Lesson 9: General Dining

French Vocabulary • Dining Dining Diner
Places		Actions and Feelings
la cuisine	kitchen	avoir faim	to be hungry
la salle à manger	dining room	avoir soif	to be thirsty
le restaurant	restaurant	manger	to eat
Meals		boire	to drink
le repas	the meal	prendre	to take
le petit-déjeuner	breakfast	vouloir	to want
le déjeuner	lunch	mettre le couvert	to set the table
le dîner	dinner	préparer un repas	to prepare a meal
le goûter	snack
Food Stores		Quantity
la boucherie	butcher shop 1	le gramme	gram
la boulangerie	bakery 2	le kilo(gramme)	kilogran
le dépôt de pain	a place that sells bread 2	le litre	liter
la charcuterie	delicatessen 3	la bouteille	bottle 5
l’épicerie (f)	grocery 4	la boîte	can
la crémerie	dairy store	la livre	pack, pound 6
la poissonnerie	seafood store	le paquet	packet
le marché	outdoor market	le pot	pot
la pâtisserie	pastry shop

Canadian and Belgian French has an off-by-one behaviour with meals : breakfast is called déjeuner, lunch is called dîner and dinner is souper.

1. French butchers do not sell pork, pork products, nor horsemeat. For these products, go to a charcuterie.
2. In France, bakeries only sell fresh bread. Places where they sell bread that is not fresh are called dépôt de pain.
3. ‘Charcuteries’ sell things besides pork products, including pâte, salami, cold meats, salads, quiches and pizzas.
4. An alternative to an ‘épicerie’ is an alimentation générale (a general foodstore).
5. –eille is pronounced ay
6. Do not confuse with le livre (book).

Vouloir & Pouvoir

The verb vouloir is translated to to want. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as a regular -ir verb) as follows:

French Verb • Dining vouloir to want
past participle – voulu
	Singular			Plural
first person	je veux	jeuh veuh	I want	nous voulons	noo voolohn	we want
second person	tu veux	too veuh	you want	vous voulez	voo voolay	you want
third person	il veut	eel veuh	he wants	ils veulent	eel veuhl	they want (masc. or mized)
	elle veut	ell veuh	she wants
	on veut	ohn veuh	one wants	elles veulent	ell veuhl	they want (fem.)

Pouvoir is conjugated in a similar manner:

French Verb • Dining pouvoir to be able to
past participle – pu
	Singular			Plural
first person	je peux	jeuh peuh	I can/am able to	nous pouvons	noo poovohn	we can/are able to
second person	tu peux	too peuh	you can/are able to	vous pouvez	voo poovay	you can/are able to
third person	il peut	eel peuh	he can/is able to	ils peuvent	eel peuhve	they can/are able to (masc. or mized)
	elle peut	ell peuh	she can/is able to
	on peut	ohn peuh	one can/is able to	elles peuvent	ell peuhve	they can/are able to (fem.)

Dining at a Restaurant

Servir

French Verb • Dining servir to serve
past participle: servi
	Singular			Plural
first person	je sers	jeuh sair	I serve	nous servons	noo sairvohn	we serve
second person	tu sers	too sair	you serve	vous servez	voo sairvay	you serve
third person	il sert	eel sair	he serves	ils servent	eel sairve	they serve (masc. or mized)
	elle sert	ell sair	she serves
	on sert	ohn sair	one serves	elles servent	ell sairve	they serve (fem.)

Ordering

-cer Verbs

-cer verbs are regular -er verbs, but are also stem changing. The most common -cer verb is commencer.

Formation

French Verb • Dining commencer to begin
past participle – commencé
	Singular			Plural
first person	je commence	jeuh coe mahnce	I begin	nous commençons	noo coe mahnsohn	we begin
second person	tu commences	too coe mahnce	you begin	vous commencez	voo coe mahnsay	you begin
third person	il commence	eel coe mahnce	he begins	ils commencent	eel coe mahnce	they begin (masc. or mized)
	elle commence	ell coe mahnce	she begins
	on commence	ohn coe mahnce	one begins	elles commencent	ell coe mahnce	they begin (fem.)

Other -cer Verbs

• effacer – to erase

Silverware, Etc.