Shopping and exchanging items in French

Level A2

Shopping and exchanging items in French

Learn to ask about prices and sizes, choose clothes and exchange a purchase. Unlike English “you,” French distinguishes vous for polite address or several people from tu for someone familiar; use vous with shop staff you do not know. The examples also contrast nous avons with conversational on a, both meaning “we have” here. French words change with grammatical gender: taille and chemise are feminine, giving plus grande and trop petite, while le bleu refers to an item with a masculine noun.

Shopping vocabulary: clothes, sizes, availability and receipts

Ask the price: polite pourriez-vous and everyday ça coûte combien

un article coûte combien ?

Ask for a larger or smaller size with plus grande or plus petite

Vous avez un vêtement dans une taille plus un adjectif de taille ?

Confirm availability with nous avons or conversational on a

Nous avons une taille disponible.

Ask to try clothes on with polite je pourrais or casual je peux

Est-ce que je pourrais essayer un vêtement, s'il vous plaît ?

Choose an item with je voudrais acheter or je vais prendre

Je voudrais acheter un article, s'il vous plaît.

Ask whether you can pay by card with je peux payer par carte

Use “Est-ce que je peux payer par carte ?” to ask whether you can pay by card. Est-ce que introduces a yes-or-no question without an English-style “do” or a change in the order of je peux. French uses par carte for “by card.”

“Tu prends la carte ?” asks whether the other person accepts card payments, with prends meaning “accept” here. Tu makes this version familiar, so use it with someone you already address as tu.

A polite exchange: explain the problem and ask with je pourrais

An informal exchange: show the receipt and request a larger size

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