Let’s explore how to talk about meals, snacks, and drinks in French!
🍽️ Basic Food Vocabulary
le pain – bread
le fromage – cheese
la soupe – soup
la viande – meat
les légumes – vegetables
les fruits – fruits
la pomme de terre – potato
le riz – rice
🥤 Common Drinks
l'eau – water
le jus – juice
le lait – milk
le café – coffee
le thé – tea
la limonade – lemonade
💡 Grammar & Sentence Structure
Je mange... – I eat...
Je bois... – I drink...
J’ai faim – I am hungry (Literally: I have hunger)
J’ai soif – I am thirsty (Literally: I have thirst)
le / la / les / l' – These are definite articles in French (the). le (masculine), la (feminine), les (plural), l' (before vowel)
📘 Easy Example Sentences
Je mange du pain et du fromage.
– I eat bread and cheese. (Je = I, mange = eat, du = some, pain = bread, fromage = cheese)
Je bois du café tous les matins.
– I drink coffee every morning. (Je = I, bois = drink, du café = some coffee, tous les matins = every morning)
Nous avons de la soupe pour le déjeuner.
– We have soup for lunch. (Nous = we, avons = have, de la soupe = some soup, pour le déjeuner = for lunch)
Aimes-tu les fruits et les légumes ?
– Do you like fruits and vegetables? (Aimes-tu = do you like, les fruits = fruits, les légumes = vegetables)
💭 Did You Know?
📚 In French, most food nouns have genders (masculine or feminine).
For example: le pain (bread - masculine), la soupe (soup - feminine).
🍽️ To say “I would like…”, use: Je voudrais...
Example: Je voudrais un café = I would like a coffee
🥦 To say "I’m vegetarian":
– Male: Je suis végétarien
– Female: Je suis végétarienne
🗣️ Want to offer something? Say: Tu veux... ? = “Do you want...?”
Example: Tu veux du thé ? (Do you want tea?)
🇫🇷 French often uses partitive articles (du, de la, de l’, des) to say “some”.
– du = some (masculine)
– de la = some (feminine)
– de l’ = some (before vowel)
– des = some (plural)
Example: Je bois du lait = I drink some milk