plat à emporter
In French, the English phrase 'takeaway' (referring to a meal bought to be eaten elsewhere) is translated as plat à emporter.
When you are ordering food and want to specify that you want it to go, you can simply say à emporter. If you want to refer to the specific takeaway order itself, you can use une commande à emporter. To ask a restaurant what their specialty is for takeaway, you can ask Quelle est votre spécialité à emporter?
Meaning: meal bought to be eaten elsewhere (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase plat à emporter literally means 'dish to carry away'.
Which one should you use?
While à emporter indicates you want your food to go, you should use sur place if you intend to eat your meal on site at the restaurant.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the plural 'dishes to take away', change the singular plat to the plural plats to get plats à emporter.
Did you know?
- The French verb emporter is a direct relative of the English word 'import'. Both share the root porter, which means 'to carry'.
- In France, if you order à emporter at a bakery, your food is often placed in a simple paper bag rather than a plastic container.
- While à emporter is used for food, the word emporter can also be used in a legal sense to mean 'taking away' a person's rights or property.
Examples in context
- Je voudrais commander à emporter, s'il vous plaîtI would like to order takeaway, please
- Peux-tu me prendre un plat à emporter, s'il te plaît?Can you get me a takeaway dish, please?
- Je vais chercher un café à emporter, stpI'm going to get a coffee to go, please
- Je voudrais un plat à emporter, s'il vous plaît.I would like a takeaway meal, please.
- Est-ce qu'ils proposent un plat à emporter ?Do they offer a takeaway meal?
- On commande un plat à emporter ce soir ?Shall we order a takeaway meal tonight?
Example conversation
Manon and Gabriel are deciding what to eat for dinner.
- ManonTu as faim, Gabriel ?Are you hungry, Gabriel?
- GabrielOui, on peut prendre un plat à emporter ?Yes, can we get a takeaway?
- ManonBonne idée, je commande des sushis.Good idea, I'll order some sushi.
- GabrielParfait, je m'occupe des boissons.Perfect, I'll take care of the drinks.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “takeaway” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
