commander à manger
The English phrase "ordered food" translates to French as commander à manger.
The phrase commander à manger is used when you request a meal from a restaurant for either delivery or pickup. When you want to express the past tense, such as "I ordered food", you use the past participle commandé with the auxiliary verb avoir.
Which one should you use?
While commander à manger is a common idiomatic way to say "to order food", you may also see commander de la nourriture, which is a more literal way to say "to order food" or "to order sustenance".
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the past tense action of having ordered food, use the past participle commandé combined with the auxiliary verb avoir.
Did you know?
- In France, the phrase commander à manger often implies a 'take-out' culture, but traditionally, dining is a slow, seated experience where ordering is done once for the entire meal.
- In French, the act of ordering food commander is linguistically tied to the concept of leadership, as it shares a root with the word for 'commanding' an army.
- If you use commander de la nourriture in a conversation, it can sound strangely clinical, as if you are ordering 'rations' or 'sustenance' rather than a delicious meal.
Examples in context
- Un café s'il vous plaîtA coffee, please
- Je voudrais une saladeI would like a salad
- Est-ce que je pourrais avoir un verre d'eauCould I have a glass of water
- Je prends une saladeI'll take a salad
- Je veux bien un verre d'eau, s'il te plaîtI'd like a glass of water, please
- Je voudrais un croissant, s'il vous plaîtI would like a croissant, please
- Est-ce que je pourrais avoir le menu, s'il vous plaîtCould I have the menu, please
- Je prends un chocolat chaudI'll take a hot chocolate
- Donne-moi une pizzaGive me a pizza
- Nous allons commander à manger sur l'application.We are going to order food on the app.
Example conversation
Gabriel and Léa are deciding what to do for dinner.
- GabrielJe suis fatigué, on peut commander à manger ?I'm tired, can we order food?
- LéaOui, c'est une bonne idée, Gabriel.Yes, that's a good idea, Gabriel.
- GabrielTu préfères des pizzas ou des sushis ?Do you prefer pizzas or sushi?
- LéaJe préfère des pizzas, s'il te plaît.I prefer pizzas, please.
