Practice French

Vocabulaire · niveau seuil

French B1 vocabulary

Reviewed words that carry intermediate French — the nouns and verbs you need to narrate events, give opinions, and talk about work, feelings, and plans. Every entry has a real example sentence and translations in six languages.

36 words12 nouns · 16 verbs6 languages36 examples
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l’actualité n.

current events

« Il suit l’actualité pour mieux comprendre les débats. »

He follows current events to better understand the debates.

en · es · pt · de · it · ar

What B1 means — and what this list covers

B1 is the CEFR “threshold” level (niveau seuil): the point where you stop surviving in French and start functioning. A B1 speaker can follow the main points of clear speech, deal with most situations while travelling, and produce connected text on familiar topics. The vocabulary that unlocks this is less about objects and more about abstraction — words that let you compare, argue, and describe change.

This list is deliberately focused. Rather than a frequency dump, it is a reviewed selection of high-value B1 words — words like l’ambiance, l’attente, ajouter from this list — each published with a natural example sentence and checked translations in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, and Arabic. Each entry passes automated quality gates and human approval before publication.

On this pageNoms · 12Verbes · 16Adjectifs · 7Adverbes · 1StoriesGrammarFAQ

Noms · nouns 12

l’actualité n. current events Il suit l’actualité pour mieux comprendre les débats. He follows current events to better understand the debates. l’ambiance n. atmosphere J’adore l’ambiance de ce petit café en été. I love the atmosphere of this small café in summer. l’attente n. wait, waiting L’attente à l’aéroport était plus longue que prévu. The wait at the airport was longer than expected. la batterie n.f. battery La batterie de mon téléphone est presque vide. My phone’s battery is almost dead. le besoin n.m. need Ce village a un vrai besoin de médecins. This village has a real need for doctors. la confiance n.f. confidence Il a gagné en confiance après avoir réussi son projet. He gained confidence after successfully completing his project. la décision n.f. decision Elle a pris une décision importante hier. She made an important decision yesterday. l’émission n. TV programme, show Cette émission passe tous les jeudis soir. This programme is on every Thursday evening. la facture n.f. bill, invoice J’ai reçu la facture d’électricité ce matin. I received the electricity bill this morning. l’inquiétude n. worry, concern Je comprends ton inquiétude, mais il n’y a aucun danger. I understand your worry, but there is no danger. le moyen n.m. means, method C’est le seul moyen de finir avant ce soir. It’s the only way to finish before tonight. le souvenir n.m. memory, recollection Je garde un très bon souvenir de ce voyage en Italie. I have a very good memory of that trip to Italy.

Verbes · verbs 16

ajouter v. to add Peux-tu ajouter un peu de sucre dans mon thé ? Can you add a little sugar to my tea? communiquer v. to communicate Il est important de bien communiquer en équipe. It’s important to communicate well in a team. convaincre v. to convince Elle a réussi à convaincre son équipe de changer de méthode. She managed to convince her team to change methods. découvrir v. to discover J’ai découvert un nouveau restaurant dans le quartier. I discovered a new restaurant in the neighborhood. devenir v. to become Elle est devenue médecin l’année dernière. She became a doctor last year. échanger v. to exchange, to swap Nous avons échangé nos numéros à la fin du cours. We exchanged our numbers at the end of the class. empêcher v. to prevent, to stop (from) Le bruit m’empêche de dormir la nuit. The noise prevents me from sleeping at night. emprunter v. to borrow J’ai emprunté ce roman à la bibliothèque municipale. I borrowed this novel from the municipal library. garder v. to keep, to hold on to Je garde toujours mes vieilles photos. I always keep my old photos. hésiter v. to hesitate J’hésite encore entre le train et l’avion. I am still hesitating between the train and the plane. prévenir v. to let someone know Merci de me prévenir si la réunion est annulée. Please let me know if the meeting is canceled. prévoir v. to plan ahead, to allow for Nous avons prévu deux jours pour visiter la ville. We have planned two days to visit the city. proposer v. to suggest Le responsable a proposé une solution plus simple. The manager suggested a simpler solution. reconnaître v. to acknowledge, to admit Il a reconnu son erreur devant toute l’équipe. He acknowledged his mistake in front of the whole team. remplacer v. to replace Nous devons remplacer la machine à café du bureau. We have to replace the office coffee machine. résoudre v. to solve Nous devons résoudre ce problème avant la fin de la journée. We must solve this problem before the end of the day.

Adjectifs · adjectives 7

ancien adj. former, previous; old (of a thing) Mon ancien appartement était plus petit que celui-ci. My former flat was smaller than this one. bruyant adj. noisy Le restaurant était trop bruyant pour discuter. The restaurant was too noisy to chat. exigeant adj. demanding Notre nouveau chef est très exigeant avec l’équipe. Our new boss is very demanding with the team. fiable adj. reliable Cette voiture est ancienne mais très fiable. This car is old but very reliable. fier adj. proud Je suis fier de mes élèves cette année. I am proud of my students this year. juste adj. fair; correct Sa décision me paraît juste et bien expliquée. Her decision seems fair and well explained to me. utile adj. useful Ce conseil m’a été très utile. This piece of advice was very useful to me.

Adverbes · adverbs 1

pourtant adv. yet, and yet Il a beaucoup travaillé et pourtant il a raté l’examen. He worked a lot and yet he failed the exam.

Common questions

How many words do I need for B1?

Around 2,000 word families are commonly cited for comfortable B1 comprehension. You do not memorise them from a list — most arrive through reading and listening. This page gives you the highest-value items to study deliberately; the rest come from stories at your level.

What does CEFR level B1 actually mean?

The Common European Framework calls B1 the “seuil” stage (niveau seuil). Intermediate: longer texts, opinions, narration, and more varied structures.

Are these translations machine-generated?

Drafts are generated with structured tooling, then pass automated quality gates and human approval before anything is published — no entry appears here without review. Found an error? Report it to support@toba.solutions.

What should I study after this list?

Pair the words with the B1 grammar lessons and the B1 stories where the same vocabulary reappears in context. When recognising feels easy, move to the B2 list.

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