At the café: what to drink
A plain un café is a small espresso. If you want milk, say so. Each drink is shown with its article, because you need the gender (masculine or feminine, explained on le, la, les) to order it.
Articles in blue are masculine, red feminine.
At the bakery
The boulangerie (boo-lah(n)-zhuh-REE) sells bread, and most also sell pastries. A pâtisserie specialises in cakes. In a bakery you point and count, so it is the easiest place to start speaking.
The order of a French meal
A restaurant meal follows a fixed sequence. Knowing it lets you read any menu. Coffee always comes after dessert, never with it.
- Course 1 lah-pay-ree-TEEF A drink before the meal, often with olives or nuts.
- Course 2 lah(n)-TRAY The starter. Not the main course, as in American English.
- Course 3 luh plah pra(n)-see-PAHL The main course, usually just le plat.
- Course 4 luh froh-MAHZH Cheese, served before dessert.
- Course 5 luh day-SAIR Dessert. Note the double s: “dessert”.
- Course 6 luh kah-FAY An espresso, after dessert.
The waiter asks Quelle cuisson ? (kel kwee-SOH(N)), “what cooking?”. French à point is pinker than British or American medium. Tap water is free if you ask for une carafe d’eau.
Du, de la, des: talking about “some” food
French needs an article where English says nothing. When you mean an amount of something you cannot count, like bread or water, use the partitive article, meaning “some”. When you talk about a food in general, as with likes and dislikes, use le, la, les.
| You mean | Article | French | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| some (masculine, uncountable) | du | I’d like some bread. | |
| some (feminine, uncountable) | de la | There is some soup. | |
| some (before a vowel) | de l’ | Do you want some water? | |
| some (plural) | des | We’re buying (some) apples. | |
| the food in general | le, la, les | I like cheese. |
After an amount word, all of these become plain de: un verre de vin (a glass of wine), un kilo de pommes (a kilo of apples), beaucoup de sucre (a lot of sugar). The same happens after a negative, as explained in pas de.
Phrases for ordering and paying
Lunch at a brasserie
A full exchange from sitting down to paying. Every word has its English meaning underneath.