à emporter
To say takeout in French, for food meant to be eaten elsewhere, use à emporter.
When ordering, say à emporter to get your food to go. Adding s'il vous plaît makes it more polite. Takeout food itself is plat à emporter, and a takeout counter or service is vente à emporter.
Meaning: (of food) intended to be eaten off the premises from which it was bought (adj)
What does it mean word for word?
à emporter literally means to take away.
Which one should you use?
The opposite is sur place, which means you will eat at the restaurant.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
à emporter never changes, whatever the gender or number of the noun it describes.
Did you know?
- The word emporter can also be used idiomatically to describe someone who is losing their temper, as in s'emporter, which literally means to 'carry oneself away' with emotion.
- In France, the phrase à emporter is commonly seen on signs for sandwicheries or boulangeries, but using it in a high-end gastronomic restaurant may be seen as an unusual request since fine dining is traditionally sur place.
- The word emporter shares a common ancestor with 'import' and 'export', all stemming from the Latin 'portare', meaning 'to carry'.
Examples in context
- Je souhaite commander ce plat à emporter, s'il vous plaît.I would like to order this meal for takeout, please.
- Est-il possible d'avoir ce sandwich à emporter, s'il vous plaît?Is it possible to have this sandwich for takeout, please?
- Tu peux me prendre un café à emporter, s'il te plaît?Can you get me a coffee to-go, please?
- J'ai besoin d'un hamburger à emporter, stp!I need a hamburger to go, please!
- Je voudrais une pizza à emporter, s'il vous plaît.I would like a pizza to take away, please.
- C'est pour manger ici ou à emporter ?Is it for eating here or to take away?
Example conversation
Hugo and Emma are deciding what to eat for dinner.
- HugoOn commande des sushis à emporter ce soir ?Shall we order sushi takeout tonight?
- EmmaOui, c'est une excellente idée, Hugo.Yes, that's an excellent idea, Hugo.
- HugoJe vais appeler le restaurant tout de suite.I am going to call the restaurant right now.
- EmmaParfait, je prépare les boissons.Perfect, I'll get the drinks ready.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “takeout” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries emporter, à, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
