Word
Vous buvez une bière ou du vin ?
Meaning
Are you drinking a beer or some wine?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Vous buvez une bière ou du vin ?
vous
you (plural/formal)
ou
or
de
of / from / any (in negative sentences) / about (concerning)
boire
to drink
Questions & Answers about Vous buvez une bière ou du vin ?
Why does the verb change to buvez when the dictionary form is boire?
Why do we use une for beer but du for wine?
French uses the partitive article du (meaning some) for uncountable liquids like wine in general. However, it is very common to treat beer as a single, countable serving (like a bottle or can), which is why we use une bière (a beer). You could technically say un vin if you meant one specific glass of wine, but du vin is the standard way to offer wine.
How do we know this is a question if it just starts with vous buvez?
In everyday spoken French, it is very common to ask a question simply by using the normal statement word order and raising the pitch of your voice at the end. You do not always need to add formal question phrases like est-ce que.