petit-déjeuner, déjeuner et dîner
Breakfast, lunch and dinner in French is petit-déjeuner, déjeuner et dîner.
When talking about the meals in general, add the article before each one, le petit-déjeuner, le déjeuner et le dîner.
What does it mean word for word?
petit-déjeuner is literally little lunch.
Which one should you use?
Informally, breakfast is often le p'tit déj and lunch le déj.
Is it said differently in some regions?
This is the standard in France. In Quebec, Belgium and Switzerland the names shift, déjeuner is breakfast, dîner is lunch and souper is dinner, giving déjeuner, dîner, souper.
Did you know?
- The word déjeuner is built on the idea of 'un-fasting', as the prefix 'dé-' acts to undo the state of 'jeûner', or fasting.
Examples in context
- Je prends mon petit-déjeuner à 7 heures du matin.I have breakfast at 7 a.m.
- Je mange mon déjeuner à midi.I eat my lunch at noon.
- Nous dînons à 19 heures ce soir.We are having dinner at 7 p.m. tonight.
- On prend le p'tit dej' ensemble demain matin?Shall we have breakfast together tomorrow morning?
- Je suis libre pour le déj ce midi.I am available for lunch today.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries déjeuner, dîner, et, CC BY-SA 4.0.
