French Phrases #13: Talking About Cooking

In conversations with friends or family, questions such as “Do you cook?” or “What do you usually make?” are very common. Learning vocabulary and expressions related to cooking is useful for sharing your hobbies and lifestyle.

In this lesson, we will study basic French vocabulary and expressions about cooking, as well as related grammar points, through natural dialogue examples.

Dialogue

A

Tu cuisines souvent chez toi ?
（Do you often cook at home?）

B

Oui, j’aime bien cuisiner des plats maison.
（Yes, I enjoy cooking homemade dishes.）

A

Qu’est-ce que tu sais préparer ?
（What can you make?）

B

Je fais souvent des pâtes, des soupes, et parfois des desserts.
（I often make pasta and soups, and sometimes desserts.）

A

Moi, je ne cuisine presque jamais…
（I hardly ever cook myself…）

B

C’est dommage ! Tu veux que je t’apprenne une recette facile ?
（That’s a shame! Do you want me to teach you an easy recipe?）

Grammar and Expression Points

1. Verbs for “to cook”: cuisiner / faire

To say “to cook,” the verb cuisiner is the first one to learn. It refers to the act of cooking in general and is common in everyday speech.

Cuisiner is also transitive, so it can take a direct object:

By contrast, faire (“to make, to do”) is highly versatile and often used in cooking contexts to mean “to prepare a dish.”

This usage emphasizes the specific dish being prepared. In practice, “faire + dish name” is often more natural in everyday conversation than cuisiner.

2. Expressing Likes: aimer + infinitive

To say “I like doing …” in French, use “aimer + infinitive.”

Adding bien softens the tone, meaning “quite like” or “enjoy.”

When used with people, aimer can mean “to love,” so be mindful of context.

3. Expressing Ability: savoir + infinitive

The verb savoir (to know) can also mean “to know how to / to be able to” when followed by an infinitive.

This construction emphasizes skill or ability.

4. Adverbs of Frequency: souvent, parfois, etc.

To express frequency such as “often” or “sometimes,” use adverbs. In French, they typically appear right after the verb.

5. Making Offers or Requests: vouloir que + subjunctive

When expressing a desire for someone else to do something, French uses “vouloir + que” followed by the subjunctive.

Here, apprendre (to teach/learn) is conjugated in the present subjunctive.

Subjunctive of apprendre (present):：

Summary

泉（Izumi）

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