manger
/mɑ̃.ʒe/
To eat in French is manger.
The verb manger is used to describe the act of eating a meal. When you are in a restaurant or cafe and wish to order food, it is common and polite to use the phrase Je voudrais (I would like) to express your request.
Meaning: eat a meal (verb)
How does it change in a sentence?
The first-person plural form is mangeons (we eat / we are eating). To describe a continuous or habitual action in the past, you can use the imperfect tense form mangeait (was eating / used to eat). The past participle of the verb is mangé (eaten).
How do you pronounce it?
/mɑ̃.ʒe/
Did you know?
- The phrase manger sur le pouce literally means 'to eat on the thumb', but it is the common French idiom for eating a quick snack or a meal on the go.
- In French, the word mange-tout refers to a type of pea (snow pea) because the entire pod is edible.
- The verb manger is inherited from the Late Latin word manducāre, which specifically meant 'to chew' or 'to devour'.
Examples in context
- Je vais manger !I am going to eat!This sentence shows the use of manger for a simple future intention.Tatoeba #11621765 by Adrien_FR, translation #7681776 by ouitroisheures19
- Vas-tu manger ça ?Are you going to eat that?This sentence uses manger to ask a question about consuming something.Tatoeba #1842480 by sacredceltic, translation #1841746 by CK
- Je veux manger ça.I want to eat this.This sentence uses manger to express a desire to eat something.Tatoeba #7669365 by tras, translation #5152930 by CarpeLanam
- Vous pouvez manger ici.You can eat here.
- Nous souhaitons dîner à votre restaurant.We would like to dine at your restaurant.
- On a envie de bouffer une bonne pizza.We feel like gobbling up a good pizza.
- J'ai mangé un croissant délicieux ce matin.I ate a delicious croissant this morning.
- Tu veux boulotter quelque chose avant le film ?Do you want to munch on something before the movie?
- 1251 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Manon and Gabriel are deciding on a place for dinner.
- ManonOù veux-tu manger ce soir ?Where do you want to eat tonight?
- GabrielJe préfère manger au restaurant.I prefer to eat at the restaurant.
- ManonOn peut manger des pâtes là-bas.We can eat pasta there.
- GabrielC'est une bonne idée, allons-y !That is a good idea, let's go!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “eat” translations and entries manger, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries manger, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
