Suits
In a traditional French-suited deck of cards, there are four suits. There are the spades, the hearts, the diamonds, and the clubs. Each has their corresponding markings and are split into two color groups; clubs and spades being black and diamonds and hearts being red.
The French-suited cards came to be the most world widely used because of its simplicity over older sets of cards. This made it easier to play with and a cheaper option to print for companies.
52 Card Pack
There are 52 playing cards in a traditional French-suited card pack. These include an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 of each of the above-listed suits. The Ace can be used to either fill the numeral ones spot or can be used as the highest-ranked card of the sets.
The popularity of this layout of cards is believed to be caused by the games whist and bridge which both were very popular in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Jokers
The jokers are two additional cards, usually distinguishable from one another by color or style, that come alongside the other traditional 52 cards of a French-suited deck. They are not always used but can be used in some trick-taking games, and most notably Euchre.
Modified Packs
While the format I speak of above is the most widely used and well know around the world, there are some other French-suited cards, typically used in Europe, that do not fit the above regulations.
Modifications of this type of deck can involve additional or less than the traditional 52 cards. There may also be more suits added or sometimes for certain games whole additional decks added to the pool of cards.