Using je voudrais + un/une + noun to order food
To order food, you can simply use the indefinite article un (masculine) or une (feminine) + the item. You would normally add s’il vous plaît (‘please’), at the end of the sentence:
Une soupe de poisson, s’il vous plaît. One fish soup, please.
If you want to order a specific quantity of items, you use the relevant number:
Trois croissants. Three croissants.
Deux pains au chocolat. Two pains au chocolat.
Un rôti de porc. One (plate of) roast pork.
You can also use the polite form (‘would like’) of the verb vouloir (‘want’): Je voudrais (‘I would like’) + article + item:
Je voudrais un rôti de porc. I’d like the roast pork.
Je voudrais une mousse au chocolat. I’d like the chocolate mousse.
Activité 11
You are about to have your lunch at the café-brasserie Le Bistro du Musée. You are going to place your order. Listen to the waitress and the prompts, and answer in the gaps in the audio track. To check your answers, look at the transcript.
Download this audio clip.Audio player: Audio 8
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Transcript: Audio 8
La serveuse
Vous prenez une entrée, Madame ?
(Crabe mayonnaise)
La cliente
Oui, un crabe mayonnaise.
La serveuse
Et, puis après ?
(Lapin à la moutarde)
La cliente
Un lapin à la moutarde.
La serveuse
Et comme dessert ?
(Tarte aux abricots)
La cliente
Je voudrais une tarte aux abricots, s’il vous plaît.
End transcript: Audio 8
Audio 8
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Café culture
If you order un café in France you will get un express (a strong black coffee). Make sure you say un grand café or un café allongé if you want a large black coffee, un café crème or just un crème if you want white coffee, and un grand crème if you want it large.
Traditional cafés in France are places where people go at any time of day and consume different drinks depending on the time of day. The food served in cafés is limited to light snacks, such as sandwiches or croque-monsieur . American-style coffee shops can now be found in larger French towns and cities, but are not as popular as traditional cafés.
Figure 7
