Making a Fresh Salad in French: Beginner Story & Cooking Vocabulary 🥗

Ready to learn some practical French? In this lesson, you’ll join the very hungry Léo and his friend Chloé as they look for something to eat. You’ll learn essential vocabulary for ingredients like vegetables and cheese, and master simple cooking verbs like “to wash,” “to cut,” and “to mix” while following their salad-making adventure.

💬 Video Transcript

Léo: Chloé ! J’ai faim. J’ai très faim !
(Léo: Chloé! I’m hungry. I’m very hungry!)

Chloé: Bonjour Léo. Tu as toujours faim, toi.
(Chloé: Hello Léo. You are always hungry.)

Léo: Oui ! Qu’est-ce qu’on mange aujourd’hui ?
(Léo: Yes! What are we eating today?)

Chloé: Hmm… On regarde dans ton frigo ?
(Chloé: Hmm… Shall we look in your fridge?)

Léo: Bonne idée ! Ouvre le frigo. Regarde… il est un peu vide.
(Léo: Good idea! Open the fridge. Look… it’s a bit empty.)

Chloé: Mais non, Léo. On peut faire une grande salade. C’est facile.
(Chloé: But no, Léo. We can make a big salad. It’s easy.)

Léo: Une salade ? Ah oui ! C’est une très bonne idée. J’aime les salades.
(Léo: A salad? Ah yes! That’s a very good idea. I like salads.)

Chloé: Super ! Regarde. On a de la salade verte.
(Chloé: Great! Look. We have some green lettuce.)

Léo: Oui, de la salade verte. D’accord.
(Léo: Yes, some green lettuce. Okay.)

Chloé: On a des tomates. Elles sont rouges.
(Chloé: We have some tomatoes. They are red.)

Léo: Des tomates rouges. J’aime beaucoup les tomates.
(Léo: Red tomatoes. I like tomatoes a lot.)

Chloé: On a aussi un concombre. C’est vert.
(Chloé: We also have a cucumber. It’s green.)

Léo: Un concombre vert. D’accord.
(Léo: A green cucumber. Okay.)

Chloé: Et regarde ! On a du fromage.
(Chloé: And look! We have some cheese.)

Léo: Miam, du fromage ! J’adore le fromage.
(Léo: Yum, cheese! I love cheese.)

Chloé: Parfait. On a tout pour une bonne salade composée.
(Chloé: Perfect. We have everything for a good mixed salad.)

Léo: Super ! Alors, on commence ?
(Léo: Great! So, shall we start?)

Chloé: Oui. D’abord, il faut laver les légumes.
(Chloé: Yes. First, we must wash the vegetables.)

Léo: Laver les légumes. D’accord. Je comprends.
(Léo: Wash the vegetables. Okay. I understand.)

Chloé: Léo, s’il te plaît, lave la salade dans l’eau.
(Chloé: Léo, please, wash the lettuce in the water.)

Léo: D’accord. Je lave la salade. Voilà, la salade est propre.
(Léo: Okay. I am washing the lettuce. There, the lettuce is clean.)

Chloé: Très bien. Maintenant, lave les tomates.
(Chloé: Very good. Now, wash the tomatoes.)

Léo: Je lave les tomates. Une tomate, et deux tomates. Les tomates sont propres.
(Léo: I am washing the tomatoes. One tomato, and two tomatoes. The tomatoes are clean.)

Chloé: C’est parfait. Maintenant, il faut couper les légumes.
(Chloé: That’s perfect. Now, we must cut the vegetables.)

Léo: Couper ? D’accord.
(Léo: Cut? Okay.)

Chloé: Je prends un couteau. Attention, le couteau est dangereux.
(Chloé: I’m taking a knife. Be careful, the knife is dangerous.)

Léo: Oui, attention Chloé.
(Léo: Yes, be careful Chloé.)

Chloé: Je coupe le concombre en petits morceaux.
(Chloé: I’m cutting the cucumber into small pieces.)

Léo: Tu coupes le concombre. C’est intéressant.
(Léo: You are cutting the cucumber. That’s interesting.)

Chloé: Oui. Et je coupe les tomates en petits morceaux aussi.
(Chloé: Yes. And I’m cutting the tomatoes into small pieces too.)

Léo: Tu coupes les tomates. Moi, je regarde.
(Léo: You are cutting the tomatoes. Me, I’m watching.)

Chloé: C’est ça. Maintenant, on met tout dans le grand bol.
(Chloé: That’s right. Now, we put everything in the big bowl.)

Léo: Dans le grand bol. D’accord. Je mets la salade.
(Léo: In the big bowl. Okay. I’m putting in the lettuce.)

Chloé: Très bien. Je mets le concombre dans le bol.
(Chloé: Very good. I’m putting the cucumber in the bowl.)

Léo: Je mets les tomates dans le bol.
(Léo: I’m putting the tomatoes in the bowl.)

Chloé: Et pour finir, je mets le fromage coupé.
(Chloé: And to finish, I’m putting in the cut cheese.)

Léo: Notre salade est belle ! Elle est verte, rouge et blanche.
(Léo: Our salad is beautiful! It’s green, red, and white.)

Chloé: Oui ! Il manque la sauce. La vinaigrette.
(Chloé: Yes! The sauce is missing. The vinaigrette.)

Léo: La vinaigrette ? C’est difficile ?
(Léo: The vinaigrette? Is it difficult?)

Chloé: Non, c’est très facile. Il faut de l’huile.
(Chloé: No, it’s very easy. You need some oil.)

Léo: De l’huile. D’accord.
(Léo: Some oil. Okay.)

Chloé: Il faut du vinaigre.
(Chloé: You need some vinegar.)

Léo: Du vinaigre. D’accord.
(Léo: Some vinegar. Okay.)

Chloé: Un peu de sel.
(Chloé: A little bit of salt.)

Léo: Un peu de sel.
(Léo: A little bit of salt.)

Chloé: Et un peu de poivre.
(Chloé: And a little bit of pepper.)

Léo: Et un peu de poivre.
(Léo: And a little bit of pepper.)

Chloé: On mélange l’huile, le vinaigre, le sel et le poivre. Et voilà !
(Chloé: We mix the oil, the vinegar, the salt, and the pepper. And there you have it!)

Léo: C’est la vinaigrette ! C’est comme de la magie !
(Léo: It’s the vinaigrette! It’s like magic!)

Chloé: Je mets la vinaigrette sur la salade.
(Chloé: I’m putting the vinaigrette on the salad.)

Léo: Super !
(Léo: Great!)

Chloé: Maintenant, il faut mélanger. Doucement, Léo.
(Chloé: Now, we must mix. Gently, Léo.)

Léo: Je mélange la salade. Je mélange doucement. C’est magnifique !
(Léo: I’m mixing the salad. I’m mixing gently. It’s magnificent!)

Chloé: Oui, la salade est prête.
(Chloé: Yes, the salad is ready.)

Léo: Parfait ! J’ai toujours très, très faim. On mange ?
(Léo: Perfect! I am still very, very hungry. Shall we eat?)

Chloé: Oui ! Bon appétit, Léo !
(Chloé: Yes! Enjoy your meal, Léo!)

Léo: Bon appétit, Chloé !
(Léo: Enjoy your meal, Chloé!)

📝 Essential Vocabulary

Here are some key words and phrases from the video. Listen and repeat to practice your pronunciation!

🔍 Grammar Focus

Let’s look at two important grammar points from Léo and Chloé’s conversation.

1. Partitive Articles: du, de la, des

When talking about an unspecified amount of food, French uses partitive articles, which are like saying “some” in English. The article you use depends on the gender and number of the noun.

• du is used for masculine singular nouns.
  • Example: On a du fromage. (We have some cheese.)
• de la is used for feminine singular nouns.
  • Example: On a de la salade verte. (We have some green lettuce.)
• de l' is used for singular nouns (masculine or feminine) that start with a vowel or a silent ‘h’.
  • Example: Il faut de l’huile. (You need some oil.)
• des is used for plural nouns (masculine or feminine).
  • Example: On a des tomates. (We have some tomatoes.)

2. Giving Simple Commands (The Imperative)

When Chloé tells Léo what to do, she uses the imperative mood. For many common verbs (like those ending in -er), forming the informal command is easy: just use the tu (you) form of the verb in the present tense and drop the final -s.

• Regarder (to look/watch): tu regardes → Regarde! (Look!)
• Laver (to wash): tu laves → Lave! (Wash!)
• Mélanger (to mix): tu mélanges → Mélange! (Mix!)

You can see Chloé use this throughout the script:

• Ouvre le frigo. (Open the fridge.)
• Lave la salade dans l’eau. (Wash the lettuce in the water.)

🌍 Cultural Tip

🃏 Flip & Learn

Review the key vocabulary from our salad adventure with these flashcards.

💡 Key Takeaways

Here are the most important points to remember from this lesson:

• Expressing Hunger: To say you’re hungry, use the phrase J'ai faim. To add emphasis, say J'ai très faim (I’m very hungry).
• Talking About “Some” Food: Use partitive articles (du, de la, de l', des) when referring to a non-specific quantity of an item, like du fromage (some cheese) or des tomates (some tomatoes).
• Essential Cooking Verbs: You learned key action verbs for the kitchen: laver (to wash), couper (to cut), mettre (to put/place), and mélanger (to mix).
• Wishing a Good Meal: Before eating, it’s polite in French to say Bon appétit ! to everyone at the table.

🎯 Practice Quiz

Test your knowledge of the vocabulary and grammar from the video!

✍️ Fill in the Blanks

Let’s test your spelling and memory! Fill in the missing words below. Use correct spelling.