# 3 Definite articles – popular food and drink in France

Now have a go at Activity 3, which will help you to become more familiar with French vocabulary for different food and drinks. You’ll then consider definite articles in French.

## Activity 3

Listen to this conversation in which French people discuss what they like to eat.

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Transcript

We asked Colette, Maryse, Philippe and Lionel what they like eating using the question: Qu’est-ce que vous aimez manger ?

Listen to what they say and then answer the following questions.

1. Who likes fish?

Colette
Maryse
Philippe
Lionel

2. Who likes meat?

Colette
Maryse
Philippe
Lionel

3. Who likes Italian food?

Colette
Maryse
Philippe
Lionel

4. Who likes seafood?

Colette
Maryse
Philippe
Lionel

5. Who likes cheese?

Colette
Maryse
Philippe
Lionel

### Feedback

The correct answers are:

Who likes fish? Colette Maryse Philippe Lionel

Who likes meat? Maryse Philippe Lionel

Who likes Italian food? Colette Maryse Philippe Lionel

Who likes seafood? Colette Lionel

Who likes cheese? Maryse

## Box 1 Understanding the gender of nouns and learning vocabulary

French nouns are either feminine or masculine in gender (shown by the letters ‘nf’ or ‘nm’ after entries in the dictionary). They are usually preceded by the definite article le, la or les (‘the’). You will have seen some examples of nouns with their articles in the shopping list.

- Le poisson, le fromage (masculine)
- La viande, la cuisine italienne (feminine)

If the noun starts with a vowel sound, the articles le and la become l’, for example:

- L’oeuf (masculine)
- L’orange, l’eau (feminine)

Nouns in the plural usually end in an ‘s’:

- Les entrées
- Les poissons, les viandes, les légumes
- Les fromages, les desserts

When you learn a noun, it’s always a good idea to learn its gender at the same time: for example, learn le pain (masculine) or la viande (feminine) instead of pain or viande on their own.

## Activity 4

#### Part 1

Listen to the conversation from Activity 3 again (repeated below) and fill in the gaps in the following sentences with le, la or les.

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Transcript
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#### Part 2

Listen once more to the audio and try to find out how much each person likes the food item they mention. Complete the following sentences with beaucoup or bien.

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Transcript
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OpenLearn - Getting started with French 2
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