French Word of the Day

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Sunday, October 20, 2013

se faire asseoir

to seat someone

Mesdames, Messieurs, votre table est prête. On vous fait asseoir, si vous voulez.
Ladies, gentlemen, your table is ready. We’ll seat you now, if you like.

TODAY
When you visit France as a native English speaker, everyday interactions that you take for granted at home can suddenly feel like a lot of work. But they also can be very rewarding. Today’s example illustrates one such common interaction — walking into a café or restaurant and knowing what to say and learning to recognize some of the responses. The dialogue here was originally part of a weeklong exercise in which we built an entire conversation that you can see here.

MORE FRENCH RESTAURANT VOCABULARY
After you’ve learned to say to seat someone in French, follow the links below to discover more French words and phrases useful for a visit to a restaurant or café:

Saturday, October 19, 2013

des informations

n.f.pl., information

Je cherche des informations sur vos produits.
I’m looking for information on your products.

TODAY
Note how the French use the plural des informations instead of the singular form of the word as we do with information in English. It’s one example of singular and plural differences between the two languages. Follow the links below to discover more examples of French vocabulary words that differ from English in their 
singular and plural expressions.

Friday, October 18, 2013

un couvert

a place setting, used to refer to the number of people in a party

Bonsoir, Messieurs, Dames.
— Bonsoir. On n’a pas réservé. Il fallait?
Non, pas du tout. Quatre
couverts?
— Oui, exactement.

Good evening, gentlemen, ladies.
— Good evening. We didn’t make reservations. Were they necessary.
No, not at all. For four people (place settings)?
— Yes, exactly.

TODAY
We’re covering the vocabulary necessary to confidently walk into a restaurant or café. Here is a complete conversation featuring today’s word and others:

Bonsoir, Messieurs, Dames.
— Bonsoir. On n’a pas réservé. Il fallait?
Non, pas du tout. Quatre
couverts?
— Oui, exactement. Avez-vous peut-être
une table libre à la terrasse ?
Eh, non, malheureusement, la terrasse est complète. Il fait beau ce soir.
–Pas de problème. La salle, ça va.
Je crois que nous aurons une table libre dans dix minutes.
–Merci. C’est possible de
nous asseoir au bar pendant que nous attendons?
Bien sûr. Je vous amène. Suivez-moi.
Au bar, ils prennent un verre de vin et les arômes de la cuisine font venir l’eau à la bouche de chacun.
Mesdames, Messieurs, votre table est prête. On
vous fait asseoir, si vous voulez.
Ils sont assis maintenant.
–Alors, Monsieur. Qu’est-ce que vous nous suggérez ce soir?
Tous nos plats sont excellents. Mais si vous me permettez, je vous suggère notre entrée de moules pour commencer.

Good evening, gentlemen, ladies.
— Good evening. We didn’t make reservations. Were they necessary.
No, not at all. For four people (place settings)?
— Yes, exactly. Do you have a free table on the terrace?
Uh, no, unfortunately the terrace is full. The weather’s beautiful tonight.
–No problem. The dining room is fine.
I believe we’ll have a free table in ten minutes.
–Thank you. Is it possible to sit at the bar while we wait?
Of course. I’ll take you. Follow me.
At the bar, they have a glass of wine and the aromas of the food make everyone’s mouth water.
Ladies, gentlemen, your table is ready. We’ll seat you now, if you like.
They’re seated now.
–So, what do you suggest this evening.
All of our plates are excellent. But if you’ll permit me, I suggest our mussels appetizer to you to start.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

une livraison

a delivery

Avez-vous reçu la livraison ce matin?
Did you receive the delivery this morning?

TODAY
After you’ve learned to ask for a delivery in French, follow the links below to learn more French vocabulary words about today’s topic, shopping.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

la récolte d’été

the summer crop or harvest

Les fermiers attendent la récolte d’été pour qu’ils puissent vendre leurs légumes.
The farmers are waiting for the summer crop so they can sell their vegetables.

TODAY
Our word is inspired by the vegetables of the harvest. After you’ve learned to say summer harvest in French, follow the links below to discover more French words for foods from the garden.

GARDENING IN FRENCH
Take our French Summer Harvest Vocabulary Quiz to find out how well you know your way around the garden.

Vocabulary Section: Food and Drink, Summer Harvest
Tuesday, October 15, 2013

le banc

the bench

La jeune fille se repose sur le banc.
The young girl rests on the bench.

TODAY
Our vocabulary topic is au parc (at the park). After you’ve learned to say bench in French, follow the links below to discover more French vocabulary words about the park and other outdoor activities:

READY FOR THE PARK?
Take our French Park Vocabulary Quiz to find out.

Vocabulary Section: Park, Word of the Day
Monday, October 14, 2013

klaxonner

to honk

Hélène a klaxonné quand elle est arrivée chez Gérard.
Hélène honked when she arrived at Gérard’s house.

TODAY
Our word is one of several verbs we’ve covered that are not necessarily the most common but nonetheless useful to know. After you’ve learned how to say to honk in French, follow the links below to learn these other less common French verbs:

LOOKING FOR MORE WORDS ABOUT CARS AND DRIVING?
Follow these links to these words to help you take to the road in French:

LEARN TO CONJUGATE VERBS LIKE KLAXXONER
Check out our Quick Verb Guide to learn how to conjugate regular -er verbs like klaxxoner.

Vocabulary Section: Cars, Verbs, Word of the Day
Sunday, October 13, 2013

faire le plein

to fill up (the gas tank)

Le résevoir à essence est vide. Nous devons faire le plein.
The gas tank is empty. We have to fill up.

TODAY
Our phrase is about the topic cars and driving. Once you’ve learned to say you want to fill up the gas tank in French, follow the links below to discover more words about the road:

IS YOUR FRENCH CAR VOCABULARY IN OVERDRIVE?
Take our French Cars and Driving Vocabulary Quiz to find out.

Vocabulary Section: Cars, Word of the Day
Saturday, October 12, 2013

tourner

to shoot (as in a film or movie)

Où a été tourné ce film?
Where was this film shot?

HERE’S YOUR TICKET TO MORE FRENCH FILM VOCABULARY
Now that you’ve learned to say to shoot (a film) in French, follow the links below to discover more French vocabulary words about movies and filmmaking.

Friday, October 11, 2013

germer

to sprout

Avec l’arrivée du soleil, les plantes commencent à germer de nouveau.
With the arrival of the sun, the plants start to sprout again.

DISCOVER MORE WORDS ABOUT THE SEASONS
After you’ve learned to say to sprout in French, follow the links below to discover more French vocabulary words about the seasons.

Vocabulary Section: Seasons, Word of the Day
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