Talking about food in French
For breakfast - le petit déjeuner - you can have juice - un jus.
Remember the 's' is silent at the end.
J’aime boire du jus de pommes - I like to drink apple juice.
Et des céréales? Tu aimes manger des céréales au petit déjeuner? - And some cereal? Do you like to eat cereal for breakfast?
Moi, j’aime manger des toasts - Me, I like to eat toast.
And if you want to say 'don’t' you put 'ne' and 'pas' either side of the verb.
So J’aime becomes je n’aime pas.
Je n’aime pas manger de la salade! - I don’t like to eat salad.
From les tomates to des toasts with all these words shared between English and French you won't be hungry or thirsty!
Giving your opinions of food and drink
To ask someone what they like or don’t like eating and drinking, you can use the following questions:
- Qu'est-ce que tu aimes manger/boire? - What do you like to eat/drink?
- Qu'est-ce que tu n'aimes pas manger/boire? - What don’t you like to eat/drink?
For many food items, you need to use a plural when you are giving your opinion of them, as you would in English. For example, you would say ‘I like carrots’ or ‘I don’t like hamburgers’.
To form a plural in French, you usually (but not always) add an ‘s’, like you would do in English. For example, carrot is carotte and carrots is carottes in French.
- J’aime les carottes - I like carrots.
- Je n’aime pas les hamburgers - I don’t like hamburgers.
To reply, you can use j’aime (I like) or je n’aime pas (I don’t like), followed by the food item.
After j’aime or je n’aime pas, you need to have a definite article (le, la or les).
- J’aime le poulet - I like chicken.
- Je n’aime pas la limonade - I don’t like lemonade.
Saying 'because'
You can explain why you like or dislike things by using parce que or car - both mean because.
To say because it is… say parce que c'est or car c'est + the masculine form of the adjective.
- J’aime le poulet parce que c’est délicieux - I like chicken because it’s delicious.
- Je n’aime pas la limonade car c’est trop sucré - I don’t like lemonade because it is too sweet.
For more opinion phrases, food and drink items and reasons why you might like or dislike them, click on the downloadable phrase builder below:
Explaining dietary requirements
Sometimes, it is important to explain that you can’t eat certain foods.
Here are some useful phrases to help you talk about allergies and dietary requirements:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Je suis végétarien (male) / Je suis végétarienne (female) | I am (a) vegetarian |
| Je suis végétalien / je suis végan (male) / Je suis végétalienne / végane (female) | I am (a) vegan |
| Je suis allergique aux noix / J’ai une allergie aux noix | I am allergic to nuts |
| J’ai une intolérance au lactose | I am lactose intolerant |
| J’ai une intolérance au gluten | I have gluten intolerance |
| J’ai la maladie cœliaque | I have coeliac disease |
Saying what you eat for different meals
To talk about what you eat for different meals, you can use the following expressions:
- Au petit déjeuner, je mange des céréales et je bois du thé - For breakfast, I eat cereal and I drink tea.
- À midi, j’aime manger des sandwichs - For lunch, I like eating sandwiches.
- Le soir, je préfère manger une salade - For dinner, I prefer eating a salad.
Talking about meals in different tenses
Present tense
To say what you usually drink and eat, or what you are drinking and eating right now, use the present tense of the verbs boire (to drink) and manger (to eat) :
- Je bois - I drink / I am drinking
- Je mange - I eat / I am eating
Perfect tense
To talk about what you had in the past, you need to use the passé composé (perfect tense) of the verbs boire (to drink) and/or manger (to eat) :
- J'ai bu - I drank
- J'ai mangé - I ate
Future tense
If you want to say what you are going to have in the future, you use the correct form of aller (to go) + boire (to drink) and/or manger (to eat) :
- Je vais boire - I am going to drink
- Je vais manger - I am going to eatzcvk3j6
Quiz
Watch the video and find out how much you know about food in French with this short quiz.
AMÉLIE: J’ai faim… tu as faim?
MICHEL: Oui… un peu… j’ai faim.
AMÉLIE: Qu’est-ce que tu aimes manger?
MICHEL: J’aime manger les hamburgers et les frites, mais j’aime manger aussi les légumes, j’aime les carottes et les petits pois. Et toi? Qu’est-ce que tu aimes manger?
AMÉLIE: Je ne mange pas de viande parce que je suis végétarienne.
MICHEL: Alors, que manges-tu?
AMÉLIE: Pour le petit déjeuner je mange des céréales ou des oeufs et je bois du thé. Et toi? Qu’est-ce que tu manges pour le petit déjeuner?
MICHEL: Pour le petit déjeuner, je mange du pain grillé avec de la confiture et je bois du jus d’orange. Pour le déjeuner je mange une pizza ou des pâtes. Et toi? Qu’est ce que tu manges pour le déjeuner?
AMÉLIE: Normalement, je mange des pâtes aussi. Et pour le dîner?
MICHEL: Aujourd’hui pour le dîner je vais manger du curry et du riz.
AMÉLIE: Il y a des choses que tu ne manges pas?
MICHEL: Je ne mange pas de poisson parce que ça pue! Il y a des choses que tu ne manges pas? AMÉLIE: Je n’aime pas manger des frites parce qu’elles sont mauvaises pour la santé. Je suis végétarienne parce que, à mon avis, c’est meilleur pour la santé et meilleur pour la planète! Mais j’adore le chocolat. Je ne suis pas végane!
MICHEL: Tout le monde adore le chocolat!
AMÉLIE: Merci beaucoup!
Translation:
AMÉLIE: I’m hungry… are you hungry?
MICHEL: Yes, I’m a bit hungry.
AMÉLIE: What do you like to eat?
MICHEL: I like to eat hamburgers and chips, but I like to eat vegetables too, I like carrots and peas. And you? What do you like to eat?
AMÉLIE: I don’t eat meat because I’m vegetarian.
MICHEL: So what do you eat?
AMÉLIE: For breakfast I eat cereal or eggs and I drink tea. And you? What do you eat for breakfast?
MICHEL: For breakfast, I eat toast with jam and I drink orange juice. For lunch I eat pizza or pasta. And you? What do you eat for lunch?
AMÉLIE: Usually I eat pasta too. And for dinner?
MICHEL: Today for dinner, I’m going to eat curry and rice.
AMÉLIE: Are there things that you don’t eat?
MICHEL: I don’t eat fish because it stinks! Are there things that you don’t eat?
AMÉLIE: I don’t like eating chips because they are bad for your health. I’m vegetarian because, in my opinion, it’s better for your health and better for the planet! But I love chocolate. I’m not vegan!
MICHEL: Everyone loves chocolate.
AMÉLIE: Thank you very much!
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