French Breakfast Vocabulary: Popular Food and Drinks
The French breakfast—le petit-déjeuner à la française—overwhelmingly favors sweet over savory, with staples like croissants, bread with jam and yogurt.
In this blog post, we’ll delve into the most common French breakfast vocabulary, including classic breakfast food and drinks. I’ll also show you useful phrases for ordering breakfast in French.
Contents
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Common French Breakfast Foods
It could be argued that bread puts the “French” in “French breakfast,” and is the staple carbohydrate of choice for most French people. The type of bread varies, but you can usually dip in coffee.
The French are also amoureux des produits laitiers (in love with dairy products) in general, so it’s not uncommon to eat yogurt every day.
Here are some foods you might see in a regular French breakfast:
- Le petit-déjeuner — Breakfast
- Le pain — Bread
- La baguette — Baguette
- Le croissant — Croissant
- Le pain au chocolat — Chocolate bread
- La tartine — Slice of bread with something on it
- Le beurre — Butter
- La confiture — Jam
- Le miel — Honey
- Le yaourt — Yogurt
- Les céréales — Cereal
- Le muesli — Muesli
- Le fromage — Cheese
- Le jambon — Ham
- La charcuterie — Cold cuts
- La salade de fruits — Fruit salad
- Le pamplemousse — Grapefruit
- La banane — Banana
- La pomme — Apple
- La poire — Pear
- Les fruits rouges — Berries
- Les fraises — Strawberries
- Les myrtilles — Blueberries
- Les framboises — Raspberries
- L’œuf — An egg
- Les œufs brouillés — Scrambled eggs
- L’omelette — Omelet
- L’œuf à la coque — Soft-boiled egg
- L’œuf dur — Hard-boiled egg
- Le bacon — Bacon
- Les saucisses — Sausages
- Le pain complet — Whole wheat bread
- Le pain de campagne — Country bread
- Le pain aux graines — Seed bread
- Le pain aux raisins / escargot — Raisin roll
- Le chausson aux pommes — Apple turnover
- Le palmier — Palmier (elephant ear)
- Viennoise au chocolat — Chocolate Viennese pastry
- L’oranais / L’abricotine — Apricot pastry
- Le yaourt nature — Plain yogurt
- Le yaourt aux fruits — Fruit yogurt
- Le muffin — Muffin
- La brioche — Brioche
- La salade verte — Green salad
- Les figues — Figs
- L’abricot sec — Dried apricot
- Les raisins secs — Raisins
- Le flocon d’avoine — Oat flakes
- L’avoine — Oats
- Le beurre de cacahuète — Peanut butter
- La pâte à tartiner — Spread (Nutella or similar)
- Le pâté — Pate
- Le pain grillé — Toast
- Le pain de mie — Sliced bread
- Les noix — Nuts
- Les amandes — Almonds
- Les noisettes — Hazelnuts
- Le gingembre — Ginger
- Les dattes — Dates
- Le petit pain — Bread roll
- La crêpe — Pancake
- Le sirop d’érable — Maple syrup
- Le melon — Melon
- Les raisins — Grapes
French Breakfast Drinks
The French generally associate coffee with milk with breakfast time, if they ever drink it at all.
But it’s not just coffee—as an Englishwoman, I’m impressed by the range and variety of high-quality teas in France, which are often served black. All kinds of fruit juices are consumed as well.
- Le café — Coffee
- Le café noir — Black coffee
- Le café au lait — Coffee with milk
- Le café crème — Coffee with cream
- L’espresso — Espresso
- Le cappuccino — Cappuccino
- Le thé — Tea
- Le thé noir — Black tea
- Le thé vert — Green tea
- L’infusion — Herbal tea
- Le jus d’orange — Orange juice
- Le jus de pomme — Apple juice
- Le jus de pamplemousse — Grapefruit juice
- Le chocolat chaud — Hot chocolate
- Le jus de fruits — Fruit juice
- Le café décaféiné — Decaffeinated coffee
- Le thé à la menthe — Mint tea
- Le smoothie — Smoothie
- Le lait d’amande — Almond milk
- Le lait de soja — Soy milk
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How to Order Breakfast in French
You’d usually order breakfast at a café, where you can choose from options like pastries, coffee and sometimes light food like cereals and yogurt. Some people also drop by a boulangerie (bakery).
- Je voudrais… — I would like…
- Je prends / Je vais prendre… — I will have…
- (Est-ce-que) vous auriez… — Do you have…
- Bonjour, je voudrais prendre le petit déjeuner, s’il vous plaît. — Good morning, I would like to have breakfast, please.
- Pouvez-vous me recommander quelque chose pour le petit déjeuner ? — Can you recommend something for breakfast?
- Quels sont les choix de petit déjeuner ? — What are the breakfast options?
- J’aimerais un café, s’il vous plaît. — I would like a coffee, please.
- Un café crème, s’il vous plaît. — A coffee with cream, please.
- Je voudrais un jus d’orange. — I would like an orange juice.
- Avez-vous des croissants frais ? — Do you have fresh croissants?
- Je prendrai une omelette, s’il vous plaît. — I will have an omelet, please.
- Puis-je avoir des œufs brouillés ? — Can I have scrambled eggs?
- Est-ce que vous servez du bacon ? — Do you serve bacon?
- Pouvez-vous m’apporter du beurre et de la confiture ? — Can you bring me some butter and jam?
- J’aimerais un bol de céréales, s’il vous plaît. — I would like a bowl of cereal, please.
- Avez-vous du pain complet ? — Do you have whole wheat bread?
- Puis-je avoir un peu de miel pour mon yaourt ? — Can I have some honey for my yogurt?
- Avez-vous du lait chaud pour mon thé ? — Do you have hot milk for my tea?
- Le petit déjeuner est-il servi en buffet ou à la carte ? — Is breakfast served as a buffet or à la carte?
- Quelle est l’heure du petit déjeuner ? — What time is breakfast served?
- Est-ce que je peux avoir un peu plus de pain, s’il vous plaît ? — Can I have some more bread, please?
- Avez-vous des viennoiseries ? — Do you have pastries?
- Est-ce que le petit déjeuner comprend des fruits frais ? — Does the breakfast include fresh fruits?
- Plus à droite/à gauche — More to the right/left (when at a bakery and directing the clerk to what you want)
- Je voudrais un nuage de lait — I’d like a cloud of milk (slang for a spot of milk)
How the French Eat Breakfast
French breakfasts often center around bread and coffee, but as time has gone by, many other types of food are available for breakfast—even over-the-top American-style brunch options, called le brunch in French.
Croissants and other pastries are often eaten for breakfast, but if you ask a Parisian, this is a rarity because they have a lot of calories and can leave you feeling “heavy” for the rest of the morning.
The French have breakfast from about 7:00 AM to around 9:00 AM, but on the weekend, it could occur as late as noon.
Cementing your knowledge of the vocabulary will ensure that French breakfast will always be an enjoyable occasion when in France, whether you’re there for work, study or pleasure.
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
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