Goals
What you'll be able to do- 🥗 Read a public health brochure ("Mangerbouger.fr")
- 🎤 Understand a radio report on French eating habits
- 🔁 Use the adverbial pronouns y and en (no neat English equivalent — must be learned!)
- 📌 Use indefinite pronouns (on, certains, quelqu'un, quelque chose, plusieurs, tous…)
- 🎵 Tell apart oral [a] and nasal [ɑ̃] ("banane" vs "banc")
Discover · Mangerbouger.fr
A French health-promotion website🥗 Eat well, move more — how do we do it?
9 daily targets to help you
- Meat, fish or eggs — 1 to 2 times a day
- Starchy food (bread, rice, potatoes…) at every meal
- 3 dairy products a day (4 for kids, teens, and 55+)
- Water — as much as you want
- At least 5 fruits and vegetables a day
- Limit your intake of sugar
- Limit your intake of fat
- Limit your intake of salt
- At least the equivalent of 30 minutes of brisk walking a day (1 hour for kids)
www.mangerbouger.fr · INPES / French Health Insurance
📝 Cultural note: Mangerbouger.fr ("EatMove.fr") is a real French government health campaign launched in 2001. You'll see its slogans on every food TV ad in France — "Pour votre santé, mangez 5 fruits et légumes par jour" ("For your health, eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day") is required by law on packaged-food advertising. Iconic.
1.1 · How to follow it? Comment faire ?
- What kind of document is this?
- What's the goal of this document?
- True or false: "You should eat fewer fruits and vegetables."
- True or false: "You can eat eggs at every meal."
- True or false: "It's important to limit sugar."
- True or false: "Dairy is good for older people."
- True or false: "Children should do less physical activity than their parents."
1.2 · The times are changing. Les temps changent.
According to the report:
- More than 50% of children eat fewer than 5 fruits/vegetables a day.
- We don't eat enough fish.
- Some children do no sport at all.
- Everyone walks 30 minutes a day.
Vocabulary
Words to remember| French | Type | English |
|---|---|---|
| acheter | v.t. | to buy (irreg.: j'achète, nous achetons) |
| arriver à | v. + prep. | to manage to, to succeed in |
| au moins | adv. phrase | at least |
| éviter | v.t. | to avoid |
| bouger | v. | to move; to be active (colloquial for "to exercise") |
| la consommation | n.f. | consumption, intake |
| consommer | v.t. | to consume |
| équilibré(e) | adj. | balanced |
| un féculent | n.m. | starchy food (rice, pasta, potatoes…) |
| une fiche | n.f. | a card / fact sheet |
| les matières grasses | n.f. pl. | fats (in food) |
| limiter | v.t. | to limit |
| la marche (rapide) | n.f. | (brisk) walking |
| une matière | n.f. | a material, substance |
| le quotidien | n.m. | daily life |
| une ration | n.f. | a portion, ration |
| respecter | v.t. | to follow (a rule); to respect |
| le sel | n.m. | salt |
| un sucre / les sucres | n.m. | sugar; sugars |
| à volonté | phrase | as much as you want, ad libitum |
Grammar
How French works3.1 · The pronoun y "there" + much more
The pronoun y replaces a complement introduced by à (or sometimes dans, sur, en + place / thing). English mostly drops it, or uses "there".
① y = a place:
- — Tu vas au cinéma? — Oui, j'y vais. "Are you going to the cinema?" — "Yes, I'm going (there)."
- — Tu habites à Paris? — Non, je n'y habite plus. "Do you live in Paris?" — "No, I don't live there anymore."
② y = a thing introduced by à:
- — Vous pensez à votre santé? — Oui, j'y pense. "Do you think about your health?" — "Yes, I do."
- — Tu réfléchis à mon idée? — Oui, j'y réfléchis. "Are you thinking about my idea?" — "Yes, I am."
⚠️ Position: y goes before the verb. Negative: je n'y vais pas. There's no clean English equivalent — get used to inserting it where French does.
3.2 · The pronoun en "some / any / of it"
The pronoun en replaces a complement introduced by de — origin, quantity expression, or partitive/indefinite article object.
① en = de + place (origin):
- — Tu reviens du marché? — Oui, j'en reviens. "Are you back from the market?" — "Yes, I'm just back."
② en = direct object with quantity (du, de la, des, un peu de…):
- — Tu manges du pain? — Oui, j'en mange. "Do you eat bread?" — "Yes, I eat some."
- — Vous avez des légumes? — Non, je n'en ai pas. "Do you have vegetables?" — "No, I don't have any."
- — Tu manges 3 fruits par jour? — Oui, j'en mange trois. ⚠️ Keep the number!
③ en = indirect object with verbs taking de:
- — Tu parles de tes vacances? — Oui, j'en parle. "Are you talking about your vacation?" — "Yes, I am."
💡 Quick test for y vs en: if the original phrase had à → use y. If it had de (or a quantity like du, des, un peu de) → use en. Both go before the verb.
3.3 · Indefinite pronouns someone, no one, something…
| Pronoun | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| on | one / we / people (informal) | On mange ensemble? "Shall we eat together?" |
| quelqu'un | someone | Quelqu'un a vu mes clés? |
| personne | no one (with ne) | Il n'y a personne. |
| quelque chose / rien | something / nothing | Tu manges quelque chose? / Je ne mange rien. |
| tout / tous / toutes | everything / all of them | Tout va bien. Tous sont d'accord. |
| certains / certaines | some (people) | Certains protestent, d'autres pas. |
| quelques-uns / quelques-unes | a few of them | Quelques-uns restent neutres. |
| plusieurs | several | Plusieurs sont venus. |
| chacun / chacune | each one, everyone | Chacun fait ce qu'il veut. "To each their own." |
Practice
Try it out4.1 · Easier said than done y or en?
Fill in with y or en.
- — Tu manges cinq fruits et légumes par jour? — Non, j' mange seulement deux ou trois.
- — Je voudrais bien manger sain… — Eh bien, mets-t'! (= se mettre à qqch)
- — Eh bien, moi, j' mange au moins cinq, sans problème.
- — Toi, tu as beaucoup de courage. Mais moi, je n' ai pas.
- — Et attends, je veux aussi du chocolat ! — Vas-!
- — Ah bon? Tu vas tous les jours? — Non, deux ou trois fois par semaine.
- — Et toi, le sport, tu fais? — Oui, j' fais beaucoup.
4.2 · Match question and answer Associations
Pair each question with its best answer.
- « Tu as mangé tous les chocolats? » →
- « Quand est-ce qu'elles vont à la piscine? » →
- « Et ses amis? Qu'est-ce qu'ils en pensent? » →
- « Et tes amies, elles mangent aussi au bureau le midi? » →
Communicate
Real-world tasks🥬 5.1 · What do you think?
Pair work. Discuss the questions:
- In your country, are there websites or magazines that give nutrition advice? Which ones interest you?
- Do you watch what you eat? Why?
- Do you follow the 9 recommendations from the document?
- What do you usually eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
- Which meal is the most important to you?
Pronunciation · Une banane sur un banc
A banana on a bench6.1 · Oral [a] or nasal [ɑ̃]?
Listen and decide whether you hear oral [a] (as in banane) or nasal [ɑ̃] (as in banc). Nasal vowels — letting air through your nose at the same time — don't exist in English; you'll need to train your ear.
- « Une banane sur un banc » → the first vowel of banane is:
- « Une banane sur un banc » → the vowel of banc is:
- « Un pour tous, tous pour un ! » → the vowel of tous is:
- « Tous les fruits du monde » → which one has a nasal vowel — fruits or monde?
- « Rendez-vous tous au restaurant. » → is tous nasal?
- « De tous les fruits, celui que je préfère, c'est la pomme. » → here tous is pronounced:
- « Pendant les vacances, tu pourras aller à la piscine tous les jours. » → pendant:
6.2 · Check your pronunciation
Listen again and repeat with the right [a] / [ɑ̃] contrast.
📌 Spelling rule
▶︎ [a] oral: a alone, or followed by a consonant other than final n / m ⇒ banane, table, salade.
▶︎ [ɑ̃] nasal: an, am, en, em at the end of a syllable ⇒ banc, dans, pendant, exemple.
▶︎ But an / am / en / em + vowel, or doubled (nn / mm), ⇒ back to [a] oral: banane, ami, anniversaire.
Rule of thumb: if an / en is followed by another vowel or by a doubled n/m, it loses the nasalization. The nose only kicks in at the end of a syllable.