Dialogue
French café dialogue: your order is for someone else
Correct who receives each drink in a sixteen-line French café dialogue. Practise pour moi, pour elle and pour lui without changing the original order.
- A1
- 16 lines
- Practice mode
- Learn this in the A1 notebook →
In short
Say Le thé, c’est pour elle to identify the person who should receive it. Use pour moi for yourself, pour lui for a man and pour elle for a woman. In this dialogue, the drinks are correct; the server needs to match them to the right people.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
Adam, Lina and Noé are sitting together at a café. Adam ordered coffee, Lina ordered tea, and Noé ordered orange juice. The server first offers the tea to Adam, then asks Lina about the juice. Follow the three recipients and notice how a short correction keeps the service moving. In practice mode, take Adam’s part; Lina, Noé and the server keep their own lines.
- Serveur
Un thé pour vous, monsieur ?
English
A tea for you, sir?
- Adam
Non, le thé, c’est pour elle.
No, the tea is for her.
English
No, the tea is for her.
- Lina
Oui, c’est pour moi, merci.
English
Yes, that’s for me, thank you.
- Serveur
Très bien. Et le café ?
English
Very good. And the coffee?
- Adam
Le café, c’est pour moi.
The coffee is for me.
English
The coffee is for me.
- Serveur
Voici votre café.
English
Here is your coffee.
- Adam
Merci beaucoup.
Thank you very much.
English
Thank you very much.
- Serveur
Et le jus d’orange, c’est pour vous, madame ?
English
And the orange juice, is that for you, madam?
- Lina
Non, c’est pour lui, à côté de la fenêtre.
English
No, it’s for him, beside the window.
- Noé
Oui, le jus d’orange est pour moi.
English
Yes, the orange juice is for me.
- Serveur
Ah, d’accord. Voilà votre jus.
English
Ah, I see. Here is your juice.
- Noé
Merci. Je peux avoir une paille, s’il vous plaît ?
English
Thank you. Could I have a straw, please?
- Serveur
Oui, je vous apporte ça.
English
Yes, I’ll bring you one.
- Adam
Lina, tu as ton thé ?
Lina, have you got your tea?
English
Lina, have you got your tea?
- Lina
Oui, merci. Tout est bon.
English
Yes, thank you. Everything is right.
- Serveur
Parfait. Bonne dégustation !
English
Perfect. Enjoy your drinks!
Use the pronoun that fits after pour
| Recipient | French phrase | Example |
|---|---|---|
| The speaker | pour moi | Le café, c’est pour moi. |
| A man being referred to | pour lui | Le jus, c’est pour lui. |
| A woman being referred to | pour elle | Le thé, c’est pour elle. |
| The person addressed politely | pour vous | Le café, c’est pour vous ? |
After pour, use moi rather than je, and lui rather than il. Je and il are subject forms: je prends un café, il prend un jus. In the correction, c’est already provides the sentence frame, and the phrase after pour identifies the recipient. Elle has the same spelling as a subject pronoun, but here follows the preposition.
Non, le thé est pour Lina. Le café est pour moi.
No, the tea is for Lina. The coffee is for me.
A name can be clearer than a pronoun
Pour elle works when the person is clear from the table and gesture. If several people could be meant, use the name: Le thé, c’est pour Lina. The dialogue adds à côté de la fenêtre to identify Noé’s position. You can give a name or a short location instead of expecting the server to infer who lui refers to.
Keep a correction proportionate to the problem. Non, c’est pour elle supplies the missing information. Merci after receiving the drink closes the repair. The conversation can then continue with a separate request, such as the straw, without repeating all three orders.