À table !
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be beginning to:
- Name common foods and drinks and identify them with the correct article: the partitive articles du, de la, and de l' for unspecified amounts of mass foods and drinks, and the plural indefinite article des for unspecified plural countable items.
- Distinguish the partitive article from the plural indefinite article des and from the definite article you already know.
- Use a small set of supported present-tense forms of manger, boire, prendre, and vouloir, along with j'aime, j'adore, and je préfère, to talk about food preferences.
- Express quantities using expressions such as un peu de, beaucoup de, and une bouteille de, and ask about quantity using combien de.
- Make a polite request using je voudrais, and accept or decline an offer using a fixed expression.
- Make a food or drink expression negative, changing the article to de or d' after ne...pas.
- Recognize and optionally reuse two fixed expressions with the pronoun en.
- Read a basic menu and order food politely in conversation and in writing.
Communication Scenario
Léa is at an outdoor market with her friend Karim, buying food for dinner. At the cheese stall, she asks for what she needs, and the vendor asks how much she would like. Later, at home, she and Karim look at what is available and decide what to eat and drink with the meal. This chapter continues Unit II by moving from the rhythms of a daily routine to a specific, recurring everyday task: talking about food, reading a simple menu, and ordering politely.
- This chapter introduces the partitive article, the plural indefinite article des, quantity expressions, combien de, polite requests with je voudrais, offer-and-response formulas, a small set of supported food verb forms, and a controlled, formulaic introduction to the pronoun en. It does not introduce numbers and prices, adjective placement rules, or freely placed direct object pronouns; those are the focus of Chapter 9.
- Vocabulary and grammar from Chapters 1–7, including reflexive verbs, telling time, sequencing words, and ne...pas, remain active and should be recycled wherever natural.
- This chapter is a regular instructional chapter. It develops several systems that are still forming; a full cumulative assessment of Unit II occurs later in the volume.
Core Vocabulary: Food, Drink, and the Table
The following productive vocabulary supports this chapter's communication goal: talking about food, drink, and simple meals, and ordering politely. Nouns are listed with their gender, since gender determines which article you will use.
| French | Gender | English |
|---|---|---|
| le pain | m. | bread |
| le fromage | m. | cheese |
| le beurre | m. | butter |
| le riz | m. | rice |
| le poulet | m. | chicken |
| la viande | f. | meat |
| la salade | f. | salad, lettuce |
| la soupe | f. | soup |
| l'eau | f. | water |
| les œufs | m. pl. | eggs |
| les légumes | m. pl. | vegetables |
| French | Gender | English |
|---|---|---|
| le café | m. | coffee |
| le thé | m. | tea |
| le jus d'orange | m. | orange juice |
| le lait | m. | milk |
| l'eau minérale | f. | mineral water |
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le petit-déjeuner | breakfast |
| le déjeuner | lunch |
| le dîner | dinner |
| une entrée | a starter |
| un plat | a main dish |
| une boisson | a drink |
| un dessert | a dessert |
The terms above use the France-based mealtime system as this textbook's default productive model. See Culture and Communication for a labeled regional comparison.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| un peu de | a little (of) |
| beaucoup de | a lot (of) |
| assez de | enough (of) |
| une bouteille de | a bottle of |
| un morceau de | a piece of |
| une tranche de | a slice of |
| combien de | how much / how many (of) |
| French | English |
|---|---|
| je voudrais | I would like |
| vous voulez...? | would you like...? (do you want...?) |
| et avec ça ? | anything else? (lit. and with that?) |
| c'est tout, merci | that's all, thank you |
| oui, volontiers | yes, gladly |
| oui, s'il vous plaît | yes, please |
| non, merci | no, thank you |
| avec plaisir | gladly, with pleasure |
Formulaic at this stage: je voudrais is presented and practiced as a fixed polite request before its full conditional-mood grammar is analyzed in a later volume. Vous voulez is presented as a supported service-interaction form, not as a complete introduction to the verb's full conjugation.
| French | English | Status |
|---|---|---|
| sans viande | without meat | Supported formula |
| sans lait | without milk | Supported formula |
| avec des œufs | with eggs | Supported formula |
| je préfère... | I prefer... | Supported, selected form |
| je ne prends pas de... | I don't have/take... | Supported formula |
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le réfrigérateur | the refrigerator |
| faire les courses | to do the shopping |
| tout le monde | everyone |
| bien sûr | of course |
| vous désirez ? | what would you like? (formal, used by a vendor or server) |
| le vendeur / la vendeuse | the (male/female) vendor |
The receptive items above support listening and reading in this chapter. You are not expected to produce them yet.
Pronunciation: du, un, and Liaison with des
Du and tu contain the same front rounded vowel /y/. Keep it distinct from the vowel /ø/ in deux: round your lips and keep your tongue forward for du, rather than letting it slide toward the vowel in deux.
- In un peu de, the nasal vowel in un should stay nasal and not add a pronounced n sound at the end.
- Before a vowel sound, the singular article appears as l'. The partitive form is therefore de l', as in de l'eau and de l'huile. Do not analyze this as de + le becoming de l'; de + le normally contracts to du.
- Des before a vowel-initial word, as in des œufs or des oranges, takes required liaison: the final -s is pronounced as [z] linking into the vowel.
When making a polite request such as Je voudrais du pain, s'il vous plaît, use smooth, courteous intonation rather than an abrupt or command-like delivery.
Language Focus: Articles, Quantities, Requests, and En
Purpose: talk about food and drink as unspecified amounts or unspecified plural items, ask about and express quantity, ask for food politely and respond to an offer, and refer back to something already mentioned without repeating the noun.
8.1 The partitive article
French uses a special article, the partitive article, to talk about "some" of a mass or unbounded substance that is not normally counted as individual units, such as bread, water, or rice.
| Form | Used before | Example |
|---|---|---|
| du | masculine singular mass noun | du pain |
| de la | feminine singular mass noun | de la salade |
| de l' | singular mass noun beginning with a vowel sound | de l'eau |
The partitive article is not the same as the definite article le/la/l'/les. Du pain refers to an unspecified amount of bread. Le pain can refer either to identified bread or to bread as a general category, depending on context.
- Je voudrais du pain et de la salade. I would like some bread and some salad.
- Je voudrais le pain qui est sur la table. I would like the bread that is on the table.
- J'aime le pain. I like bread (in general).
8.2 The plural indefinite article des
Des is not a form of the partitive article. It is the plural indefinite article, used before an unspecified number of countable plural items, the same family as un and une for one whole countable item.
| Article type | Forms | Main Chapter 8 use |
|---|---|---|
| Partitive | du, de la, de l' | Unspecified amounts of mass or unbounded foods and drinks |
| Plural indefinite | des | Unspecified plural countable items |
| Singular indefinite | un, une | One whole countable item |
| Definite | le, la, l', les | Identified items, or general categories, depending on context |
- Je voudrais des œufs. I would like some eggs. (unspecified plural indefinite)
- Il y a des légumes dans le réfrigérateur. There are vegetables in the refrigerator. (unspecified plural indefinite)
8.3 Selected food verb forms and preferences
This chapter uses a small, selected set of forms of four verbs, plus three preference expressions. You are not expected to conjugate these verbs freely in every person; only the forms below are productive at this stage.
| Function | Supported forms |
|---|---|
| Eat — manger | je mange, tu manges, nous mangeons |
| Drink — boire | je bois, tu bois, nous buvons |
| Have/take — prendre | je prends, tu prends, il/elle prend, nous prenons |
| Want — vouloir | je veux, tu veux, vous voulez; je voudrais (fixed polite formula) |
| Preferences | j'aime, j'adore, je préfère |
- Je préfère le thé, mais j'aime aussi le café. I prefer tea, but I also like coffee.
- Nous prenons du riz et des légumes. We are having rice and vegetables.
8.4 Expressing and asking about quantity
8.5 Making a polite request, and accepting or declining an offer
Use je voudrais ("I would like") instead of je veux ("I want") to make a request sound polite in a shop, market, café, or restaurant. When someone offers you something with vous voulez...?, respond with a fixed acceptance or refusal.
- Je voudrais du fromage, s'il vous plaît. I would like some cheese, please.
- Vous voulez du thé ? — Oui, volontiers. Would you like some tea? — Yes, gladly.
- Vous voulez du café ? — Non, merci. Would you like some coffee? — No, thank you.
8.6 Negation with the partitive and the plural indefinite article
8.7 A controlled introduction to the pronoun en
The pronoun en can replace a partitive expression or a quantity so that you do not have to repeat the noun. At this stage, you will recognize en in two fixed expressions and may optionally reuse them. Its full placement rules with other pronouns are developed later in the course.
- Tu veux du pain ? — Oui, j'en voudrais un peu. Do you want some bread? — Yes, I would like a little (of it).
- Il y a du fromage ? — Oui, il y en a. Is there cheese? — Yes, there is (some).
Controlled practice: Complete each exchange with en.
- Tu veux du pain ? — Oui, j'___ voudrais un peu.
- Il y a du fromage ? — Oui, il y ___ a.
This chapter uses en only in these two modeled, formulaic patterns. You are not yet expected to place en freely in every sentence type; that control develops in later chapters.
Model Dialogue: Au marché
Context: Léa is buying food at an outdoor market stall before making dinner with Karim.
Receptive expressions in this dialogue: vous désirez ? (a common formal way for a vendor or server to ask what you would like) and bien sûr (of course).
Listening Practice
If no audio recording is available, ask a partner, instructor, or text-to-speech tool to read the lines below aloud, or read them aloud to yourself slowly.
- List every food and drink item Fatou asks for, in the order she mentions them.
- What does Fatou say she is not buying, and what is she preparing instead?
- What does Fatou say she prefers to drink in the evening?
Speaking Practice
Pratique contrôlée — Controlled practice: partitive or plural indefinite?
Say each sentence aloud, choosing du, de la, de l', or des correctly, and identify whether the article is partitive or plural indefinite: Je voudrais ___ pain. Il y a ___ eau sur la table. Nous mangeons ___ salade. Tu prends ___ œufs ?
Pratique contrôlée — Controlled practice: combien de
With a partner, take turns asking and answering: Combien de fromage voulez-vous ? — Un peu de fromage, s'il vous plaît. Substitute other foods and quantities from this chapter's vocabulary.
Pratique contrôlée — Controlled practice: accepting and declining
With a partner, take turns offering a drink and responding: Vous voulez du thé ? — Oui, volontiers. and Vous voulez du café ? — Non, merci. Practice both an acceptance and a refusal.
Tâche communicative — Communicative task: order at the market
With a partner, role-play a vendor and a customer at a market stall. The customer orders two or three items using je voudrais and at least one quantity expression; the vendor asks combien de...? and et avec ça ?; the vendor offers one additional item, which the customer accepts or declines; the customer closes with c'est tout, merci. Reference tables may be used throughout.
Pratique individuelle — Solo alternative
Record yourself performing a short market order using a script you write first from this chapter's vocabulary: greet the vendor, request two or three items with je voudrais, answer a combien de...? question, respond to one offer, and close with c'est tout, merci.
Reading Practice: A Menu and a Meal
Menu du jour
Entrée : salade
Plat : poulet avec du riz
Boisson : eau minérale ou jus d'orange
Dessert : fruit
Tâche de lecture — Menu questions:
- What is the main dish (le plat) on the menu?
- What drinks are available?
- Is a dessert included?
Un dîner simple — A simple dinner
Ce soir, Amina prépare le dîner pour sa famille. D'abord, elle regarde le réfrigérateur : il y a du riz, de la viande, et un peu de salade, mais il n'y a pas de pain. Elle prépare du riz avec de la viande et de la salade. Pour boire, il y a de l'eau et du jus d'orange. Sa sœur ne prend pas de viande, alors Amina prépare aussi un peu de riz avec des œufs. Après le dîner, tout le monde prend du thé. Il n'y a pas de dessert ce soir, mais tout le monde est content.
Tâche de lecture — Reading task:
- List what is in the refrigerator, according to the passage.
- What does Amina prepare for the family, and what does she prepare separately for her sister? Why?
- What does everyone drink after dinner?
Receptive expressions in this passage: le réfrigérateur ("the refrigerator") and tout le monde ("everyone"). You are not expected to produce these yet; they are recycled for production in a later chapter.
Writing Workshop: Meal and Order Card
Complete the following linked writing tasks in order.
Tâche 1 — Choose the correct article: Complete each sentence with the correct form, and note whether the article is partitive or plural indefinite.
Tâche 2 — Meal and Order Card: Complete the two short, controlled sections below, substituting your own choices from this chapter's vocabulary where useful.
- Complete the article sentences first. Confirm each article against the gender and countability of the noun in the Language Focus section.
- Choose your foods and drinks. Select at least two items for "Mon repas" and two items, with one quantity expression, for "Ma commande."
- Complete "Mon repas." Include one negative sentence with ne...pas.
- Complete "Ma commande." Use je voudrais and one quantity expression.
- Read your card aloud once. Listen for elision before vowel-initial nouns and liaison after des.
- Check every article. Confirm it changes to de or d' after ne...pas and after quantity expressions.
Liste de révision — Editing checklist:
- Every partitive article agrees with the gender of its noun; des is used only for plural countable items.
- Quantity expressions are followed by de or d' alone, with no article.
- Negative sentences with ne...pas replace the article with de or d'.
- Elision is applied correctly: de l' before a vowel sound.
- Je voudrais is used for the polite request, not je veux.
- No vocabulary or grammar from outside Chapters 1–8 has been used, including no numbers, prices, adjective placement, or freely placed direct object pronouns.
Culture and Communication
Food shopping practices vary by country, city, neighborhood, household, budget, and available infrastructure. Open-air markets, supermarkets, small shops, cooperatives, street vendors, and other systems may coexist across Francophone communities, and no single routine describes how everyone shops. Where a vendor-and-customer exchange does take place, greetings and polite formulas such as bonjour, s'il vous plaît, and merci are generally expected as part of the interaction, not as optional extras.
The mealtime vocabulary in this chapter (le petit-déjeuner, le déjeuner, le dîner) reflects the France-based system used as this textbook's default productive model. In Quebec, le déjeuner commonly refers to breakfast, le dîner to the midday meal, and le souper to the evening meal. This is a labeled regional difference in mealtime vocabulary, not an error in either variety. The Quebec terms are presented here as regional recognition vocabulary; you are not asked to produce them yet.
Common Mistakes
Error: Describing des as one of the "forms of the partitive article," alongside du, de la, and de l'.
Correction: Des is the plural indefinite article, used for unspecified plural countable items such as des œufs. The partitive article family is limited to du, de la, and de l', used for unspecified amounts of mass or unbounded foods and drinks.
Error: Saying je voudrais le pain when asking for "some bread" at the table.
Correction: Use the partitive article for an unspecified quantity: je voudrais du pain. Le pain can mean identified bread or bread as a general category, depending on context, which is not what is meant here.
Error: Saying beaucoup de la salade instead of dropping the article after the quantity word.
Correction: After a quantity expression, only de remains: beaucoup de salade, not beaucoup de la salade.
Error: Saying je ne prends pas du café instead of changing the article after negation.
Correction: After ne...pas, the article becomes de (or d' before a vowel sound): je ne prends pas de café. The same change applies to des: je ne mange pas d'œufs.
Chapter Review
Partie A — Compréhension (Comprehension)
1. Return to the Model Dialogue, and answer these short questions.
- What three things does Léa ask for at the market stall?
- What foods are available at home, and what food is missing?
Partie B — Écriture (Writing)
1. Complete each sentence with du, de la, de l', or des, and state which article type each is: Je voudrais ___ eau. Il y a ___ œufs. Nous mangeons ___ viande.
2. Write one negative sentence saying what you do not eat or drink, using ne...pas de.
Partie C — Lecture (Reading)
1. Return to "Un dîner simple," and list every food and drink item mentioned, including anything mentioned negatively.
Partie D — Oral (Speaking)
1. With a partner, order a simple meal, asking politely with je voudrais for at least two items and one quantity, and respond to one offer using an acceptance or refusal formula.
Guided Performance Practice
Chapter 8 Guided Practice
À table : A Supported Meal and Market Order
This activity is formative, not pass/fail. You may consult the article, vocabulary, quantity, verb-form, request, and en reference tables throughout. Chapter 8 develops several systems that are still forming; a full cumulative assessment of Unit II occurs later in the volume.
- Answer the Model Dialogue questions. Use the Chapter Review Partie A.
- Read the menu and answer the menu questions. Confirm the main dish, drinks, and dessert.
- Answer the Listening Practice questions. Refer back to the script as needed.
- Complete the article and quantity exercises. Confirm partitive versus plural indefinite where relevant.
- Complete the controlled en exercise. Both items use the same pronoun.
- Complete the Meal and Order Card. Apply the editing checklist from the Writing Workshop.
- Perform a short supported order. With a partner or using the solo alternative, greet, request, answer a quantity question, respond to one offer, and close politely.
| Practice area | What the learner is beginning to demonstrate |
|---|---|
| Partitive articles | Selects du, de la, or de l' with support. |
| Plural indefinite | Uses des with plural countable items. |
| Quantity expressions | Uses de/d' after a quantity word, and asks with combien de. |
| Selected food verbs | Reuses the supplied forms of manger, boire, prendre, and vouloir. |
| Polite requests | Uses je voudrais appropriately. |
| Offers | Accepts or declines with a fixed expression. |
| Negation | Changes the article to de/d' where appropriate. |
| Formulaic en | Reuses one of the two supplied patterns. |
| Task completion | Completes a short, supported Meal and Order Card. |
Answer Key
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- Léa asks for cheese, bread, and a bottle of water.
- There is rice and meat at home, but there is no salad.
Listening Practice
- Bread, a little cheese, eggs, olive oil, and a bottle of water.
- She is not buying meat; she is preparing vegetable soup instead.
- She prefers tea in the evening.
Speaking — Article Practice
- du pain — partitive
- de l'eau — partitive
- de la salade — partitive
- des œufs — plural indefinite
Speaking — Quantity Practice
Sample exchange: Combien de fromage voulez-vous ? — Un peu de fromage, s'il vous plaît. Other accurate substitutions using chapter vocabulary are acceptable.
Speaking — Offer and Response
Sample exchanges: Vous voulez du thé ? — Oui, volontiers. / Vous voulez du café ? — Non, merci.
Menu Reading
- The main dish is chicken with rice (poulet avec du riz).
- Mineral water or orange juice.
- Yes, a fruit dessert is included.
Reading Practice — Un dîner simple
- The refrigerator has rice, meat, and a little salad, but no bread.
- Amina prepares rice with meat and salad for the family, and rice with eggs separately for her sister, because her sister does not eat meat.
- Everyone has tea after dinner.
Writing — Article and Quantity Exercise
- du (Je voudrais du pain.) — partitive
- de l' (Il y a de l'eau dans le réfrigérateur.) — partitive
- de (Nous prenons beaucoup de salade.) — quantity expression, no article
- de (Elle ne prend pas de café le soir.) — article changed after negation
- des (Tu prends des œufs ?) — plural indefinite
Controlled En Practice
- en (Oui, j'en voudrais un peu.)
- en (Oui, il y en a.)
Chapter Review — Writing
- de l' (partitive); des (plural indefinite); de la (partitive).
- Sample answer: Je ne prends pas de viande le matin.
Chapter Review — Reading
Rice, meat, salad, bread (mentioned negatively — there is no bread), water, orange juice, eggs, tea, and dessert (mentioned negatively — there is no dessert that evening).
Meal and Order Card — Model
Je mange du riz et de la salade. Je bois de l'eau. Je ne prends pas de café. Je voudrais un morceau de fromage et une bouteille d'eau, s'il vous plaît. C'est tout, merci.
Other accurate versions using the vocabulary and structures supplied in this chapter are acceptable.
Looking Ahead
Ce que vous commencez à faire — What you are beginning to do
You are beginning to distinguish partitive articles from the plural indefinite article des, use a small set of food-related verb forms, express and ask about quantity, make a polite request, accept or decline an offer, apply basic article changes after negation, read a simple menu, and reuse two fixed expressions with en. This continues Unit II: La vie quotidienne.