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La Vaisselle – Washing Dishes In French Posted by on Mar 8, 2017 in Vocabulary

My early trips to l’épicerie were an interesting exercise in how much I trusted my French. I took gambles on whether the bottle I was buying was l’assouplissant (softener) or la lessive (detergent), hoping it wasn’t l’eau de Javel (bleach).

Image by Tom Page on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

I haven’t had the luxury of having an apartment with un lave-vaisselle (a dishwasher) since I moved to France. Instead I rely on du liquide vaisselle (dish soap) and des éponges (sponges). That means looking at many different products that even if I know le mot français (the French word), I often don’t know la marque (the brand)!

Cependant (however), before struggling to realize what the difference between French soap brands are, I had to also learn the vocabulary. The difference between la lessive, le liquide vaisselle et le savon (detergent, dish soap, and hand soap) is very important!

Luckily I knew how to say faire la vaisselle (wash dishes) so when I was confusingly staring at the different bottles at l’épicerie, I at least knew how to say what I was looking for.

Excusez-moi monsieur, vous cherchez quelque chose ?
Oui…. J’ai besoin du savon pour faire la vaisselle.
Vous voulez dire du liquide vaisselle ?
Je crois… oui…
Suivez-moi, monsieur, c’est juste ici.
D’accord.

Excuse me, sir, are you looking for something ?
Yes… I need soap for washing dishes.
Do you mean dish washing soap?
I believe so… yes…
Follow me sir, it’s right over here.
Alright.

I will admit I was not sûr à cent pour cent (one hundred percent sure) that le liquide vaisselle was the right word. I figured if l’employé (the employee) knew it would work with la vaisselle (dirty dishes), it should be the right thing.

I made my way out of l’épicerie and when it came time to faire la vaisselle I was relieved to find out that I bought the right kind of soap!

Voici un vocabulaire de la vaisselle :

Clean Dishes by Mack Male on Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Faire la vaiselle – To do the dishes
La vaisselle – Dirty dishes
Le liquide vaisselle – Dish soap
La lessive – Detergent
L’assouplissant – Softener
L’eau de Javel – Bleach
Le savon – Soap
L’assiette – Plate (physical dish)
Le plat – Plate (meal, dish)
La tasse – Cup
Le verre – Glass
Le lave-vaisselle – Dishwasher
Le plongeur – Dishwasher (person)

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About the Author: John Bauer

John Bauer is an enthusiast for all things language and travel. He currently lives in France where he's doing his Master's. John came to France four years ago knowing nothing about the language or the country, but through all the mistakes over the years, he's started figuring things out.


Comments:

  1. David Fang:

    Bonjour John,

    (Je vais essayed en Francais, alors veillez m’excuser parceque il y a longtemps.)
    J’ai passé un ete en France, plus que 50 ans passé . Je me souviens apprenant le phrase argot pour “faire la vaiselle”…”faire la plonge”…est ce que j’ai raison? Je crois que ca marche!
    A tout a l’heure, David

    • Brice:

      @David Fang Absolument, David, “faire la plonge” signifie “faire la vaisselle”, mais c’est de l’argot, comme vous le dites si bien. Bonjour de France.