Asking about sauce ingredients | Learn French in English

About This Lesson

Use Asking about sauce ingredients to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

Est-ce que je peux demander ce qu'il y a dans cette sauce ?

ess-kuh zhuh puh duh-mahn-DAY suh keel-YAH dahn seht SOHSS Could I ask about the ingredients in this sauce?

Elle contient du lait et un peu d'ail.

ehl kohn-TYEN dyoo LEH ay uhn puh DEYE It contains milk and a little garlic.

Je ne peux pas consommer de lait.

zhuh nuh puh kohn-soh-MAY duh LEH I can't have milk.

Je peux mettre la sauce à côté.

zhuh puh MEHTR lah SOHSS ah koh-TAY I can keep the sauce on the side.

Ce serait mieux pour moi.

suh suh-REH MYUH poor MWAH That would work better for me.

Est-ce qu'il y a d'autres aliments que tu dois éviter ?

ess-kuh keel-YAH DOHTR ah-lee-MAHN kuh tyoo dwah zay-vee-TAY Are there any other foods you need to avoid?

L'ail, ça va.

LYE, sah VAH Garlic is fine.

Je vais préparer ton assiette sans la sauce.

zhuh veh pray-pah-RAY tohn ah-SYET sahn lah SOHSS I'll prepare your plate without the sauce.

Word by Word

Est-ce que “Est-ce que” marks a direct question; here it introduces the question “Est-ce que je peux demander… ?” as a polite request. It is used as a whole before a regular statement word order when asking for information or permission.

je “je” means “I” and identifies the speaker in “je peux demander”. It is used before the verb when the speaker describes their own action, ability, or intention.

peux “peux” means “can” here, expressing permission or ability in “je peux demander”. It is followed by the infinitive “demander”; this pattern is useful when asking whether you may do something.

demander “demander” means “to ask” in “je peux demander ce qu'il y a…”. It names the action of requesting information, especially about a subject introduced after it.

ce In “ce qu'il y a”, “ce” helps introduce what is present in the sauce, so the phrase means “what there is”. This construction is useful when asking about the contents or nature of something.

qu'il “qu'il” introduces the clause “qu'il y a” in “ce qu'il y a dans cette sauce”, meaning “that there is” within the expression for “what there is”. It connects “ce” with the clause describing what is present.

y In “qu'il y a”, “y” points to the place or thing being considered; here the question concerns what is in the sauce. The expression “il y a” is used to say that something is present or exists in a place or context.

a In “il y a”, “a” contributes to the meaning “there is”; here it introduces the ingredients present in the sauce. The reusable expression “il y a” is used to state or ask about what is present.

dans “dans” means “in” and locates the contents inside “cette sauce”. It is used before the thing that contains something, as in “dans cette sauce”.

cette “cette” means “this” in “cette sauce”, pointing to the sauce being discussed. It appears directly before the noun it identifies when referring to a specific nearby or known thing.

sauce “sauce” means “sauce” and is the food item whose ingredients are being discussed. It can be used after a determiner such as “cette” or “la” to name the sauce being referred to.

Elle “Elle” means “it” here and refers back to “cette sauce”; the sauce is the thing that contains the ingredients. It is used at the beginning of the sentence as the subject before “contient”.

contient “contient” means “contains” and describes what is in the sauce. It is followed by the contents, here “du lait et un peu d'ail”; this pattern is useful when listing ingredients or contents.

du “du” introduces “lait” as an unspecified quantity of milk in “du lait”. In this dialogue it is part of the ingredient expression used after “contient”.

lait “lait” means “milk”, one of the ingredients in the sauce. It appears in the expressions “du lait” and “de lait”, so it can be named when discussing whether a food contains milk.

et “et” means “and” and links “du lait” with “un peu d'ail” in the ingredient list. It is used to join two ingredients or other items in the same statement.

un In “un peu d'ail”, “un” helps form the quantity expression “a little”. It is used together with “peu” when describing a small amount of an ingredient.

peu In “un peu d'ail”, “peu” means “little” and indicates a small amount of garlic. The expression “un peu” is useful when mentioning a limited quantity of an ingredient or other substance.

d'ail “d'ail” means “of garlic” in “un peu d'ail”, identifying what the small amount consists of. The apostrophe joins “de” to “ail” in this ingredient expression.

ne “ne” is the first part of the negation in “ne peux pas consommer”; together with “pas”, it makes the statement negative. It is placed before the conjugated verb when the speaker says they cannot consume milk.

pas “pas” completes the negation with “ne” in “ne peux pas consommer”, giving the meaning “cannot consume”. It works with “ne” around the conjugated verb in this negative sentence.

consommer “consommer” means “to consume” and describes having milk as food or drink in “consommer de lait”. It follows “peux pas” as an infinitive, a useful pattern for saying what someone can or cannot consume.

de In “de lait”, “de” introduces the milk after the negative expression “ne peux pas consommer”. Here it is part of the phrase saying that the speaker cannot consume milk.

mettre “mettre” means “to put” in “mettre la sauce à côté”, describing placing the sauce separately from the plate. It is followed by the object “la sauce” and a location expression in this sentence.

la “la” means “the” before “sauce” in “la sauce”. It identifies the specific sauce already discussed, and it appears directly before the noun.

à In “à côté”, “à” contributes to the location expression meaning “on the side” or “beside”. It is used with “côté” to describe where the sauce will be placed.

côté In “à côté”, “côté” means “side”, so “mettre la sauce à côté” means to place the sauce on the side. The expression is useful when keeping one item beside or separate from another.

serait “serait” means “would be” in “Ce serait mieux pour moi”, presenting the speaker’s preferred result in a hypothetical or polite way. It is used with an adjective such as “mieux” to evaluate a possible arrangement.

mieux “mieux” means “better” in “Ce serait mieux pour moi”, expressing that the proposed arrangement suits the speaker more. It is useful when politely saying that one option would be preferable.

pour “pour” means “for” in “pour moi” and shows whose situation or benefit is being considered. It is followed by the stressed pronoun “moi” in this expression.

moi “moi” means “me” in “pour moi”, identifying the person for whom the arrangement would be better. It is used after the preposition “pour” to express whose needs or preference are involved.

d'autres “d'autres” means “other” or “additional” in “d'autres aliments”, asking whether there are more foods to consider. It appears before the noun when expanding a previously mentioned group.

aliments “aliments” means “foods” and refers to foods the person may need to avoid. It is used after “d'autres” to ask about additional food items.

que In “aliments que tu dois éviter”, “que” links “aliments” with the clause describing what must be done with them. It introduces the foods that are the object of “éviter”.

tu “tu” means “you” and addresses the other person directly in “tu dois éviter”. It is used before the verb when asking about that person’s needs or restrictions.

dois “dois” means “must” or “need to” in “tu dois éviter”, expressing a necessity or requirement. It is followed by the infinitive “éviter”; this pattern is useful for asking what someone needs to avoid.

éviter “éviter” means “to avoid” and describes not consuming certain foods in “tu dois éviter”. It follows “dois” as an infinitive and takes the foods being avoided as its object.

L'ail “L'ail” means “garlic” and is the food being evaluated in “L'ail, ça va”. It is placed at the beginning as the topic, followed by the comment that it is acceptable.

ça In “L'ail, ça va”, “ça” refers to the garlic that has just been mentioned. Together with “va”, it forms the evaluation that garlic is fine; this structure is useful for commenting on whether something is acceptable.

va In “ça va”, “va” contributes to the meaning “is fine” or “is okay”, rather than describing movement. The expression “ça va” is commonly used to say that a situation or item is acceptable.

vais “vais” means “am going to” in “Je vais préparer”, expressing a plan that the speaker is about to carry out. It is followed by the infinitive “préparer”; this pattern is useful for stating an intended action.

préparer “préparer” means “to prepare” in “préparer ton assiette”, describing making the plate ready. It is followed by the object “ton assiette”, so the reusable pattern keeps the thing being prepared after the verb.

ton “ton” means “your” in “ton assiette”, showing that the plate belongs to or is intended for the person addressed. It appears directly before the noun in this possessive expression.

assiette “assiette” means “plate” and is the item being prepared for the other person. It appears in “ton assiette”, where the possessive identifies whose plate it is.

sans “sans” means “without” and introduces the sauce that will not be included on the plate. It is placed before the noun phrase “la sauce” to state what is omitted.

Grammar Points

un peu de + nom

un peu d'ail

uhn puh DEYE

a little garlic

Après un peu de, de devient d' devant une voyelle : un peu d'ail.

sans + nom

sans lait

SAHN LEH

without milk

Sans se place directement devant un nom pour exprimer l'absence de cet élément.

French Vocabulary

à côté phrase

ah koh-TAY on the side; next to it

mettre la sauce à côté

ail noun

EYE garlic

un peu d'ail

autre adj

OH-tr other autres

d'autres aliments

ce qu'il y a dans phrase

suh keel-YAH dahn what there is in

Est-ce que je peux demander ce qu'il y a dans cette sauce ?

consommer verb

kohn-soh-MAY to consume

Je ne peux pas consommer de lait.

contenir verb

kohn-tuh-NEER to contain contient

Elle contient du lait et un peu d'ail.

demander verb

duh-mahn-DAY to ask

Est-ce que je peux demander ce qu'il y a dans cette sauce ?

lait noun

LEH milk

du lait

mettre verb

MEHTR to put

Je peux mettre la sauce à côté.

mieux adv

MYUH better

Ce serait mieux pour moi.

sauce noun

SOHSS sauce

cette sauce

un peu de phrase

uhn puh duh a little un peu d'

un peu d'ail

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

That would work better for me.

Show Answer

Ce serait mieux pour moi.

Garlic is fine.

Show Answer

L'ail, ça va.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to ask

Show Answer

demander

milk

Show Answer

lait

to contain

Show Answer

contient

to consume

Show Answer

consommer