Essential French Vocabulary – Coffee

When one thinks of France, invariably images of cafes come to mind. Coffee is an integral part of French culture, and there exists a very specific etiquette for drinking it.

Café au lait or milky coffees are drunk only in the mornings, usually with breakfast. Café noir (black coffee) is only consumed with food in the mornings as well, but is served throughout the day. It will never be served with the food however, not even with dessert. Asking for milk with coffee in the evening, or asking for coffee with dessert will be met with surprise, so be warned.

Also, be prepared, French coffee is much stronger than American coffees, and don’t even try to order a complicated half-chai-soy-chocochino-non-fat-latte, that simply won’t fly in France. You’ll still enjoy a fantastic cup of coffee when in France.

Here’s some essential vocabulary:

Phrase in French	Phrase in English	Pronunciation
Un café	a coffee (usually espresso)	Un kuh-fay
Une tasse de café	A cup of coffee	Yoon tahs duh kuh-fay
La cafetière	Coffee pot	Lah kuh-fay-tee-air
Le café instantané	Instant Coffee	Luh kuh-fay an-stawn-ta-nay
Un décaféiné	Decaffeinated	Un day-kuh-fay-ee-nay
Un cappuccino	Cappuccino	Un-puh-chee-noh
Un café crème	Coffee with cream	Un kuh-fay krrehm
Un café au lait	Coffee with Steamed Milk	Un kuh-fay oh lay
Un café noisette	Strong Espresso with a small splash of milk	Un cahf-feh nwa-zett
Un café americain	Filtered coffee	Un Kuh-fay uh-mehr-ee-can
Un petit noir	Very strong espresso coffee in a small cup	Un puh-tee nwar
Un chocolat chaud	Hot chocolate	Un shah-koh-lah show
Un café glacé	Iced Coffee	Un kuh-fay glass-ay
Un café allongé	Espresso with a side of hot water for diluting to the desired strength	Un kuh-fay ah-lon-zhay
Un café, s’il vous plaît	Coffee please (ordering coffee)	Un kuh-fay sill voo play
Sucre	Sugar	Syoo-kruh
Je voudrais…	I would like	Zhuh voo-drray
La créme	Cream	Lah krrehm
Le/un thé	Tea	Luh/un tay
Un thé glacé	Iced Tea	Un tay glass-ay
Une tisane	Herbal tea	Yoon tee-zahn
Une camomille	Chamomile tea	Yoon kah-mo-mee-uh
Un citron pressé	Lemonade (with real lemon)	Un see-trohn pruh-say
Le lait	Milk	Luh lay
Je voudrais payer	I would like to pay	Zhuh voo-dray pay-yay

Do you know of a resource that should be
added to this list? E-mail us and let us know!

________________________ SHARE ________________________

Save Big on Pimsleur Approach Language Learning Courses

100% Money Back Guarantee Try Pimsleur with confidence. We offer a no-risk, 100% unconditional, 30-day money back guarantee.