French Phrases: Basic food terms in French

Below are the names of categories of food in French, along with the French names of the main types of meat, fish and seafood. The French names of fruit and vegetables are listed on the next page.

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Types of food in French

These are very generic food terms. For names of specific meats, vegetables etc in French, see below.

de la viande	dla vjɑ̃d	meat
du poisson	dy pwasõ	fish
des légumes	de legym	vegetables
un fruit	æ̃ fʁɥi	some fruit, a piece of fruit
des fruits de mer	de fʁɥid mɛʁ	seafood
du pain	dy pæ̃	bread
des pommes de terre	de pɔm də tɛʁ	potatoes
de la soupe	yn sup	soup
du potage	dy potaʒ	(thin) soup
du fromage	dy fʁɔmaʒ	cheese

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Names of specific meats and fish in French

These names of specific foods in French are all prefixed by du, de la or des, the appropriate word for 'some' in French¹.

Types of meat in French

de l'agneau	də lanjo	lamb
du bifteck	dy biftɛk	steak
du boeuf	dy bœf	beef
du canard	dy kanaʁ	duck
du chevreuil	dy ʃəvʁœj	venison
des cuisses de grenouille	de kɥiz də gʁənuj	frogs' legs
de la dinde	də la dæ̃d	turkey
des escargots	de zɛskaʁgo	snails
du jambon	dy ʒɑ̃bõ	ham
du lapin	dy lapæ̃	rabbit
du porc	dy pɔʁ	pork
de la poule	də la pul	hen (served in soups)
du poulet	dy pule	chicken
des saucisses	de sosis	sausages
du veau	dy vo	veal
de la volaille	də la volaj	poultry

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Types of fish in French

du cabillaud	dy kabijo	(fresh) cod
du haddock	dy adɔk	smoked haddock
du hareng	dy aʁɑ̃	herring
du maquereau	dy makʁo	mackerel
de la morue	də la mɔʁy	cod
des sardines	de saʁdin	sardines
du saumon	dy somõ	salmon
du thon	dy tõ	tuna
de la truite	də la tʁɥit	trout

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Other seafood

araignée de mer	aʁenjed mɛʁ	spider crab
du calmar	dy kalmaʁ	squid
des coquilles Saint-Jacques	de kɔkijsæ̃ʒak	scallops
du crabe	dy kʁab	crab
des crevettes	de cʁəvɛt	prawns
des crevettes grises	de cʁəvɛt gʁiz	shrimps
des écrevisses	dez ekʁəvis	crayfish
du homard	dy omaʁ	lobster
des huîtres	de zɥitʁ	oysters
des langoustines	de lɑ̃gustin	scampi
des moules	de mul	mussels
...marinière	maʁinjɛʁ	...in white wine sauce
des moules-frites	de mulfʁit	mussels and chips (common especially in Belgium)
du poulpe	dy pulp	octopus

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Notes:
1. To say 'the' instead of 'some', replace du, de la and des with le, la and les respectively.

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