How to Say Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snack in French (and When You Eat Them)
Learn the French names for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack, plus the everyday phrases for saying when you eat each meal.
By MarcusFood & cafés · Yapr Learn
This lesson is about meal times, not menus. You will learn the four everyday French meal words — petit-déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner and goûter — and the time expressions you need to say when each one happens. The focus stays on when meals occur, so you can answer a simple question like « Tu manges quand ? » without listing a single food. Pay attention to the verb prendre, which French speakers use constantly for meals, and to the fact that the meaning of déjeuner and dîner changes depending on the region.
By the end, you can…
- name breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack in French.
- say at what time I eat each meal using à and the 24-hour clock.
- ask someone when they eat a particular meal.
- use prendre for meals instead of manger where it sounds natural.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
le petit-déjeuner
breakfast
luh puh-tee day-zhuh-NAY
The morning meal. The hyphen is required. In France it is usually eaten between 7h and 9h.
le déjeuner
lunch (in France)
luh day-zhuh-NAY
In France this is the midday meal, normally between 12h and 13h30. In Quebec and parts of Belgium and Switzerland, déjeuner means breakfast instead.
le dîner
dinner, evening meal (in France)
luh dee-NAY
In France, the evening meal, often between 19h30 and 21h. In Quebec, dîner means lunch, and the evening meal is le souper.
le goûter
afternoon snack
luh goo-TAY
A small after-school or mid-afternoon snack, typically around 16h and especially common for children. The circumflex on the u is required.
Je prends mon petit-déjeuner à sept heures.
I have breakfast at seven o'clock.
zhuh prahn mon puh-tee day-zhuh-NAY ah set URR
Prendre (not manger) is the usual verb for a named meal. Use the 24-hour clock in writing: à 7 h.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
To say when you eat a meal, use the pattern prendre + meal + à + time: « Je prends mon déjeuner à midi. » (I have lunch at noon.) « Nous prenons le dîner à vingt heures. » (We have dinner at 8 p.m.) For a snack, goûter also works as a verb: « Je goûte vers seize heures. » To ask about someone else, invert or use est-ce que: « Tu prends ton petit-déjeuner à quelle heure ? » (What time do you have breakfast?) The answer can be short: « À huit heures. »
When to use it
Use prendre when the meal is named: « Je prends mon petit-déjeuner. » Use manger when you talk about eating in general or about food: « Je mange à midi. » Both are correct, but prendre sounds more idiomatic with petit-déjeuner, déjeuner, dîner and goûter. For approximate times, French uses vers (around) and the 24-hour clock in schedules: « vers 12h30 », « à 19h ». Remember that midi (noon) and minuit (midnight) take no article: « à midi », « à minuit », not « au midi ».
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
Tu prends ton petit-déjeuner à quelle heure ?
What time do you have breakfast?too prahn ton puh-tee day-zhuh-NAY ah kel URRVers sept heures. Et toi ?
Around seven o'clock. And you?vair set URR. ay twahMoi, je prends mon déjeuner à midi et le dîner à vingt heures.
Me, I have lunch at noon and dinner at eight p.m.mwah, zhuh prahn mon day-zhuh-NAY ah MEE-dee ay luh dee-NAY ah van URRNous, on goûte vers seize heures.
We have a snack around four p.m.noo, on GOO-tay vair sez URRA little context goes a long way
In France, meal times are later than in many English-speaking countries: lunch around 12h–13h30 and dinner rarely before 19h30. The words themselves shift by region. In Quebec, déjeuner means breakfast, dîner means lunch, and souper means the evening meal. Belgian and Swiss French also use souper for the evening meal in many areas. Learn the local set where you are, and expect to hear both systems in films and on television.
One thing to watch for
Saying « Je mange mon petit-déjeuner » or « au midi ».
Try this instead: With a named meal, prendre is the natural choice: « Je prends mon petit-déjeuner. » Manger is fine for eating in general: « Je mange à midi. » Also drop the article before midi and minuit: « à midi », « à minuit », never « au midi ».
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1How do you say 'I have lunch at noon' in France?
Show a sample answer
Je prends mon déjeuner à midi.
Prendre is used with the named meal, and midi takes no article. « Je déjeune à midi » is also correct and common.
2What does le dîner mean in Quebec?
Show a sample answer
It means lunch, the midday meal.
Quebec French uses déjeuner (breakfast), dîner (lunch) and souper (dinner). In France, dîner is the evening meal.
3Ask a friend what time they have their afternoon snack.
Show a sample answer
Tu goûtes à quelle heure ?
Goûter works as a verb for the afternoon snack. « Tu prends ton goûter à quelle heure ? » is equally correct.
Learn the four meal words with their usual hours, use prendre for named meals, and check the region: déjeuner and dîner do not mean the same thing in France and Quebec.
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