Flashcards

French fruit vocabulary: 20 picture cards for the greengrocer

Learn twenty French fruit names with their articles from picture cards, then buy them by the kilo, by the piece or by the punnet.

In short

Most fruit names ending in -e are feminine (la pomme, la poire, la fraise), but not all: le raisin, le citron, l'ananas (m.) and le melon are masculine. Learn each fruit with its article, and buy it with un kilo de…, une barquette de… or trois….

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Crates of fruit and handwritten French price signs outside a greengrocer in Paris.
A shop selling fresh fruit and vegetables is called un primeur. Photo: Nathan Cima, Unsplash License via Unsplash

Picture cards: tap a fruit, then test yourself

The whole deck

All 20 cards, with an example each

Set 1

  • la pommeappleJe prends un kilo de pommes.
  • la poirepearLes poires sont bien mûres.
  • la bananebananaUne banane pour le goûter.
  • l'orange (f.)orangeJe voudrais six oranges.
  • le citronlemonUn citron pour le poisson.
  • la fraisestrawberryUne barquette de fraises, s'il vous plaît.
  • la cerisecherryLes cerises arrivent en juin.

Set 2

  • le raisingrapesLe raisin blanc est sucré.
  • la pêchepeachCes pêches sont très juteuses.
  • l'abricot (m.)apricotUn kilo d'abricots pour la confiture.
  • la pruneplumLes prunes sont un peu acides.
  • le melonmelonLe melon est à deux euros.
  • la pastèquewatermelonUne demi-pastèque, c'est possible ?
  • l'ananas (m.)pineappleL'ananas vient de loin.

Set 3

  • la framboiseraspberryLes framboises sont fragiles.
  • le kiwikiwiUn kiwi au petit-déjeuner.
  • la manguemangoLa mangue est mûre ?
  • la clémentineclementineDes clémentines en hiver.
  • la myrtilleblueberryUn pot de myrtilles.
  • la noix de cocococonutLa noix de coco est dure à ouvrir.

How is fruit sold in French shops?

Quantities at the market
FrenchEnglishExample
un kilo dea kilo ofun kilo de pommes
une livre dehalf a kilo (500 g) ofune livre de cerises
une barquette dea punnet ofune barquette de fraises
une grappe dea bunch of (grapes)une grappe de raisin
à la piècesold individuallyLes mangues sont à la pièce.

After a quantity, de stays short: un kilo de pommes, never un kilo des pommes. Before a vowel it becomes d': un kilo d'abricots. Une livre is not a pound sterling here: at the market it means 500 grams.

  • un kilo des fraisesun kilo de fraises

    After a quantity word, use plain de.

  • le orangel'orange

    Before a vowel, le and la become l'. Learn it as une orange to remember the gender.

  • les raisins (for one bunch)du raisin / une grappe de raisin

    French treats grapes as a mass: j'achète du raisin.

Question 1No account needed
Which fruit is masculine?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

le citron. Citron is masculine. Many fruits in -e are feminine, which is why le citron is worth learning on its own.

Question 2No account needed
You want a punnet of raspberries.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

une barquette de framboises. Small soft fruit comes in a barquette. Grappe is for grapes, and des is wrong after a quantity.

Question 3No account needed
Une livre de cerises is…

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

about 500 g of cherries. At the market, une livre is half a kilo. Un livre (masculine) is a book.