Top 10 Best French-English Dictionaries and Translation Apps According to Our Teachers
Best French-English Dictionaries – Monolingual Online Dictionaries
When comparing dictionaries, it’s important to highlight the different types of dictionaries that are out there. This first section focuses on monolingual dictionaries, designed to help language learners look up and learn new vocabulary, as well as get information about context, part of speech, conjugations, etc.
As a result, these tools provide a lot of depth to any search. That makes them a great resource learning how to incorporate a new word into your vocabulary.
On the other hand, all this extra information means quite a lot of text, often presented in the target language. Sometimes this is not ideal for fast, easy use, or for beginners.
- It differs from other online dictionaries because of its rigorous presentation of data. There are three levels of search: simple, assisted, or complex.
- It is based on the printed version of the Trésor de la Langue Française dictionary created in the 19th century, which contains 16 volumes and a supplement.
- It contains 100,000 words with their history, 270,000 definitions, and 430,000 examples.
What will you find in this dictionary? Definitions, examples of usage, synonyms, antonyms, literary excerpts, and pronunciation. It also gives you the option to color-code each word by function (e.g. synonym, definition).
- The 9th edition shows how the language has evolved and French society has adapted, but it isn’t quite an encyclopedia. It’s still a dictionary of common language.
- It currently contains 28,000 more words than the last version of the dictionary, published in 1934-35.
- It contains 60,000 everyday words in a complete catalog that both language learners and professionals can appreciate. For reference, a highly cultural level newspaper like Le Monde uses around 25,000 different words. Generally speaking, an advanced (native) speaker has a vocabulary of around 10,000 words, so this dictionary should have everything you need!
What will you find in this dictionary? Definitions, examples of usage, historical references, literary excerpts, verb conjugations.
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- This virtual reference tool goes beyond object identification, even answering questions you might have about the function, meaning, and purpose of the objects listed in the catalog.
- It is designed to help the user quickly grasp the meaning of a term, or simply learn something new.
- You will find 17 general topics in the French version of Ikonet, as well as 800 subtopics, 6,000 illustrations, and 20,000 terms with pronunciation and definitions.
What will you find in this dictionary? A catalog of detailed illustrations with terminology, definitions, and pronunciation. Two additional sections with terminology about the human body, food (recipes available, and you can sort them by ingredient!), and health. There are also some interesting word games.
Best French-English Dictionaries – Bilingual Online Dictionaries
In addition to the monolingual dictionaries listed above, there are also several useful bilingual dictionaries. Bilingual dictionaries serve a slightly different purpose, but they can be just as valuable!
As their name suggests, a bilingual dictionary has content in two languages: you can search for a word in your native language, and come up with its translation in your target language. Bilingual dictionaries also often include some additional information, like part of speech, synonyms, and example sentences.
But because users can search in their native language, these are often more valuable for beginners, or for trying to translate a specific word or thought.
- The Larousse is one of the largest French-English dictionaries in existence. It contains 250,000 words and expressions, as well as conjugation and translation tools.
- The Larousse is also known for being somewhat multi-disciplinary. Their website features an encyclopedia with 135,000 definitions and 90,000 articles. Larousse also publishes the Larousse Gastronomique, an exhaustive reference on French cuisine, ingredients, recipes, and techniques. More recent editions also include non-French recipes.
- For more advanced learners, Larousse also offers a rotating crossword puzzle, among other games!
What will you find in the dictionary? French-English translations, common expressions, and audio pronunciation guides.
- In addition to an extensive bilingual French-English dictionary, their website offers several games, including Scrabble and quizzes on topics like French grammar or English idioms.
- For language lovers, the Collins blog also provides a steady flow of articles (generally written in English) on a variety of linguistic, pedagogic, and literary topics.
What will you find in the dictionary? French-English translations, common expressions, example sentences, phonetic transcriptions, and audio pronunciation guides.
- This website was a pioneer in offering a robust discussion forum, where users can post questions about specific and unique uses of various words. Sometimes these discussions can be even more useful than the main entry!
- An “images” function provides a shortcut from a search entry directly to a Google images search to provide quick and easy visual information. There is also a shortcut to the Collins dictionary’s entry for many words, in addition to the WordReference entry.
What will you find in the dictionary? French-English translations, common expressions, example sentences, phonetic transcriptions, synonyms, forum entries related to searched term.
Best English-French Translator App
In addition to the best French-English dictionaries, we also wanted to include a few translation apps on our list. Translation apps are an amazing, relatively recent innovation that is changing the way we can communicate across languages.
The basic premise is that the app does most of the work for you. Just enter information in your native language and it will return a (fairly) accurate translation into the target language.
These have limited value for language study, as we always recommend that you be more active in your target language production. But they come in very handy when traveling, or in situations where you need to communicate simple information but a language barrier is preventing you.
Download this app for iOS or Android and take it with you on your next vacation. It’s a useful tool if you’re sending messages back and forth, or need a hands-free translator.
Currently, it is only offered as a desktop app, but you can use it with a mobile phone browser. It also offers a file translator that’s compatible with .pdf, .docx, and .pptx.
Another feature, iTranslate Lingo, offers flashcard lessons to improve your vocabulary and language skills. There’s also an offline mode, perfect for travelers!
MosaDiscovery is another exciting tool we offer. Click on any word you find online, view its definition and an automatically generated translation, and add it to your stack of flashcards to learn.
Bonus: The Best French Slang Dictionary
In addition to all the “classic” dictionaries we already listed, we wanted to include one that’s a little more off the beaten path:
Dictionnaires.com
There are also sub-dictionaries for French and francophone dialects, including Anglicisms, Breton, Creole, Marseillais, slang, and verlan (a particular French slang similar to pig Latin).
With this selection of the best French-English dictionaries, you should have plenty of great reference materials to choose from. And remember, there are many other online resources that can help you improve your level of French. As an independent language learner, it’s important to have a wide variety of tools and resources to work with!