Picture scene

French hardware shop vocabulary: find your way around the paint department

Learn twelve French words for paint products, tools and displays. Explore the department and match customer requests to the right object.

In short

In the paint department, choose a colour from le nuancier, paint a broad surface with un rouleau and reach the corners with un pinceau. Le bac à peinture holds the paint while you work. Explore twelve products, tools and display features, then answer five customer requests.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

Two people compare paint swatches beside a plain paint tin, roller, brush and tray.
Malik chooses a colour from le nuancier. Illustration: Atelier

Je cherche de la peinture pour un mur intérieur.

I’m looking for paint for an interior wall.

The colour desk and decorating aisle

Bright hardware-store paint department seen at a slight overhead angle. A low shelf holds closed metal paint pots. Near the colour desk are a fan-shaped colour

un pinceaua paintbrush

Focus: Bristles on a handle: useful for small areas

Je cherche un petit pinceau pour les coins.
I’m looking for a small paintbrush for the corners.

un rouleaua roller

Focus: A rotating cylinder for broad areas

Il me faut un rouleau pour le plafond.
I need a roller for the ceiling.

Un mur bleu clair

Malik veut repeindre un mur du salon. Il apporte une photo et regarde le nuancier1 avec une vendeuse. « Je voudrais un bleu clair, un peu moins gris que celui-ci. » La vendeuse lui montre une autre couleur, puis prépare le pot avec la machine à teinter. Pendant ce temps, Malik choisit un rouleau et un bac à peinture. Il ajoute un petit pinceau pour les coins. Sur le présentoir, il trouve du ruban de masquage2. Il demande enfin une bâche de protection3 assez grande pour couvrir le sol devant le mur.

Read it in English

Malik wants to repaint a wall in the living room. He brings a photograph and looks at the colour chart with a shop assistant. “I’d like a light blue, a little less grey than this one.” She shows him another colour, then prepares the tin using the tinting machine. Meanwhile, Malik chooses a roller and a paint tray. He adds a small paintbrush for the corners. He finds masking tape on the display stand. Finally, he asks for a protective sheet large enough to cover the floor in front of the wall.

Say the quantity with the product
FrenchEnglish
un pot de peinturea tin of paint
un rouleau de ruban de masquagea roll of masking tape
une feuille de papier abrasifa sheet of sandpaper
Question 1No account needed
Which display helps the customer compare shades?Je voudrais comparer plusieurs nuances de vert.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

le nuancier. Le nuancier presents colour samples so the customer can compare shades.

Question 2No account needed
Find the broad-surface tool.Il me faut un rouleau pour peindre ce grand mur.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

le rouleau. The request names un rouleau, the cylindrical paint roller.

Question 3No account needed
Which product is being requested?Je cherche une bâche pour couvrir le sol.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

la bâche de protection. Une bâche is a large protective sheet used here to cover the floor.

Question 4No account needed
Find the sheet with a rough surface.Vous avez une feuille de papier abrasif ?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

le papier abrasif. Le papier abrasif is sandpaper, sold here in flat sheets.

Question 5No account needed
What will the employee use?Je vais préparer votre couleur à la machine à teinter.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

la machine à teinter. The employee names la machine à teinter, the machine that adds colour to paint.