So, you met a Frenchwoman or a Frenchman, and youād like to seduce her or him. Well, you canāt possibly start by saying I love you in French ā which is probably the only thing you learned in school that would be remotely connected to flirting in Frenchā¦
Iāll help you out! Letās jump right into the flirting in French scene with some common sentences to flirt in French.
11 Phrases To Flirt in France
Here are some typical phrases used to flirt in French:
- Excuse-moi, tu as lāheure ?
Excuse me, do you have the time? - Pardon, tu aurais du feu/une cigarette ?
Sorry, would you have a lighter/ a smoke (yep, a lot of people smoke in France) - Tu es avec quelquāun ?
Are you with someone ? - Tu veux (aller) boire un verre ?
Would you like (to go for) a drink? - Je peux tāoffrir un verre ?
May I buy you a drink ? - Tu viens souvent ici ?
Do you come here often ? - Tu veux aller faire un tour ?
Do you want to get out of here ? - On pourrait peut ĆŖtre aller⦠au cinĆ©ma/au restaurant/faire une baladeā¦
Maybe we could go⦠to the movies/to a restaurant/take a walk - Tu es libre pour le dîner samedi ?
Are you free for dinner on Saturday? - Tu me donnes ton numƩro ?
Could you give me your phone number ? - On peut peut-être échanger nos numéros ?
Maybe we can exchange phone numbers
In my Intermediate French audiobook learning method, youāll witness the start of a romance between Claudia and a French guy named Pierre! (Ć Moi Paris L3 ā ch 9, 12, 13)

A new approach to learning both traditional and modern French logically structured for English speakers.
Now letās see some French flirting vocabulary.
13 French Flirting Words
- Draguer ā to seduce/to flirt (common slang)
- Un dragueur ā a seducer (common slang)
- La drague ā seduction (common slang)
- SĆ©duire ā to seduce
- Un sĆ©ducteur, une sĆ©ductrice ā a seducer
- La sĆ©duction ā seduction
- Flirter ā to flirt
- Un beau-parleur ā someone who speaks to seduce you
- Un tombeur ā a (very successful) seducer ā often said of someone who has a lot of success with the ladies
- Aborder/accoster quelquāun ā to address someone in order to flirt
- Un KĆ©kĆ© ā a seducer ā young adult vocabulary ā a seducer
- Un macho ā a macho guy
- Une pĆ©tasse ā a skank
Iāve written a whole article about saying āI love you in Frenchā in many different ways, but also alternatives to dropping the L bomb, French love vocabulary and tips to avoid cultural mistakes.

6 Compliments in French
Paying a compliment to someone is part of the flirting game.
Here are some nice compliments you could use: Iāll put them in the feminine ā us girls, we donāt really need to pay guys compliments, do we? JUST KIDDING!!!
- Tu es radieuse ce soir ā a smarter way to say you look beautiful
- Cette couleur te va Ć ravir ā this color looks great on you
- Ton sourire est contagieux ā your smile is contagious
- Jāaime le son de ta voix ā I like the sound of your voice
- Comme tu es⦠amusante, touchante, Ć©mouvante, cultivĆ©e, douĆ©e ā you are so⦠fun, touching, moving, cultivated, gifted
- Jāadore te regarder marcher ā I love to see you walk⦠borderline if you ask me but a guy told that to me when I was 17⦠and obviously it made an impression on me!
By the way, mesdames, if you are interested, here is my (apparently controversial! ā see all the comments) article about French women beauty secrets.
Now that you have the essential French flirting vocabulary, letās see how to ask someone out on a date in French.
How To Ask āGo Out With meā in French?
To say āwould you like to go out with meā, we say:
- Tu veux sortir avec moi ?
Watch out though that āsortirā has the same double meaning as in English: it can mean to go out socially or romantically. The context will make the difference⦠or can lead to misunderstandingā¦
- Tu veux sortir avec nous ā go out with āusā, so group of friends going out socially.
- Tu sors avec elle ? ā Are you going out with her ? Probably talking about romance hereā¦
Once you are dating, you may want to use a French love nickname with your French sweetie ā Many more in my article with audio.
What About Flirting and Dating in France ?
There are some very important differences between dating in France and dating in the US for example.
I wrote a whole article about dating in France ā I suggest you read it should you intend to date someone French.
An important tip about dating in France is that dating tends to be exclusive ā from the start. We usually donāt need to have this āletās stop seeing other peopleā discussion thatās often featured in American sitcomsā¦
But Iām digressing. Read the article to know more!
How to Ask Someone Out in French
If you want to be more specific when asking someone out in French, you could ask:
- Tu veux ĆŖtre ma petite-copine / mon petit-copain ?
Would you like to be my girlfriend/boyfriend?
But only young teens would use that line⦠Adults would use more standard pick-up lines ā weāll see some examples below.
The Local.fr released tips on how to seduce French women ā where itās appropriate to flirt in France etc⦠Check it out!
But first, letās address a complicated question: how do you call your partner in French when you are an adult?
How to Say Boyfriend / Girlfriend in French?
Even saying girlfriend or boyfriend is problematic in French!
- The typical word for a boyfriend in French is āun petit-ami/ un petit-copainā.
- The typical word for a girlfriend in French is āune petite-amie / une petite-copine.ā
Thatās fine when you are a teen, or when itās a new and casual relation. However just as in English, the French wouldnāt use this to describe a long-lasting relationship.
When we are in a serious / long lasting relationship in France, we are more likely to call our love partner :
- Un ami, une amie (strong N liaison/gliding āNamiā) ā a friend, or a boyfriend/girlfriend.
This is not specific however, but is the word grown-ups would use.
So how to know whether weāre talking romantic friend?
Most of the time, itās the context. We often add a possessive adjective ā mon amie(e).
So contrast these two options:
- Je te prĆ©sente Pierre, un de mes amis ā Let me introduce you to Pierre, one of my friends
- Je te prĆ©sente mon ami Pierre ā let me introduce you to my friend Pierre
Itās not set in stone, but the second way of introducing Pierre is likely to be the romantic partner.
The French sometime use the word āun compagnon / une compagneā for long-term adult relationships.
For homosexual relationships, we tend to use āmon/ma partenaireā, although ācompagnon / compagneā is also common.
If you are engaged, itās āmon fiancĆ©, ma fiancĆ©eā.
And if you are married āmon mariā (husband ā or sometimes āmon Ć©pouxā for spouse) and āma femmeā (wife ā pronounced āfamā ā sometimes āmon Ć©pouseā for spouse). On this subject, you may enjoy this article I wrote about French weddings.
What Does āĆtre CĆ©libataireā Means in French?
āĆtre CĆ©libataireā in French is not what you think!
āĆtre CĆ©libataireā means to be single, not be in a relationship. āĆtre CĆ©libataireā doesnāt mean to be celibateā¦.
Itās also the marital status of someone who is not married. So if at a party, a French woman asks a guy:
- Et tu es cƩlibataire ?
She may be flirting ā or at least, fishing out for information!
French Pick-up Lines
Iām not a big fan of pick up line, hence the short list! Actually, according to me, most pick-up lines are terribleā¦
Typical French Pick-up Lines
Tāas dābeaux yeux, tu sais
Of course we have some traditional ones, like the actor Jean Gabin saying āTāas dābeaux yeux, tu saisā (Tu as de beaux yeux, tu sais = you know you have gorgeous eyes) in the movie āQuai des Brumesā.
This line became a classic, and French people use this pick-up line in a humoristic kind of way ā but still paying you a compliment of course.
Bonjour Belle Blonde
I have no idea where this one comes from. It means āhi pretty blondā but can be used with a brunette⦠it doesnāt matter!
Itās humorous as well, it is to be said with an exaggerated seducing look, kind of āhey gooooorgeousā or āhow youā doing?ā⦠and is a smooth way to make fun of yourself and actually pay a compliment to āla belleā.
Terrible French Pick Up Lines
Here is a list of famously bad ones!
- Pour toi bĆ©bĆ©, je dĆ©crocherai la lune ā for you baby, Iāll get the moon
- La beautĆ© a ses limites, mais tu les a dĆ©passĆ©es ā beauty has limits, but you went over them
- Jāaimerais ĆŖtre une de tes larmes pour naĆ®tre dans tes yeux, vivre sur tes joues et mourir sur tes lĆØvres ā Iād like to be one of your tears to be born in your eyes, live on your cheeks and die on your lips.
- Tes yeux sont comme des Ć©toiles ā your eyes are like starsā¦. pleeeease!
If you liked this article, I may also like:
- French Women Donāt Date ā the French Dating System Explained
- 70 French Love Words to Nuance I Love You in French (with audio)
- All About French Kissing
- French love nicknames (with audio)
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