légumes
The English phrase veggies is légumes in French.
If you are referring specifically to raw vegetables, you can use crudités.
Which one should you use?
While légumes is the standard term for vegetables, it is more formal than the English slang veggies. There is no direct equivalent slang term that is as common in French.
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular form is légume, but it is almost always used in the plural légumes when referring to vegetables in general.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use légumes to mean 'legumes' (beans, lentils, etc.), but in French, légumes refers specifically to vegetables/greens.
Did you know?
- In French medical slang, the term légume is used to describe a person in a vegetative state who is unable to communicate or move.
- In French, the word for 'vegetable garden' is potager, which comes from the word for 'pot' and highlights the focus on edible légumes over flowers.
- While légumes covers all vegetables, the French have a specific word, primeurs, for the very first vegetables of the season.
Examples in context
- Mange tes légumes !Eat your veggies.Tatoeba #1925510 by sacredceltic, translation #1908458 by Spamster
- Tom déteste les légumes.Tom can't abide veggies.Tatoeba #3970471 by felix63, translation #2449734 by Manfredo
- Chez nous, les légumes sont toujours frais.At our place, the veggies are always fresh.
- Je vais préparer une assiette de crudités pour l'apéritif.I am going to prepare a plate of fresh veggies for the appetizer.
- J'ai récolté quelques légumes de mon potager ce matin.I harvested some veggies from my vegetable garden this morning.
- Viens goûter ces délicieux légumes du marché, ils sont exceptionnels !Come and taste these delicious market veggies, they are exceptional!
- Il y a beaucoup de légumes frais ici.There are many fresh veggies here.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chloé and Gabriel are grocery shopping together.
- ChloéGabriel, achète des légumes pour le dîner.Gabriel, buy some veggies for dinner.
- GabrielD'accord, quels légumes veux-tu ?Okay, which veggies do you want?
- ChloéPrends des carottes et des brocolis.Get some carrots and broccoli.
- GabrielC'est entendu, je les mets dans le panier.Understood, I'll put them in the basket.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
