Food

La nourriture / Les aliments

French food
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Food is a necessity, and can also be a source of great pleasure. Being able to talk about French food will come in handy while shopping, dining, traveling, and entertaining friends, so check out this vocab list for French food, including the basic food groups and related verbs. Bon appétit !

to be hungry   avoir faim
meal   le repas
breakfast   le petit-déjeuner
lunch   le déjeuner
dinner   le dîner
after-school snack   le goûter
     
appetizer, starter   le hors d’œuvre
l’entrée*
soup   la soupe
le potage
main course   le plat principal
salad   la salade
dessert   le dessert
     
kitchen, cooking   la cuisine
dining room   la salle à manger
restaurant   le restaurant

Verbs

(click for conjugations)

to eat   manger
to have breakfast
to have lunch
  déjeuner
to have dinner   dîner
to taste   goûter

 * In American English, “entrée” means main course, whereas in French une entrée refers to an appetizer / starter. Learn more: French meals and menus

Les fruits (m)   Fruit

l’abricot (m)   apricot
l’ananas (m)   pineapple
la banane   banana
la cerise   cherry
le citron   lemon
le citron vert   lime
la figue   fig
la fraise   strawberry
la framboise   raspberry
la grenade   pomegranate
la mandarine   tangerine
le melon   melon
la mûre   blackberry
la myrtille   blueberry
l’orange (m)   orange
le pamplemousse   grapefruit
la pastèque   watermelon
la pêche   peach
la poire   pear
la pomme   apple
la prune   plum
le pruneau   prune
le raisin   grape
le raisin sec   raisin

Les légumes (m)   Vegetables

l’ail (m)   garlic
l’artichaut (m)   artichoke
les asperges (f)   asparagus
l’aubergine (f)   eggplant
la betterave   beet
la carotte   carrot
le céleri   celery
le champignon   mushroom
le chou-fleur   cauliflower
la citrouille   pumpkin (round)
le concombre   cucumber
la courge   squash
la courgette   zucchini
les épinards (m)   spinach
le haricot   bean
l’igname (f)   yam
la laitue   lettuce
l’oignon (m)   onion
le maïs   corn
la patate douce   sweet potato
les petits pois (m)   peas
le poireau   leek
le poivron   bell pepper
la pomme de terre   potato
le potiron   pumpkin (oval, somewhat flat)
le radis   radish
la roquette   arugula
la tomate   tomato

Les produits laitiers   Dairy products

le babeurre   buttermilk
le beurre   butter
la crème   cream
la crème fraîche   slightly sour thick cream
le fromage   cheese
le fromage blanc   ~ cream cheese
la glace   ice cream
le lait   milk
le yaourt   yogurt

La viande   Meat

l’agneau (m)   lamb
les anchois (m)   anchovies
le bifteck   steak
le canard   duck
la dinde   turkey
les escargots (m)   snails
le jambon   ham
le lapin   rabbit
le poisson   fish
le porc   pork
le poulet   chicken
le rosbif   roast beef
le saucisson   sausage
le veau   veal

Le dessert   Dessert

le biscuit   cookie
les bonbons (m)   candy
le chocolat   chocolate
la crème brûlée   custard w/ burnt sugar
la crème caramel   flan
le fromage   cheese
les fruits (m)   fruit
le gâteau   cake
la glace   ice cream
la mousse au chocolat   chocolate mousse
la tarte   pie
la vanille   vanilla

Et cetera

la confiture   jam
le croissant   croissant
la farine   flour
les frites (f)   fries (US), chips (UK)
l’huile d’olive (f)   olive oil
la mayonnaise   mayonnaise
le miel   honey
la moutarde   mustard
un œuf
des œufs**
  egg
eggs
le pain   bread
le pain grillé   toast
la pâte à tartiner   ~ toast spread, like Nutella or peanut butter
les pâtes (f)   pasta
le poivre   pepper
le riz   rice
la sauce   sauce, dressing, gravy
le sel   salt
le sucre
  sugar
la tartine   toast

** Note the difference in pronunciation between singular and plural.

 In France, coffee is served after dessert, not with it. Learn more: French meals and menus

 Food Quiz

Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on some French food vocabulary.

French listening comprehension Expressions with and about food

 Related features

Lessons

French reading comprehension French listening comprehension

French listening comprehension French reading comprehension

French lesson plans French lesson plans

Learn Spanish En español

Learn Italian In italiano

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French food

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