2.20520 · Section 2: Everyday activities

Food, drink and eating out

Key learnings

Partitive (du/de la/des) = "some"
For food and drink in general (an unspecified "some", often untranslated), French uses the partitive, matching the noun's gender and number: du (m sg — du pain), de la (f sg — de la limonade), de l' (before a vowel — de l'eau), des (pl — des frites). Contrast the definite le/la/les for a general preference ("j'aime le chocolat") and the indefinite un/une for one item ("un café"). Full table in the note.
Order politely with "je voudrais"
Ordering almost always uses je voudrais (I would like) — more polite than je veux: "Je voudrais un sandwich au fromage, s'il vous plaît"; "Je voudrais de l'eau minérale." Eating-out vocab: la carte (menu), le menu (set menu), le serveur / la serveuse, commander (to order), l'addition (the bill), Vous avez choisi ? Meals: le petit déjeuner, le déjeuner, le goûter, le dîner. Full list in the note.

Common mistakes

Drawn from real examiner reports.

Keeping du/des after a negative

After a negative (ne … pas/jamais/plus) the partitive du/de la/de l'/des reduces to de (d' before a vowel), whatever the gender or number:

Je mange du pain → Je ne mange pas de pain (not "pas du pain").
Il boit de l'eau → Il ne boit pas **d'**eau. This slip caps otherwise strong sentences — an accuracy error examiners flag every sitting.

general FL trap

essence (petrol) is not a food word

In a food-context matching exercise, essence (petrol) was misread as a food word and wrongly matched to charcuterie (cold cooked meats) — the two are unrelated, but the "food" framing made weaker candidates guess. One unfamiliar word can look like it belongs to the food category when it does not. Check the word actually means a food before matching it.

s22 21 Q2(e)

frites is a side, not a "plat principal"

frites (chips) was offered where the category plats principaux (main courses) was required — a specific side item given instead of the broader category asked for. When a question names a category (un plat principal, une boisson, un dessert), answer with something in it (le poulet rôti, le poisson), not a side dish. Read the category word before choosing a food.

w22 41 Q1 Task 2

An accent slip can spell a different word

Minor misspellings are tolerated only if they do not form a different real French word — and food vocabulary is full of near-homophones an accent slip turns into another word:

pêche (peach) vs péché (sin) vs pêcher (to fish).
thé (tea) and crêpe need their accents. Say the word aloud and check every accent belongs.

s22 21 Q4(c)

sain (adjective) vs la santé (noun)

sain / saine is an ADJECTIVE, "healthy", describing a thing: un repas sain, une alimentation saine. la santé is a NOUN, "health", the thing you look after: être en bonne santé, pour ta santé. Candidates interchange them — writing manger santé for manger sainement. Keep them apart: sain describes, la santé names the state.

s22 Speaking Topic 1

le café (I like it) vs du café (some)

Wrong article for a general food statement: le/la/les expresses a general like or dislike (j'aime le café), while the partitive du/de la/des expresses an unspecified quantity you eat or drink (je bois du café). "J'aime du café" and "je bois le café" (meaning some) are both wrong. Match the article to the meaning: preference → definite; some → partitive.

general FL trap

The partitive never changes form

A common misconception treats the partitive as a fixed word ("du pain" as one unchanging unit). In fact it changes with gender and number (du pain, de la viande, de l'eau, des légumes) and reduces to de/d' after any negative (je ne mange pas de pain). And des looks identical in three roles — partitive, plural indefinite, and de + les — from different rules.

general FL trap

Exam tips

Choose the article type before the noun
Before writing a food noun, decide the article type: a general quantity ("some bread") → partitive (du/de la/des); one item ("a coffee") → indefinite (un/une); a general preference → definite (le/la/les). Fixing this first avoids defaulting to the wrong article.
Learn each food noun with its gender
Food-noun genders are not predictable from meaning — le fromage is masculine but la viande is feminine — so you can't pick du vs de la unless you learned the noun with its article. Store every food word as le/la + noun so the correct partitive follows.
Order with "je voudrais" + "s'il vous plaît"
In an ordering role play, use je voudrais (I would like), not je veux, for a polite register, and close with s'il vous plaît. Structure: Je voudrais + article + noun + s'il vous plaît. This routine reliably earns the register/politeness credit.
Read the qualifier before a matching answer
In Reading vocabulary-matching, one unfamiliar word (like essence) can make an item look like it belongs to a food category when it doesn't. Read the qualifying word before committing, and check your choice fits the constraint the question sets — not just one familiar word.

Revision notes