étudie le français.
(On Sunday afternoons, I clean the house and study French.)
Passer du temps en famille to spend time with family J'attends toujours avec impatience de passer du temps avec ma famille le week-end.
(I always look forward to spending time with my family on the weekend.)
Passer du temps avec des amis to spend time with friends Il retourne généralement dans sa ville natale pour passer du temps avec ses amis le week-end.
(He usually travels back to his hometown to spend time with his friends on the weekend.)

How to Practice Daily Routine Vocabulary in French

If you want to practice these terms, using flashcards can help you study more efficiently.

For example, you could use an app like Quizlet to create fun flashcards, or you could always go old-school and create some flashcards by hand!

With an immersion program like FluentU, you can also hear some of these terms used in context by native speakers.

 

There you have it!

Regardless of what day of the week it is, you’ll be able to talk (or complain) about it.

And one more thing...

If you like learning French vocabulary on your own time and from the comfort of your smart device, then I'd be remiss to not tell you about FluentU.

FluentU takes real-world videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the French language and culture over time. You’ll learn French as it’s actually spoken by real people.

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews and web series, as you can see here:

learn-french-with-videos

FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive subtitles.

You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used.

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For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

learn-french-with-movie-trailers

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with FluentU's adaptive quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning and play the mini-games found in the dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

practice-french-with-adaptive-quizzes

As you study, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a 100% personalized experience.

It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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