Here are some examples of French words and phrases used by English speakers.

There are many words of French origin in English, such as art, collage, competition, force, machine, police, publicity, role, routine, table, and many others which have been and are being anglicized. They are now pronounced according to English rules of orthography, rather than French (which uses nasal vowels not found in English). Approximately 40% of English vocabulary is of French or Oïl language origin, most derived from, or transmitted by, the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern English.

This article, however, covers words and phrases that generally entered the lexicon later, as through literature, the arts, diplomacy, and other cultural exchanges not involving conquests. As such, they have not lost their character as Gallicisms, or words that seem unmistakably foreign and "French" to an English-speaking person.

That said, the phrases are given as used in English, and may seem correct modern French to English speakers, but may not be recognised as such by French speakers as many of them are now defunct or have a different meaning due to semantic evolution. A general rule is that if the word or phrase retains French diacritics or is usually printed in italics, it has retained its French identity.

It should be equally noted that not all of these phrases are common knowledge to all English speakers, nor should any of them be considered part of the current English lexicon.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

#Not used as such in French — Only found in English — French phrases in international air-sea rescue — See also — References