By the end of this lesson you'll be able to name the three daily meals, and talk about everyday foods, drinks, fruit and vegetables.
Meals
French has a word for each meal of the day. Here they're nouns, so each one has its article.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| le repas | luh ruh-PAH | the meal |
| le petit déjeuner | luh puh-tee day-zhuh-NAY | breakfast |
| le déjeuner | luh day-zhuh-NAY | lunch |
| le dîner | luh dee-NAY | dinner |
Le petit déjeuner is literally "the little lunch". You can learn more about when and how these meals are eaten in the lesson on French meals and mealtimes.
Everyday foods
As you saw in the lesson on un, une and des, a French noun usually needs a small word in front of it. These tables list each food with le, la, l' or les. Learn them that way, because the article shows you the gender, except with l', where a note tells you.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| le pain | luh PAN | bread |
| le beurre | luh BUHR | butter |
| le fromage | luh froh-MAHZH | cheese |
| l'œuf | LUHF | the eggIn the plural the f is silent: les œufs. |
| la viande | lah VYAHND | meat |
| le poulet | luh poo-LEH | chicken |
| le poisson | luh pwah-SOHN | fish |
| le riz | luh REE | rice |
| les pâtes | lay PAHT | pastaAlways plural in French. |
| la soupe | lah SOOP | soup |
| le gâteau | luh gah-TOH | cake |
Two of these are worth a second look. Les pâtes is always plural, unlike "pasta" in English. L'œuf has a pronounced f in the singular, but in les œufs the f and the s are both silent.
C'est un œuf.
It's an egg.
Le poulet et le riz, c'est le dîner.
Chicken and rice, that's dinner.
Drinks
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| l'eau | LOH | water |
| le lait | luh LEH | milk |
| le café | luh kah-FAY | coffee |
| le thé | luh TAY | tea |
| le jus d'orange | luh zhew doh-RAHNZH | orange juice |
| le vin | luh VAN | wine |
| la bière | lah BYEHR | beer |
L'eau is feminine, although the shortened article hides that.
Voici un thé et un café.
Here's a tea and a coffee.
Fruit
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| la pomme | lah POMM | apple |
| la banane | lah bah-NAHN | banana |
| l'orange | loh-RAHNZH | the orangeFeminine: une orange. |
| la fraise | lah FREZ | strawberry |
Voici une banane et une fraise.
Here's a banana and a strawberry.
Vegetables
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| la pomme de terre | lah pomm duh TEHR | potato |
| la carotte | lah kah-ROTT | carrot |
| la tomate | lah toh-MAHT | tomato |
| la salade | lah sah-LAHD | lettuce, salad |
| l'oignon | loh-NYOHN | the onionMasculine: un oignon. |
| le haricot | luh ah-ree-KOH | beanThe h stops the shortening: le haricot, not l'haricot. |
La salade can mean a green lettuce as well as a mixed salad. You'll usually be able to tell from the context.
Le haricot is worth noticing, too. Most words that begin with h shorten the article, as in l'hôtel. This one doesn't. A small group of French words behave this way, and you learn them one at a time.
C'est la soupe de carottes.
It's the carrot soup.
Une tomate, un oignon et une pomme de terre.
A tomato, an onion and a potato.
Putting it together
These lines use only what you've learned so far. Imagine someone unpacking the shopping:
- Voici le lait. (Here's the milk.)
- Et le beurre ? (And the butter?)
- Voici le beurre, et voici une pomme. (Here's the butter, and here's an apple.)
To say that you're eating "some bread" or drinking "some water", French needs a different set of small words. They're the subject of the lesson on du, de la and des, so for now, stick to naming things with le, la, un and une.
The names of foods are also a great place to practise your spelling. Many of them have accents or double letters that matter, so take a moment to look carefully at pâtes, bière, pomme and carotte before you move on.
What's next
Next, the lesson on du, de la and des teaches how to say "some bread" and "some water". After that, the lesson on ordering at a café puts these words on the table.