French Food Vocabulary: 120 Words for Every Meal
120 French food words organised by the moment you need them — breakfast, the market, the butcher, the café — with genders, the register notes that matter, and what to say out loud.
Simply French Team
Most French food vocabulary lists are alphabetical, which is the one order in which nobody ever needs the words. You do not stand in a shop trying to recall the word beginning with c. You stand in a boulangerie at 8am, or in front of a market stall, or at a café table, and you need the six words for that moment.
So this list is organised by moment. 120 words, each with its gender — which is not decoration in French, because le and la change the sound of the phrase around the noun — plus the register notes that stop a correct word from landing wrong.
A note before the tables: gender is worth learning attached to the word, as le pain, never as pain (m). The article is how you will actually say it, and half of French listening is recognising the article that arrives before the noun.
Le petit-déjeuner — breakfast
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| le petit-déjeuner | breakfast | in Belgium/Switzerland/Québec, le déjeuner |
| le pain | bread | the general word |
| la baguette | baguette | ask for une tradition for the better one |
| le pain au chocolat | chocolate pastry | chocolatine in the south-west, and people are serious about it |
| la tartine | slice of bread with topping | what you actually eat at breakfast |
| le beurre | butter | demi-sel = slightly salted |
| la confiture | jam | |
| le miel | honey | |
| le café | coffee | also means the café itself |
| le café au lait | coffee with milk | at home; in a café, ask for un crème |
| le thé | tea | |
| le lait | milk | |
| le jus d'orange | orange juice | jus is [ʒy] — the French u |
| les céréales (f) | cereal | |
| l'œuf (m) | egg | singular [œf], plural les œufs [ø] — the f disappears |
| le yaourt | yoghurt | |
| le croissant | croissant | [kʁwa.sɑ̃] — two syllables |
| le sucre | sugar | see also sugar |
Les œufs is the one to say aloud now. Singular un œuf ends in an [f]; plural des œufs does not, and the vowel changes too. It is the most common irregular plural on any French menu.
Le déjeuner et le dîner — the meal itself
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| le repas | meal | final s silent |
| le déjeuner | lunch | |
| le dîner | dinner | |
| la nourriture | food | the substance; for cuisine say la cuisine |
| l'entrée (f) | starter | not the main course — a classic false friend |
| le plat principal | main course | |
| le dessert | dessert | [de.sɛʁ] — one s sound, unlike désert |
| l'apéritif (m) | pre-dinner drink | l'apéro in speech |
| le goûter | afternoon snack | children's, around 4pm |
| l'assiette (f) | plate | |
| la fourchette | fork | |
| le couteau | knife | |
| la cuillère | spoon | |
| la serviette | napkin | also means towel |
| l'addition (f) | the bill | l'addition, s'il vous plaît |
L'entrée is the false friend that causes real confusion: in French it is the first course. Order an entrée expecting a main and a small plate arrives.
Au marché — fruit and vegetables
| French | English | French | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| la pomme | apple | la tomate | tomato | |
| la banane | banana | la carotte | carrot | |
| l'orange (f) | orange | la pomme de terre | potato | |
| la fraise | strawberry | l'oignon (m) | onion | |
| la poire | pear | l'ail (m) | garlic | |
| le raisin | grape | la salade | lettuce / salad | |
| le citron | lemon | le champignon | mushroom | |
| la pêche | peach | la courgette | courgette | |
| le fruit | fruit | le légume | vegetable |
Two pronunciation notes worth more than the words. La pomme de terre is three words and one idea — say it as one unit, not as pomme · de · terre. And l'oignon is [ɔ.ɲɔ̃]: the oi is not [wa]. It is one of a tiny handful of French words where that spelling lies.
Chez le boucher — meat and fish
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| la viande | meat | |
| le bœuf | beef | [bœf] |
| le poulet | chicken | final t silent |
| le porc | pork | |
| l'agneau (m) | lamb | |
| le jambon | ham | |
| le poisson | fish | double ss = [s]; a single s would be poison |
| le saumon | salmon | the l is silent |
| les crevettes (f) | prawns | |
| le steak | steak | order it saignant / à point / bien cuit |
Saignant is rarer than English "rare" — French à point is closer to medium-rare than to medium. If you want it genuinely pink, à point is usually the safer order.
L'épicerie — the store cupboard
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| le sel | salt | |
| le poivre | pepper | the spice; le poivron is a bell pepper |
| l'huile (f) | oil | [ɥil] — the hardest short word here |
| le vinaigre | vinegar | |
| la farine | flour | |
| le riz | rice | final z silent: [ʁi] |
| les pâtes (f) | pasta | always plural |
| le fromage | cheese | |
| la crème | cream | |
| la moutarde | mustard | |
| le chocolat | chocolate | final t silent |
| la soupe | soup |
Le poivre / le poivron is a genuinely useful pair: one is what you grind, the other is what you stuff. They differ by one syllable and shops stock both.
À boire — drinks
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| l'eau (f) | water | [o] — three letters, one sound |
| une carafe d'eau | jug of tap water | free, and the thing to ask for |
| l'eau gazeuse | sparkling water | |
| le vin | wine | [vɛ̃] — nasal, no n sound |
| le vin rouge / blanc | red / white wine | |
| la bière | beer | une pression = draught |
| le cidre | cider | |
| la tisane | herbal tea | |
| le sirop | cordial | à l'eau = diluted |
Une carafe d'eau is the single most useful item on this page. Tap water is free in French restaurants and asking for it is completely normal; ordering de l'eau without qualifying it will usually get you a paid bottle.
The register notes that actually matter
Vocabulary is the easy half. These are the places where a correct word still lands wrong.
- J'ai faim, not je suis faim. Hunger and thirst are things you have in French: j'ai faim, j'ai soif.
- Bon appétit is said before eating, by anyone, including strangers at the next table. Not saying it reads as slightly cold.
- Je voudrais over je veux. Je veux is grammatically fine and socially blunt — it is closer to "I want" than to "I'd like".
- C'était délicieux at the end, not during. Complimenting each mouthful is an English habit.
- Santé when glasses touch. Tchin-tchin is fine and informal; do not cross arms with anyone.
- Une baguette, s'il vous plaît is a complete, polite sentence in a bakery. You do not need a longer frame.
Say the eight that break
Reading a list is not the same as producing it. These eight are where English speakers reliably come apart — worth saying aloud before anything else:
- les œufs [ø] — no [f], and a different vowel from the singular
- l'huile [ɥil] — a glide English does not have
- l'oignon [ɔ.ɲɔ̃] — the oi that is not [wa]
- le vin [vɛ̃] — nasal, and no [n] at the end
- le poisson [pwa.sɔ̃] — [s], not [z]
- la pomme de terre — one unit, not three words
- le riz [ʁi] — French r, then nothing
- le beurre [bœʁ] — a vowel plus an r, both unfamiliar
→ For the u in jus and huile: French U vs OU Pronunciation Practice
→ For vin, pain and poisson: French Nasal Vowels AN EN ON IN
→ For poisson vs poison: French S vs Z, Drilled on 20 Pairs
→ For dish names on a menu: French Menu Pronunciation: 20 Dishes to Say Before You Order
Say it, then check it
A food word you can read is not a food word you can order with. The gap shows up at the counter, and it shows up on exactly the eight above — the nasal vowels, the French u, and the endings that are not there.
Say them into Simply French and get each one scored before the queue behind you starts moving.
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Now find out how you actually sound.
Simply French listens to you say each sentence and scores it word by word, so you can hear the difference you have just read about — and fix it while it is still fresh.
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