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Food and Drink Vocabulary

FoundationHigherAQA

Practise Food and Drink Vocabulary for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). Theme 1 Topic 2 covers meals, food, drink and eating habits.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

Foundation

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Higher

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Topic overview

Food vocabulary is inseparable from the partitive article, which is why this topic is examined for grammar as much as for vocabulary.

Je mange du pain, je bois de l'eau, je prends de la confiture, j'achète des pommes. Every one needs its partitive, and omitting it is the most common error in this whole topic area.

After a negative or a quantity the partitive collapses to de: je ne mange pas de viande, beaucoup de fromage, un kilo de pommes. Meals are le petit déjeuner, le déjeuner and le dîner. Useful verbs are manger, boire, prendre and préférer, and j'aime with the definite article: j'aime le chocolat.

Revision notes

The partitive with food

Je mange du pain, je bois de l'eau, je prends de la confiture, j'achète des pommes.

Every food noun needs its partitive when an unspecified amount is meant. English omits some, French cannot.

After negatives and quantities

The partitive collapses to de.

Je ne mange pas de viande. Beaucoup de fromage. Un kilo de pommes. Une bouteille d'eau. This applies to every quantity expression without exception.

General likes

J'aime takes the DEFINITE article, not the partitive.

J'aime le chocolat means I like chocolate in general. Je mange du chocolat means I am eating some. The distinction between liking and consuming decides which article to use.

Key points

  • Food vocabulary needs the partitive.
  • Je mange du pain requires du.
  • The partitive collapses to de after a negative.
  • Quantities also take plain de.
  • J'aime takes the definite article.
  • Liking and eating take different articles.

Worked examples

Example 1

Translate: I eat bread. [2 marks]

Working

Je mange du painuse the masculine partitive
Du is required even though English omits someexplain the article

Example 2

Translate: I do not eat meat. [2 marks]

Working

Je ne mange pas de viandeplace ne and pas around the verb
De la collapses to de after the negativeapply the partitive rule

Example 3

Explain the difference between j'aime le fromage and je mange du fromage. [2 marks]

Working

J'aime le fromage means I like cheese in general, using the definite articleexplain the first
Je mange du fromage means I am eating some cheese, using the partitiveexplain the second

Common mistakes

  • Omitting the partitive.

    Je mange pain is wrong.

  • Using the partitive after j'aime.

    General likes take the definite article.

  • Keeping du after a negative.

    It collapses to de.

  • Using des after a quantity.

    Beaucoup de, not beaucoup des.

Exam tips

  • Include a partitive with every food noun.
  • Use the definite article after j'aime.
  • Collapse to de after negatives and quantities.
  • Learn meal names with their articles.

Key terms

Partitive article
Du, de la or des, meaning some.
Definite article
Le or la, used after j'aime for general likes.
Quantity expression
A phrase such as beaucoup de.
Le petit déjeuner
Breakfast.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.