Basic Vocabulary You'll Need to Go Shopping in France

If you are shopping in France, you'll need to know the lingo. You could just stick with one shop or market, go in, pay and get out. But most of us do more than that in our search for the right product and the best bargain. You need to be able to read signs so that you're choosing the right shop, getting the best quality, ferreting out authentic bargains and speak intelligently with salespeople.

Keep in mind that France (and most of Europe) may have megastores, but most people still shop at their local small shops in order to find the freshest, highest-quality products. So don't discount the words for specialty stores; you will need to know them.

Shopping Vocabulary

une épicerie > small grocery store
le marché > farmers' market
le supermarché > supermarket
un hypermarché > superstore, giant supermarket
la boucherie > butcher shop
la boulangerie > bakery
la charcuterie > pork butcher's shop and delicatessen
la confiserie > candy store
la crémerie, la laiterie > dairy shop
la fromagerie > cheese shop
le magasin de fruits et légumes > greengrocer
le marchand de vins > wine shop
la pâtisserie > pastry shop
la poissonnerie > fish store
la banque > bank
la blanchisserie > laundry
la laverie automatique > laundromat
la droguerie > drugstore / hardware store
le grand magasin > department store
le kiosque > newsstand
le magasin de confection femme/homme/enfants > clothing store for women, men, children; magasin de vêtements > clothing store in general
la pharmacie > pharmacy
la poste > post office
le pressing > dry cleaner
la quincaillerie > hardware store
le tabac > tobacco shop
faire les courses > to do the shopping [for essentials]; aller faire les courses > to go shopping
faire du shopping > to go shopping, to shop [for specific items such as shoes]; partir faire les magasins > to go on a shopping trip/expedition

les soldes > the sales; faire les soldes > to shop the sales
client / personne qui faire ses courses > shopper
être accro au shopping > to be a shopaholic
cher (chère) > expensive; coûter cher > to be expensive
a bargain > une affaire; a good bargain > une bonne affaire; bargain prices > prix avantageux
marchander > to bargain, to haggle; negocier, traiter avec quelqu'un > to bargain with someone
heures d'ouverture > business / shop hours

Expressions Related to Shopping

Bon marché: can be translated as either "inexpensive" or "cheap." Bon marché can be both positive, indicating a reasonable price, and negative, insulting the product's quality.

Bon rapport qualité-prix: The French expression un bon rapport qualité-prix, sometimes written un bon rapport qualité / prix, indicates that the price of some product or service (a bottle of wine, car, restaurant, hotel) is more than fair. You'll often see it or a variation in reviews and promotional materials. To talk about a better value, you can make the comparative or superlative form of bon, as in:

un meilleur rapport qualité-prix > better value
le meilleur rapport qualité-prix > best value

To say that something is not a good value, you can either negate the sentence or use an antonym:

Ce n'est pas un bon rapport qualité-prix. / Il n'a pas un bon rapport qualité-prix. > It's not a good value
un mauvais rapport qualité-prix > poor value
le pire rapport qualité-prix > worst value

While less common, it's also possible to use a different adjective altogether, such as

un rapport qualité-prix incroyable > amazing value
un rapport qualité-prix intéressant > good value
un faible rapport qualité-prix > poor value

C'est cadeau: is a casual, informal expression meaning "It's free. It's inexpensive." The underlying meaning is that you're getting something extra that you weren't expecting, like a freebie. It can be from a store, a boutique or a friend doing you a favor. It doesn't necessarily involve money. Note that "C'est un cadeau" with the article is a simple non-idiomatic, declarative sentence that means "It is a gift."

Noël malin: The informal French expression Noël malin refers to Christmas. Malin means something that's "shrewd" or "cunning." But this expression isn’t describing Christmas or the sales, but rather the consumer—the cunning consumer who is far too smart to pass up these amazing bargains. At least that’s the idea. When a store says Noël malin, what they’re really saying is Noël (pour le) malin (Christmas for the clever.) For example, Offres Noël malin > Christmas offers [for the savvy shopper]

TTC: is an acronym that appears on receipts and it refers to the grand total that you owe for a given purchase. The initials TTC stand for toutes taxes comprises ("all taxes included"). TTC lets you know what you will actually be paying for a product or service. Most prices are quoted as TTC, but not all, so it's essential to pay attention to the fine print. The opposite of TTC is HT, which stands for hors taxe; this is the base price before the addition of the European Union-mandated TVA (value-added tax), which stands at 20 percent in France for most goods and services.