The verb to drink (boire)

The irregular verb boire (to drink) has three different stems: boi- for singular forms, buv- for nous and vous, and boiv- for ils and elles.

PronounForm of boire
jebois
tubois
il/elle/onboit
nousbuvons
vousbuvez
ils/ellesboivent

Quenching your thirst

In French, you use the verb avoir (to have) to say you are thirsty: avoir soif.

I am thirsty, I am drinking a bottle of water.
J'ai soif, je bois une bouteille d'eau.
Are you thirsty? Are you drinking a lemonade?
Tu as soif ? Tu bois une limonade ?

At the café

When going out for a drink, you might sit on une terrasse (a terrace) and interact with un serveur (a waiter). To ask for your drinks, use the regular verb commander (to order).

The waiter is arriving, are you ordering a soda?
Le serveur arrive, vous commandez un soda ?

Notice the stem changes for boire in the plural forms:

Are you drinking a beer or some wine?
Vous buvez une bière ou du vin ?
We are on the terrace and we are having a drink.
Nous sommes sur la terrasse et nous buvons un verre.
They are drinking a good bottle of wine together.
Ils boivent une bonne bouteille de vin ensemble.

When you are finished, don't forget to ask for l'addition (the bill)!

That is the waiter with the beer and the bill.
C'est le serveur avec la bière et l'addition.

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