Daily Routine in French: 76 Useful Words and Phrases
While mornings might not be everyone's favorite time, they mark the beginning of our day and offer a great chance to expand your French vocabulary.
No matter if you're an early riser or not, these phrases will help you discuss daily activities, from the moment you wake up until you go to sleep.
French Vocabulary for Waking Up
Start your day right! Make the most of the morning!
| French | English | Example 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
Well done! You've made it through the toughest part of the morning: getting out of bed. Here are some helpful words for talking about your morning preparation.
| French | English | Example 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.) |
*Particularly in France, the salle de bains is typically a different room from les toilettes . The salle de bains is used for washing, while les toilettes serve the specific purpose of being the restroom.
** The verb prendre is very versatile, similar to faire (to do, to make), and appears in many common expressions .
French Vocabulary for Going to Work
On weekdays, many people travel to work, whether by walking, driving, or using other forms of transportation. Here are some useful terms and phrases for describing the morning journey.
| French | English | Example 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
Below is some key vocabulary and verbs related to the evening in French. Keep in mind that many of the terms from the morning section can also be used when talking about your evening.
| French | English | Example 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
Thank Goodness It's Friday! Weekend mornings are perfect for sleeping late and, of course, practicing French grammar. Please proceed.
| French | English | Example 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
To master these terms, using flashcards is an effective study method.
For instance, you could use an application like Quizlet to make engaging flashcards, or you might choose the traditional approach and create physical flashcards yourself!
With a language immersion platform like Lingflix, you can also listen to how native speakers use these words in real situations. Lingflix uses authentic videos—such as music videos, movie previews, news reports, and motivational talks—and transforms them into customized language lessons. You can test Lingflix for free for 2 weeks. Visit the website to learn more. P.S. Click here to benefit from our current promotion! (Expires at the end of this month.)
To see how Lingflix works, watch this video. It features a French-dubbed scene from "The Simpsons," where the presenter explains key vocabulary, grammar, phrases, and cultural aspects:
That's all there is to it!
No matter what day it is, you'll now be able to describe (or grumble about) it.
And one more thing...
If you enjoy learning French vocabulary on your own schedule from your mobile device, then I should certainly mention Lingflix. Lingflix uses authentic videos—like music clips, film trailers, news, and inspiring speeches—and converts them into personalized language learning lessons. Other platforms often use scripted material. Lingflix employs a natural method that gradually introduces you to the French language and culture. You'll learn French as it is genuinely spoken by native speakers. Lingflix offers a broad range of engaging content, including interviews and online series, as shown here: Lingflix makes native videos accessible with interactive subtitles. You can tap on any word to see its definition immediately. Every entry includes example sentences to illustrate how the word is used. For instance, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this: Practice and strengthen all the vocabulary you've learned in a specific video with Lingflix's adaptive quizzes. Swipe left or right to view more examples for the word you’re learning and engage with the mini-games in the dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank." While you learn, Lingflix monitors the vocabulary you're studying and uses this data to provide a fully personalized experience. It offers additional practice with challenging words and alerts you when it's time to revise what you've learned. Access the Lingflix website on your computer or tablet or, even better, get the Lingflix app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to benefit from our current promotion! (Expires at the end of this month.)
