Collins Dictionaries - Easy Learning French Conversation

If you’re going out for a meal in France either in a local café or in a fancy restaurant, the phrases in this unit will give you the confidence to talk to the waiter and chat with your French friends in easy, natural French. We’ll also give you some tips on getting advice about what to order, and a few key phrases the waiters are likely to use.

If you want to make arrangements such as where and when to meet when you go out for a meal with French-speaking people, you can ask Où est-ce que…?( Where…? ) or À quelle heure…?( What time…? ).

If you want to check that the arrangements suit your friends or colleagues, you can use Ça te va si…?or Ça vous va si…?( Will it be all right if…? ).

When you’re going out for a meal you’ll need to ask for various pieces of information, such as where things are and how much they cost. To ask where something is, you can use Où se trouve…?( Where is…? ), and to ask how much it costs, use C’est combien…?( How much is…? ).

Many of the questions you will be asking can be answered by yes or no . You can either put est-ce quebefore what you want to know or alternatively you can raise the tone of your voice at the end of the sentence – this will make you sound more informal.

When you’re out in a French restaurant you will need to be able to ask for what you want. If you want to ask for something in French, use je voudrais( I’d like ) or on voudrait( we’d like ). voudraisand voudraitcome from the verb vouloir.For more information on vouloir,see here.

When the waiter approaches and you want to say that you’re not ready to order, use je n’ai pas encore décidé.Alternatively, if your order has already been taken, you can say on a déjà commandé, merci( someone’s already taken our order, thanks ).

When you want to find out if something is available, use Est-ce que vous avez…?or Vous avez…?( Have you got…? ). avezcomes from the verb avoir.For more information on avoir,see here.