Skip to content
Skip to main content

About this free course

Download this course

Share this free course

Getting started with French 2
Getting started with French 2

Start this free course now. Just create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available.

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.

Download this audio clip.Audio player: lxf002_wk1_act_aud001.mp3
Copy this transcript to the clipboard
Print this transcript
Show transcript|Hide transcript
 
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).

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.

a. 

Colette


b. 

Maryse


c. 

Philippe


d. 

Lionel


The correct answers are a, b, c and d.

a. 

Colette


b. 

Maryse


c. 

Philippe


d. 

Lionel


The correct answers are b, c and d.

a. 

Colette


b. 

Maryse


c. 

Philippe


d. 

Lionel


The correct answers are a, b, c and d.

a. 

Colette


b. 

Maryse


c. 

Philippe


d. 

Lionel


The correct answers are a and d.

a. 

Colette


b. 

Maryse


c. 

Philippe


d. 

Lionel


The correct answer is b.

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.

Download this audio clip.Audio player: lxf002_wk1_act_aud001.mp3
Copy this transcript to the clipboard
Print this transcript
Show transcript|Hide transcript
 
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
Guest users do not have permission to interact with embedded questions.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
Guest users do not have permission to interact with embedded questions.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
Guest users do not have permission to interact with embedded questions.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
Guest users do not have permission to interact with embedded questions.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).

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.

Download this audio clip.Audio player: lxf002_wk1_act_aud001.mp3
Copy this transcript to the clipboard
Print this transcript
Show transcript|Hide transcript
 
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
Guest users do not have permission to interact with embedded questions.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
Guest users do not have permission to interact with embedded questions.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
Guest users do not have permission to interact with embedded questions.
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).