haricots
The English phrase "beans" is translated into French as haricots.
Haricots refers to the seeds of certain plants used as a vegetable food. You can use it in several specific contexts: haricots secs for dry beans, haricots en conserve for canned beans and haricots rouges for red beans.
Which one should you use?
While haricots is the standard term for beans, the word fèves is also used to refer to certain types of beans, such as fèves fraîches (fresh beans), fèves à écosser (shelling beans) and fèves surgelées (frozen beans).
How does it change in a sentence?
The word haricots is masculine. The singular form is haricot, but it is almost always used in the plural form haricots when referring to the food itself.
What mistakes should you avoid?
When saying haricots, do not pronounce the h or the final t. Both are silent.
Did you know?
- In France, the fève is a small porcelain figurine hidden inside a cake called galette des rois. The person who finds the fève in their slice is crowned king or queen for the day.
- The fève was historically used in ancient Rome and Gaul for divination, where the shapes and colors of the beans were used to predict the future.
- In French, the word haricots is a 'h aspiré', meaning you cannot use a contraction like l'haricot. You must say le haricot even though it starts with an 'h'.
Examples in context
- Je mange des haricots.I'm eating beans.This sentence shows how to use haricots to state what you are eating.Tatoeba #5258480 by martin9, translation #7201398 by shekitten
- Je déteste les haricots.I hate beans.This sentence shows how to use haricots to express a dislike for them.Tatoeba #3374433 by GB3, translation #3374201 by CK
- Il mangera des haricots.He will eat beans.This sentence shows how to use haricots to describe a future action.Tatoeba #5260378 by martin9, translation #6826920 by Eccles17
- Les haricots sont une excellente source de protéines.Beans are an excellent source of protein.
- J'adore les fèves dans ma salade.I love beans in my salad.
- Nous avons acheté des haricots verts au marché.We bought green beans at the market.
- J'ai acheté des haricots frais au marché.I bought fresh beans at the market.
- J'ai cuisiné des fèves délicieuses pour le dîner.I cooked delicious beans for dinner.
- 26 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Emma are cooking dinner in their kitchen.
- LucasEst-ce qu'il reste des haricots ?Are there any beans left?
- EmmaOui, il y a une boîte de haricots.Yes, there is a can of beans.
- LucasParfait, on peut les préparer.Perfect, we can prepare them.
- EmmaD'accord, je vais sortir la boîte.Okay, I will get the can out.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
