French/Lessons/Dining

Canadian and Belgian French has an off-by-one behavior with meals : breakfast is called déjeuner, lunch is called dîner and dinner is souper.


 * 1) French butchers do not sell pork, pork products, nor horsemeat. For these products, go to a charcuterie.
 * 2) In France, bakeries only sell fresh bread. Places where they sell bread that is not fresh are called dépôt de pain.
 * 3) 'Charcuteries' sell things besides pork products, including pâte, salami, cold meats, salads, quiches and pizzas.
 * 4) An alternative to an 'épicerie' is an alimentation générale (a general foodstore).

Vouloir
The verb vouloir, meaning to want, is irregularly conjugated (it is not a regular -ir verb).

The related phrase means to mean. The idiom means to be angry .

Pouvoir
Pouvoir, meaning to be able to, is conjugated similarly to vouloir.

The noun le pouvoir means power or authority, and the term au pouvoir means in power. The adverb, literally translated as could be, means maybe or perhaps.

Pouvoir is not used with verbs relating to the five senses:
 * I can see you. - Je te vois. (not Je peux te voir., which is I can meet you.)

Pouvoir is not used to mean can in the sense of to know how to. Use savoir instead.
 * I can swim. - Je sais nager. (not Je peux nager.)

In Belgian French, pouvoir is additionally not used to say someone is capable of something, savoir is also used for that.
 * Je ne sais pas dormir. - I am not able to sleep. to a Belgian, I do not know how to sleep. to a Frenchman.
 * Je ne peux pas dormir. - I am not allowed to sleep. to a Belgian, I am not able to sleep. to a Frenchman.

Puis is the first person present indicative form used in inversion and as an archaic variant.

Servir, meaning to serve (to bring a meal to someone), is conjugated similarly to sortir, partir, and dormir.

Formation
The verbs, meaning to clear (a table) or to clear away, and , meaning to serve again, are conjugated in the same way as servir.

Servir means to serve (to bring a meal to someone):
 * On nous a servi à dîner.

It can also mean to serve more generally:
 * Il sert son pays.
 * Il a servi dans l’infanterie.
 * Il aime à se faire servir.

It can also mean to be used for or to be useful for someone:
 * Ce livre lui a bien servi dans son travail.
 * Cela ne sert à rien!
 * Cette machine ne peut plus servir.

In the context of sports, servir means to serve (start a point with service) or to set up (pass to, in order to give a scoring chance).

In the context of transportation, desservir, meaning to serve (of a train or bus, to stop at a particular town), is used instead:
 * Ce train dessert les grandes villes de la région.
 * Cet autobus dessert les boulevards.
 * Ce bureau de poste dessert plusieurs communes.

-cer verbs are regular -er verbs, but are also stem changing. The most common -cer verb is commencer, meaning to begin.




 * 1) -eille is pronounced eh-yuh
 * 2) Do not confuse with le livre.