Basic English, with the French in mind (9)
I believe the answer is:
elemental
'basic' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'english with the french in mind' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'the french' becomes 'le' ('the' in French).
'in mind' becomes 'mental' (mental means in the mind).
'e'+'le'+'mental'='ELEMENTAL'
(Other definitions for elemental that I've seen before include "Of nature's powers" , "Nature spirit" , "Of basic importance" , "Pertaining to weather or to first principles" , "key" .)