Ordering food and drink in French: du, de la, un verre de, pas de

Level A1

Ordering food and drink in French: du, de la, un verre de, pas de

By the end of this lesson you can order food and drink in a café and turn down what you don't want. Where English can say just "water" or "some water", French needs a small word: Je prends de l'eau. The key idea is this: to order without saying how much, use du, de la or de l'; after un verre and after pas, in this lesson's sentences, only de is left.

First, what you already know

You can already order politely with Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. The word un marks one thing, and une does the same with a feminine noun, as in une chaise. To make a sentence negative, ne … pas wraps around the verb, and ne becomes n' before a vowel: Je n'ai pas de chaise. Keep that de after pas in mind, because it comes back in this lesson.

The words in this lesson

The new verb is prendre, to take. Here you only need je prends, where the d and the s are silent. In an order, je prends works like "I'll have" or "I want": it is a normal way to order, not a command. Every French noun has a gender: pain and café are masculine, eau and citronnade are feminine. Eau sounds like the English "oh". Verre is a drinking glass. Citronnade is a still lemon drink; French limonade is usually a fizzy one.

In a café

Listen once and notice the small word before each item: un café, du pain, pas de pain, de l'eau, un verre d'eau. The server asks in very few words, just the item and a rising voice: Du pain ? The customer can answer briefly too. Merci means "thank you" or "thanks".

Du, de la, de l': ordering without saying how much

When you order something without saying how much, French puts a small word before the noun. English may use "some" or nothing at all, but a French sentence like this one needs the word: Je prends du pain. Use du with a masculine noun: du pain, du café. Use de la with a feminine noun: de la citronnade. Before a vowel, use de l', masculine or feminine: de l'eau. Je voudrais, which you already know, takes the same words: Je voudrais de l'eau.

Je prends du / de la / de l' …

Un café or du café?

Café can take both forms, with slightly different meanings. Un café is one counted drink, one cup: that is the usual order at a café counter. Du café is coffee with no cups counted, for example when someone pours from a pot at breakfast. The difference is close to English "a coffee" and "some coffee".

Un verre de: a glass of

After un verre, du, de la and de l' drop out and only de is left: de la citronnade becomes un verre de citronnade. Before a vowel, de becomes d': de l'eau becomes un verre d'eau. In this phrase, de plays the part of English "of". For now, one container is enough; other containers and measures come later.

Je prends un verre de / d' …

Pas de: saying no, or that you have none

With je prends and j'ai, only de is left after pas too: du pain gives Je ne prends pas de pain, and de l'eau gives Je n'ai pas d'eau. The un of un café goes the same way: Je ne prends pas de café. To turn something down, you don't even need the verb: Non, pas de pain, merci. This does not apply to every negative, though: with aimer the article stays (Je n'aime pas le pain), and with c'est too (Ce n'est pas du pain).

Je ne prends pas / Je n'ai pas de / d' …

Your turn: ordering on your own

Read the second speaker's lines aloud, the one ordering. Then change the answers: accept the coffee with Je prends du café, ask for un verre d'eau instead of the citronnade, and turn down the bread with Non, pas de pain, merci. In the Explorer, open the restaurant dining room, find a glass and say Je prends un verre d'eau.

To remember

To order without saying how much: du, de la, de l'. After un verre and after pas, in this lesson's sentences: de, or d' before a vowel. To order, say Je prends, what you want and s'il vous plaît.

Without saying how muchOne servingSaying no or having none
du caféun cafépas de café
de la citronnadeun verre de citronnadepas de citronnade
de l'eauun verre d'eaupas d'eau
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