Clé France

My early trips to l’épicerie were an interesting exercise in how much I trusted my French. I took gambles on whether the bottle I was buying was l’assouplissant (softener) or la lessive (detergent), hoping it wasn’t l’eau de Javel (bleach).

Before having the luxury of un lave-vaisselle (a dishwasher) I used to rely on du liquide vaisselle (dish soap) and des éponges (sponges). That means looking at many different products that even if I know le mot français (the French word), I often don’t know la marque (the brand)!

Cependant (however), before struggling to realise what the difference between French soap brands are, I had to also learn the vocabulary. The difference between la lessive, le liquide vaisselle et le savon (detergent, dish soap, and hand soap) is very important!

Luckily I knew how to say faire la vaisselle (wash dishes) so when I was confusingly staring at the different bottles at l’épicerie, I at least knew how to say what I was looking for.

La Vaisselle – Washing Dishes In French

Excusez-moi monsieur, vous cherchez quelque chose ?

Oui…. J’ai besoin du savon pour faire la vaisselle.

Vous voulez dire du liquide vaisselle ?

Je crois… oui…

Suivez-moi, monsieur, c’est juste ici.

D’accord.

Excuse me, sir, are you looking for something ?

Yes… I need soap for washing dishes.

Do you mean dish washing soap?

I believe so… yes…

Follow me sir, it’s right over here.

Alright.

I will admit I was not sûr à cent percent (one hundred percent sure) that le liquide vaisselle was the right word. I figured if l’employé (the employee) knew it would work with la vaisselle (dirty dishes), it should be the right thing.

I made my way out of l’épicerie and when it came time to faire la vaisselle I was relieved to find out that I bought the right kind of soap!

Voici un vocabulaire de la vaisselle :

Faire la vaiselle – To do the dishes

La vaisselle – Dirty dishes

Le liquide vaisselle – Dish soap

La lessive – Detergent

L’assouplissant – Softener

L’eau de Javel – Bleach

Le savon – Soap

L’assiette – Plate (physical dish)

Le plat – Plate (meal, dish)

La tasse – Cup

Le verre – Glass

Le lave-vaisselle – Dishwasher

Le plongeur – Dishwasher (person).

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.