Home / Courses / French 2 / Unit 10

French 2 Unit 10: Food, Travel and Health Vocabulary

This unit gathers the practical vocabulary French 2 tests most: ordering food, buying groceries, traveling by train or plane and describing how you feel. It also reviews the partitive and expressions of quantity, which appear in every food conversation.

Covers: Partitive articles and quantities, Ordering at a restaurant or café, Shopping for food, Train and air travel, Hotels and directions, Body parts and avoir mal à, At the doctor and pharmacy

Study guide

Talking about food requires the partitive articles du, de la, de l' and des, which mean "some" or "any": Je voudrais du pain, de la confiture et de l'eau. Use the partitive for an unspecified amount, the definite article for likes and dislikes (J'aime le fromage), and the indefinite article for whole countable items (un croissant). After a negative, the partitive becomes de or d': Je ne mange pas de viande. After expressions of quantity, use de alone: un kilo de pommes, une bouteille d'eau, un morceau de gâteau, beaucoup de sucre, un peu de lait, assez de temps.

At a restaurant or café, polite forms matter. Ask Je voudrais ... or Je vais prendre ... rather than Je veux. The meal has une entrée (starter), un plat principal (main course) and un dessert, and you ask for l'addition (the check) at the end. Useful phrases include Qu'est-ce que vous recommandez ?, Comme boisson ?, C'est délicieux and L'addition, s'il vous plaît. In shops, French people visit la boulangerie (bread), la pâtisserie (pastries), la boucherie (meat), la fromagerie (cheese), l'épicerie (groceries) and le marché (outdoor market).

Travel vocabulary centers on transportation and lodging. At la gare (train station) you buy un billet aller simple (one-way) or aller-retour (round trip), check the horaire (schedule), and go to le quai (platform) to board le train. At l'aéroport you need un passeport and une carte d'embarquement (boarding pass), check your valise (suitcase) or bagages, and go through la douane (customs). At l'hôtel, you can ask for une chambre simple or double, with une salle de bains, and you give or receive la clé. Use en with feminine countries and those starting with a vowel (en France, en Iran), au with masculine ones (au Canada), aux with plural ones (aux États-Unis) and à with cities (à Paris).

To describe pain, use avoir mal à + the definite article + body part, contracting à + le to au and à + les to aux: J'ai mal à la tête (I have a headache), J'ai mal au ventre (stomachache), J'ai mal aux dents (toothache), Elle a mal à la gorge (sore throat). Other key expressions: avoir de la fièvre (to have a fever), avoir un rhume (to have a cold), avoir la grippe (to have the flu), tousser (to cough), éternuer (to sneeze), se casser le bras (to break one's arm) and se sentir mal (to feel ill). Avoir mal au cœur means to feel nauseous, not to have heart pain.

At the doctor (chez le médecin), you might hear Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas ? (What's wrong?) or Où avez-vous mal ? (Where does it hurt?). The doctor writes une ordonnance (prescription), which you take to la pharmacie, marked by a green cross in France, for des médicaments, des comprimés (tablets) or du sirop. To give health advice, combine this vocabulary with the imperative: Reposez-vous, Buvez beaucoup d'eau, Prends ce médicament deux fois par jour. Il faut + infinitive also works: Il faut rester au lit.

Key ideas

• Partitive articles (du, de la, de l', des) mean "some" for unspecified amounts.
• After a negative or an expression of quantity, use de alone.
• Use je voudrais or je vais prendre to order politely.
• Food shops are specialized: boulangerie, boucherie, fromagerie, épicerie.
• Train and plane travel use billet, quai, valise, passeport and carte d'embarquement.
• Avoir mal à + article + body part describes pain, with au and aux contractions.
• A doctor gives une ordonnance, which you fill at la pharmacie.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Keeping the partitive after a negative, as in *Je ne bois pas du café instead of pas de café.
• Using des after a quantity, as in *beaucoup des pommes instead of beaucoup de pommes.
• Using a possessive with avoir mal, as in *J'ai mal à ma tête.
• Forgetting contractions, as in *J'ai mal à le ventre instead of au ventre.
• Confusing un billet aller simple (one-way) with aller-retour (round trip).

Before the test, make sure you can

• Use partitive, definite and indefinite articles correctly with food.
• Use de after negatives and expressions of quantity.
• Order a meal politely and ask for the check.
• Name the main food shops and what each sells.
• Buy a train ticket and describe air travel steps in French.
• Use the correct preposition with cities and countries.
• Describe pain with avoir mal à and correct contractions.
• Describe common illnesses and understand basic doctor and pharmacy instructions.

Words to know

le pain

bread

le fromage

cheese

la viande

meat

le poisson

fish

les légumes

vegetables

l'entrée

starter

l'addition

the check

la gare

train station

le billet

ticket

le quai

platform

la valise

suitcase

le passeport

passport

la douane

customs

la chambre

hotel room

la tête

head

la gorge

throat

le ventre

stomach, belly

le dos

back

les dents

teeth

le bras

arm

la fièvre

fever

le rhume

cold

la grippe

flu

tousser

to cough

l'ordonnance

prescription

le médicament

medicine

Sample practice questions

30 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.