Finding and choosing juice in a shop | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Excusez-moi, où est le jus ?

   Excuse me, where is the juice?

   Excusez-moi

   Excuse me

   où

   where

   est

   is

   jus

   juice

   More detail

   Excusez-moi is a polite way to get someone's attention or apologize briefly. Excusez is the vous imperative of excuser; it can address one person formally or more than one person. moi is the stressed form of “me,” used here after the verb. A familiar singular command uses Excuse-moi instead. où means “where” and asks about a place. It is different from ou, meaning “or”; the accent is essential. Example: Où est la gare ? — “Where is the station?” est is the third-person singular present form of être, “to be.” The useful present-tense chain is je suis, tu es, il/elle est. Here, est agrees in person and number with the singular subject le jus. jus is the noun “juice.” Its base form is jus; the final s is written but normally not pronounced. In the utterance, le marks it as masculine singular, but the article is not a numerical count: it presents “the juice” as the identified item being located. Together, où est le jus ? asks where the juice is, and the full utterance politely asks someone to indicate its location: “Excuse me, where is the juice?” French can form this kind of question without subject–verb inversion: the question word comes first, followed by est and then the subject le jus.

2. Il est dans ce rayon, à côté des boissons fraîches.

   It's in this section, next to the cold drinks.

   Il est

   It is

   dans

   in

   ce

   this

   rayon

   section

   à côté de

   next to

   boissons

   drinks

   fraîches

   cold

   More detail

   Il est means “it is” here. Il is the masculine singular subject pronoun referring to le jus (“the juice”) from the preceding question; est is the third-person singular present form of être (“to be”). The same form can introduce a location: Le livre est ici. — “The book is here.” dans means “in” and introduces the place containing something. Here it places the juice inside ce rayon. ce means “this” before a masculine singular noun. It agrees with rayon, not with the thing being located. For a feminine singular noun, French uses cette; for plural nouns, ces. rayon is a masculine noun meaning a store section or aisle in this context. Its plural is rayons: les rayons du magasin — “the store aisles/sections.” à côté de is a reusable location construction meaning “next to” or “beside.” Here de is followed by the plural definite article les; de + les contracts to des. boissons is the plural of the feminine noun boisson, meaning “drink” or “beverage.” In this sentence, the drinks are the reference point next to which the juice is located. Une boisson means “a drink”; des boissons means “drinks.” fraîches means “cold” here and describes boissons. The adjective is feminine plural, matching the feminine plural noun boissons. Its useful form chain is frais (masculine singular and masculine plural), fraîche (feminine singular), and fraîches (feminine plural). Depending on context, frais/fraîche can also mean “fresh,” but the fixed translation supports “cold” here. Together, Il est dans ce rayon says “It is in this section,” and à côté des boissons fraîches adds “next to the cold drinks.” The complete utterance is: “It’s in this section, next to the cold drinks.”

3. Qu'est-ce que vous recommandez ?

   What do you recommend?

   Qu'est-ce que

   what ...? (question construction)

   vous

   you

   recommandez

   recommend

   More detail

   Qu'est-ce que is a common French way to begin a question meaning “what …?” It introduces the thing being asked about. The pattern Qu'est-ce que + subject + verb ? is reusable: Qu'est-ce que tu cherches ? means “What are you looking for?” vous means “you.” It can address one person politely or more than one person; the form itself does not tell us which of these applies. In this sentence, it is the subject of recommandez. recommandez comes from the infinitive recommander, “to recommend.” It is the present-tense form used with vous: vous recommandez = “you recommend” or, in this question, “do you recommend?” The same verb has forms such as je recommande (“I recommend”) and ils recommandent (“they recommend”). Together, Qu'est-ce que asks for the thing, vous identifies the person being addressed, and recommandez asks for that person's recommendation. The complete utterance therefore means “What do you recommend?”

4. Ce jus a un goût frais et il est facile à boire.

   This juice has a fresh taste and is easy to drink.

   Ce

   this

   jus

   juice

   a

   has

   goût

   taste

   frais

   fresh

   il est

   it is

   facile

   easy

   à boire

   to drink

   More detail

   Ce is a masculine singular demonstrative determiner meaning “this” here. It agrees with the noun it introduces: ce jus. French also uses cet before a masculine singular noun beginning with a vowel sound, cette with a feminine singular noun, and ces with plural nouns. jus is the noun “juice.” Its spelling is the same in the singular and plural; the determiner or surrounding words can show the number. For example, un jus means “a juice,” while des jus means “juices.” a is the third-person singular present form of avoir, “to have”: avoir → il/elle a. In this sentence, a introduces what the juice has: un goût frais. goût is the noun “taste.” The expression avoir un goût + adjective describes the taste of something: Le thé a un goût amer. — “The tea has a bitter taste.” frais means “fresh” here and describes goût. It is masculine singular to agree with goût; the feminine singular form is fraîche, and the plural form is frais for masculine or mixed nouns and fraîches for feminine nouns. Thus, une odeur fraîche means “a fresh smell.” il est combines the pronoun il with the third-person singular present form est of être, “to be.” Here il refers to the juice identified in the fixed translation, and est agrees with that singular masculine referent. The combination introduces a description: il est facile — “it is easy.” facile means “easy.” It has the same written form with a masculine or feminine singular noun: un exercice facile, une tâche facile. Its plural form is faciles. à boire is à followed by the infinitive boire, “to drink.” After an adjective such as facile, adjective + à + infinitive describes how easy or difficult an action is: Ce livre est facile à lire. — “This book is easy to read.” The infinitive boire names the action without marking a particular person or tense. Together, Ce jus a un goût frais says “This juice has a fresh taste.” The second clause, il est facile à boire, says that the juice is easy to drink. Joined by et, the complete utterance is: “This juice has a fresh taste and is easy to drink.”

5. Alors, je vais prendre cette bouteille.

   Then I'll get that bottle.

   Alors

   then

   je vais

   I’m going to / I’ll

   prendre

   take / get

   cette

   that

   bouteille

   bottle

   More detail

   Alors means “then” here and can introduce the speaker’s next decision or action. In other contexts, it can also mean “so” or “well,” but this sentence uses the time/sequence meaning. je vais is je (“I”) plus the first-person singular present form vais of aller (“to go”). With an infinitive, aller + infinitive forms the near future: je vais prendre means “I’m going to take/get” or, naturally here, “I’ll get.” This is different from simple future je prendrai, which also means “I will take/get” but is a different verb form. prendre is the infinitive “to take.” Its present-tense first-person singular form is je prends; its past participle is pris. The infinitive follows vais in this near-future construction. Example: Je vais prendre le train. — “I’m going to take the train.” cette is the feminine singular demonstrative determiner, meaning “this” or “that” before a feminine singular noun. The sentence’s fixed translation selects “that” here. Its masculine singular counterpart is ce before most consonant sounds, while cette agrees with the feminine singular noun it determines; this choice is not a numerical meaning. bouteille is the feminine noun “bottle.” Its plural is bouteilles, as in deux bouteilles (“two bottles”). In this sentence, cette bouteille is the noun phrase “that bottle”: cette marks the noun as feminine singular, and bouteille supplies the object selected by prendre. Together, Alors sets the sequence (“Then”), je vais prendre expresses the speaker’s near-future action (“I’ll get”), and cette bouteille identifies the object (“that bottle”). The complete meaning is: “Then I’ll get that bottle.”