Lesson 3: Shopping

French Vocabulary • Shopping Shopping Les achats
To Go Shopping		Buying Goods
faire des courses faire du shopping	to go shopping	le(la) vendeur(euse) le(la) cassier(-ière)	salesperson cashier
faire le marché	to go grocery shopping	(plus/moins) cher(ère)	(more/less) expensive
faire du lèche-vitrine	to go window shopping	la vitrine	display window
porter	to wear, to carry	en solde	on sale
demander	to ask (for)	le prix	price
demander le prix – to ask for the price
payer payer à la caisse	to pay to pay at the counter	la caisse	cash register checkout counter
vendre	to sell	coûter	to cost
acheter	to buy	C’est combien? Ça coûte combien?	How much is it? [lit: It’s how much?] [lit:It costs how much?]
		Combien coûte [nom]?	How much does [noun] cost? [lit: How much costs [noun]?]
General Goods Stores		Foods Stores
le magasin	shop; store	le supermarché	supermarket
le centre commercial	mall; shopping centre	l’hypermarché (m)	hypermarket; big supermarket
le grand magasin	department store	la boucherie	butcher shop 1
le rayon	department	la boulangerie	bakery 2
la boutique	small store	le dépôt de pain	a place that sells bread 2
la pharmacie	pharmacy; chemist	la charcuterie	delicatessen 3
le marché	outdoor market	la crémerie	dairy store
		la pâtisserie	pastry shop; pâtisserie
		la poissonnerie	seafood store; fishmonger
		l’épicerie (f)	grocery 4

1. French butchers do not sell pork, pork products, nor horsemeat. For these products, go to a charcuterie. However, a lot of boucheries are also charcuteries, and are called boucherie-charcuterie
2. In France, bakeries only sell fresh bread; e.g. the bread is baked on site. Places where they sell bread that is not fresh are called dépôt de pain.
3. ‘Charcuteries’ sell things besides pork products, including pâté, salami, cold meats, salads, quiches and pizzas.
4. An alternative to an ‘épicerie’ is an alimentation générale (a general foodstore).

Object Pronouns Review

Direct Objects

While the subject of a sentence initiates an action (the verb), the direct object is the one that is affected by the action. A direct object pronoun is used to refer to the direct object of a previous sentence:

The following table shows the various types of direct object pronouns:

Notes:

• ¹ me, te, nous, and vous are also used as indirect objects to mean to me, to you, to us, and to you respectively.
• The pronoun form with an apostrophe is used before a vowel.
• The direct object pronoun for nous and vous is the same as the subject.
• When the direct object comes before a verb in a perfect tense, a tense that uses a past participle, the direct object must agree in gender and plurality with the past participle. For example, in the phrase Je les ai eus, or I had them, the past participle would be spelled eus if the direct object, les, was referring to a masculine object, and eues if les is referring to a feminine object.

Indirect Objects

An indirect object is an object that would be asked for with To whom…? or From whom…?. It is called indirect because it occurs usually together with a direct object which is affected directly by the action:

The following table shows the various types of indirect object pronouns:

Notes:

• ¹ me, te, nous, and vous are also used as direct objects to mean me, you, us, and you respectively.
• The pronoun form with an apostrophe is used before a vowel.
• The indirect object pronoun for nous and vous is the same as the subject.
• The indirect object pronouns do not agree with the past participle like the direct object pronouns do. When me, te, nous, and vous are used in a perfect tense, the writer must decide whether they are used as direct or indirect object pronouns. This is done by looking at the verb and seeing what type of action is being performed.

The bread is given by the man (direct). Pierre gets the given bread (indirect).

-exer Verbs

-exer are regular -er verbs, but also are stem changing. The stem change applies to all forms except nous and vous. The stem change involves adding a grave accent ( ` ) over the e in the stem.

Formation

French Verb • Present Indicative acheter to buy (past participle – acheté)
	Singular			Plural
first person	j’achète	jzah shet	I buy	nouszachetons	noozashtoh	we buy
second person	tu achètes	too ahshet	you buy	vouszachetez	voozahshtay	you buy
third person	il achète	eel ahshet	he buys	ilszachètent	eelzahshet	they buy (masc. or mixed)
	elle achète	ell ahshet	she buys
	onnachète	ohnahshet	one buys	elleszachètent	ellzahshet	they buy (fem.)

Other -exer Verbs

• peser – to weigh
• mener – to carry out
• emmener – to take along
• amener – to bring
• surmener – to overwork
• lever – to raise
• soulever – to raise

Clothing

French Vocabulary • Shopping Clothing Habillement
les vêtements habillés – dress clothes		les vêtements sport – casual clothes		les chaussures – shoes
la chemise	button down shirt	la casquette	cap	les chaussures	shoes
la cravate	tie	le tee-shirt	t-shirt	la paire de chaussures	pair of shoes
le pantalon	pants	le polo	polo shirt	les baskets	basketball shoes trainers
le complet le costume	suit	le pull(over)	a sweater	les tennis	tennis shoes
le manteau	coat	le sweat-shirt	sweatshirt	les sandales	sandals
le tailleur	women’s suit	le blouson la veste	jacket
la robe	dress	le jean	jeans
le chemisier	blouse	les chaussettes / les bas	socks
la jupe	skirt

-yer verbs

-yer verbs are irregular -er verbs. When y is part of the last syllable, it changes to i in order to keep the ay sound. In the present indicative of -yer verbs, this affects all forms except nous and vous.

Payer

The verb payer translates to to pay.

Formation

In the present indicative, payer (and all other -yer verbs) is conjuagted as follows:

French Verb • Present Indicative payer to pay (past participle – payé)
	Singular			Plural
first person	je paie	jeuh pay	I pay	nous payons	noo pay oh	we pay
second person	tu paies	too pay	you pay	vous payez	voo pay yay	you pay
third person	il paie	eel pay	he pays	ils paient ou payent	eel	they pay (masc. or mixed)
	elle paie	ell pay	she pays
	on paie	oh pay	one pays	elles paient ou payent	ell	they pay (fem.)

Other -yer Verbs

• appuyer – to support
• employer – to employ
• essayer – to try
• essuyer – to wipe
• nettoyer – to clean
• tutoyer – to address as tu, to call someone informally

Irregular Past Participles

Many of the verbs you have learned so far have irregular past participles.

• avoir – eu
• croire – cru
• être – été
• faire – fait
• voir – vu

Practise Conversations

Let’s practise some of these words and verbs in some everyday shopping talk:
1. À la boulangerie (At the bakery)
Bernard (le boulanger) : Bonjour madame
Camille (la cliente) : Bonjour monsieur
Bernard : Que voulez-vous ?
Camille : Je voudrais acheter une baguette, s’il vous plaît
Bernard : Ce sera tout ?
Camille : Non, je voudrais deux croissants aussi
Bernard : Très bien – ça fait deux euros, s’il vous plaît
Camille : Merci beaucoup
Useful vocabulary:
“Que voulez-vous ?” or “Que désirez-vous ?” – What would you like?
“Je voudrais…” – I would like…
“Ce sera tout ?” – Is that all?
“Ça fait deux euros” – That will be two euros
acheter (to buy).
2. Au marché (At the market)
Marie (la marchande) : Bonjour monsieur
Clément (le client) : Bonjour madame
Clément : Qu’est-ce que vous avez à vendre ?
Marie : J’ai un grand choix de fruits et légumes
Clément : Très bien. Est-ce que vous avez des cerises ?
Marie : Oui… elles coûtent deux euros le kilo
Clément : Bon, je voudrais trois kilos, s’il vous plaît
Marie : Très bien, monsieur. Alors, pour trois kilos il faut payer six euros, s’il vous plaît.
Useful vocabulary:
“Qu’est-ce que vous avez… ?” – What do you have?
“Un grand choix” – A large range
“Des cerises” – Some cherries
“Elles coûtent deux euros le kilo” – They (feminine) cost two euros per kilo
“Il faut” – One must/You need to
vendre (to sell) and payer (to pay).