{"id":16540,"date":"2012-09-19T21:54:40","date_gmt":"2012-09-19T19:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=16540"},"modified":"2021-08-05T22:40:03","modified_gmt":"2021-08-05T20:40:03","slug":"french-vocabulary-shopping-at-the-supermarket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-vocabulary-shopping-at-the-supermarket\/","title":{"rendered":"French Vocabulary: Shopping at the Supermarket"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you ever go to France one day, either for a visit, or to move in for work or studying, one of the things you will have to do on your own is buying food, from le supermarch\u00e9 <\/em>(supermarket)\u00a0or the local\u00a0\u00e9picerie<\/em> (food store.)<\/p>\n

The first useful sentence you probably should learn is “excusez-moi<\/em>” (“excuse me”)<\/a>, followed by “avez-vous…?<\/em>” (“do you have…?”), and then you say the name of the product or food you want to buy.<\/p>\n

For example, if it’s le lait <\/em>(milk), you would say: “avez-vous du lait?<\/em>” (“do you have milk?”)<\/p>\n

If you are looking for, say, tomatoes, you would say: “avez-vous de la tomate?<\/em>”<\/p>\n

The first thing you probably want to use, when entering a supermarket, is either un caddie <\/em>(a shopping cart), or just un panier\u00a0<\/em>(a basket), in case you\u00a0plan to buy only a few items.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you can’t find the shopping carts, you can politely ask: “O\u00f9 sont les caddies, s’il vous pla\u00eet?<\/em>” (“Where are the shopping carts, please?”)<\/p>\n

Once inside, you can ask for a specific aisle: “O\u00f9 est le rayon…?<\/em><\/em>” (“Where is the… \u00a0aisle?”)<\/p>\n

For example: “O\u00f9 est le rayon fruits et l\u00e9gumes, s’il vous pla\u00eet?<\/em><\/em>” (“Where is the fruits and vegetables aisle, please?”)<\/p>\n

You will probably also have to remember how to say such things as “poisson frais<\/em>” (“fresh fish”), “viande fraiche<\/em>” (“fresh meat”), “le pain<\/em>” (“bread”), “l’huile d’olive<\/em>” (“olive oil”), “les\u00a0\u0153ufs<\/em>” (“eggs”), “les pommes<\/em>” (“apples”), “les pommes de terre<\/em>” (“potatoes”), “les surgel\u00e9s<\/em>” (“frozen food”), etc.<\/p>\n

For more on fruits and vegetables see our posts:<\/p>\n