Offering coffee during a break | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Vous voulez du café ?

   Do you want coffee?

   Vous

   you

   voulez

   want

   du

   some

   café

   coffee

   More detail

   Vous means “you” here. It is the French subject pronoun used for more than one person and also for one person addressed formally; this sentence alone does not identify which of those applies. The corresponding informal singular pronoun is tu. voulez is the present-tense form of vouloir (“to want”) for vous. The same form serves both a plural subject and a singular formal subject. For an informal singular subject, the form is tu veux. For example: Vous voulez du thé ? — “Do you want tea?” du expresses an unspecified amount of the masculine singular noun that follows it. It is the partitive article, formed from de + le; here it combines with café to mean “some coffee,” without stating an exact quantity. This is different from le café, which refers to coffee as a definite substance or to a specific coffee in a suitable context. café is the noun “coffee.” It is masculine in French, which is why the partitive form here is du. The plural is cafés when separate coffees or kinds of coffee are meant, but that plural meaning is not present in this utterance. Together, Vous voulez du café ? forms a question: the subject vous and the present-tense verb voulez ask whether the addressee wants du café, an unspecified amount of coffee. In ordinary speech, the question can be marked by rising intonation while keeping this word order. The fixed meaning is therefore “Do you want coffee?”

2. Oui, s'il vous plaît. Juste une petite tasse.

   Yes, please. Just a small cup.

   Oui

   Yes

   s'il vous plaît

   please

   Juste

   just

   une

   a/an

   petite

   small

   tasse

   cup

   More detail

   Oui means “yes” and confirms the preceding question. It is an independent affirmative word; the negative counterpart is non (“no”). s'il vous plaît is the standard polite formula “please.” It is a fixed expression rather than a form to translate word by word in every use. The vous form can address one person politely or several people; in this formula, the expression itself does not identify which of those applies. Juste means “just” or “only” here: it limits the request to the specified cup. In other contexts, juste can also mean “right” or “correct,” so its meaning comes from its sentence role. une is the feminine singular indefinite article, used before the feminine singular noun tasse. It presents one unspecified member of the relevant category, but the article itself is not a separate claim about a numerical quantity. Compare masculine singular un and plural des. petite means “small” here and describes tasse. The adjective is feminine singular to agree with that noun. Its base forms are petit (masculine singular) and petite (feminine singular); comparison uses plus petit or plus petite for “smaller,” depending on the noun being described. Example: une petite table means “a small table.” tasse is a feminine noun meaning “cup,” especially a cup as a container for a drink. Its gender is shown by the feminine article une and by the feminine adjective form petite. Example: une tasse means “a cup.” Together, Juste limits the request, while une petite tasse forms the noun phrase “a small cup”: the article une, the agreeing adjective petite, and the noun tasse. With the opening Oui and the polite formula s'il vous plaît, the complete utterance means “Yes, please. Just a small cup.”

3. Voilà.

   Here you are.

   Voilà.

   Here you are.

   More detail

   Voilà. is a French presentative expression used to present or hand something to someone. In this context, after a request for a small cup, it means “Here you are.” It is a fixed expression, so it does not change for the thing being presented. For reuse, voilà can also introduce something that has just been shown or supplied: Voilà le livre. — “Here is the book.” The expression itself does not specify a grammatical subject or a number; the surrounding words can identify what is being presented. Here, the single-word utterance Voilà. presents the requested item and completes the exchange: “Here you are.”

4. Ça sent bon.

   It smells nice.

   Ça

   it

   sent

   smells

   bon

   nice

   More detail

   Ça is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “it” or “that.” Here, together with the fixed translation, it is the subject of the sentence; the sentence does not specify a more precise referent. The cedilla is part of the spelling: ça, not ca. A useful contrast is C’est bon (“It’s good” / “That’s good”), which uses c’ before a vowel. sent is the present-tense, third-person singular form of sentir (“to smell” or “to feel”). In ça sent, the subject is singular, so the verb has this form. The same verb can describe what something smells like: La soupe sent bon. — “The soup smells good.” bon means “good” here and completes the construction sentir bon, “to smell good / nice.” In this expression, bon describes the smell rather than the object itself. The opposite pattern is sentir mauvais, “to smell bad.” Compare Ça sent mauvais. — “It smells bad.” Together, Ça + sent + bon gives Ça sent bon.: “It smells nice.” This is a short, natural way to comment positively on a smell.

5. Vous avez besoin de sucre ?

   Do you need sugar?

   Vous avez besoin de

   do you need

   sucre

   sugar

   More detail

   Vous avez besoin de is a reusable French pattern for asking whether someone needs something. It uses avoir besoin de + noun, meaning “to need + noun.” Avez is the present-tense form of avoir used with vous. Vous can address one person formally or more than one person; the form itself does not identify which. In this question, French uses the same word order as a statement, with question intonation. Example: Vous avez besoin de repos ? — “Do you need rest?” Sucre is the noun “sugar.” It is masculine in French, although that gender is not visible in this bare form. After avoir besoin de, the phrase de sucre naturally refers to sugar as the thing needed, without specifying an amount. Do not replace this automatically with du sucre: du sucre can mean “some sugar” in a different construction, while de sucre is the form required here after besoin de. Example: J'ai besoin de sucre. — “I need sugar.” The subject and the form of avoir change, but besoin de remains the same pattern. Together, Vous avez besoin de + sucre forms the question “Do you need sugar?” It asks about the addressee’s need for sugar without specifying an amount.

6. Non, juste du lait, s'il vous plaît.

   No, just milk, please.

   Non

   No

   juste

   just; only

   lait

   milk

   s'il vous plaît

   please

   More detail

   Non means “no” and answers the preceding yes/no question negatively. It is also useful as a standalone answer: Oui means “yes,” while Non means “no.” juste means “just” or “only” here. It limits what is requested: juste du lait means “only milk.” In this use, juste is an adverb; it is not agreeing with the noun. Compare the reusable pattern juste + [item]: Juste de l'eau, s'il vous plaît. — “Just water, please.” lait is the masculine noun “milk.” In the utterance, it appears in the partitive phrase du lait: du is the contraction of de + le, used here for an unspecified amount of a masculine mass noun. This does not assert a particular quantity. The noun’s gender is grammatical; it does not describe the milk. A useful contrast is de l'eau — “some water,” where eau is feminine and begins with a vowel. s'il vous plaît is a fixed polite formula meaning “please.” Literally, it contains vous, the formal or plural form of “you,” but the whole expression is learned and used as a polite request formula. A less formal singular alternative is s'il te plaît. Together, Non, juste du lait, s'il vous plaît. means “No, just milk, please.” Non rejects the offer or question about sugar, juste du lait specifies the requested item, and the final formula makes the request polite.

7. Pardon, il n'y a pas de lait.

   Sorry, there is no milk.

   Pardon

   Sorry

   il n'y a pas

   there is no

   lait

   milk

   More detail

   Pardon is a brief apology or polite way to say “sorry.” It can also be used to get someone’s attention, but here the fixed translation supports the apologetic meaning. il n'y a pas is the negative form of il y a, “there is/are.” The expression is impersonal: il is part of the construction, not a specifically identified person. French places ne before y a and pas after it; in this contraction, ne appears as n' before the vowel sound of y. In everyday speech, ne is often omitted, but it is present in this sentence. Example: Il y a du pain. — “There is some bread.” lait means “milk.” Its base form is the noun lait; the form does not change here for number or gender. After a negative expression such as il n'y a pas, French commonly uses de before an uncountable or plural noun: Il n'y a pas de lait. — “There is no milk.” This de does not itself state a particular quantity; the sentence denies the presence of milk. Together, Pardon expresses the apology, and il n'y a pas de lait states that milk is absent. The complete utterance therefore means “Sorry, there is no milk.”

8. Ce n'est pas grave.

   That is okay.

   Ce

   that

   n'est pas

   is not

   grave

   serious

   More detail

   Ce is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “this” or “that.” In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies the meaning as “that.” In the pattern ce ..., it can refer to a situation without naming a specific noun. n'est pas contains the third-person singular form est of être (“to be”) with French negation: ne ... pas. Before a vowel, ne contracts to n'; thus ne est becomes n'est. In a complete sentence, ne ... pas normally surrounds the conjugated verb: Ce n'est pas ... = “That is not ...”. grave is an adjective meaning “serious” here. Its masculine and feminine singular forms are both grave; the plural form is graves. For example, Ce n'est pas grave. means “That is not serious.” Together, Ce + n'est pas + grave literally gives “That is not serious.” In this context, the natural intended meaning is “That is okay” or “No problem.”