Le petit-déjeuner précède le déjeuner.

the breakfast

Breakdown of Le petit-déjeuner précède le déjeuner.

• le déjeuner: the lunch
• précéder: to precede

Questions & Answers about Le petit-déjeuner précède le déjeuner.

Why does French use déjeuner in both petit-déjeuner and déjeuner?

Because they are related words. In modern standard French, petit-déjeuner means breakfast and déjeuner means lunch.

Historically, déjeuner was connected with breaking the fast, and petit-déjeuner literally means something like small breakfast/early meal. Over time, the meanings settled into the modern meal names used in France.

Why is petit-déjeuner written with a hyphen?

Because petit-déjeuner is a fixed compound noun. French often hyphenates expressions that function as one word.

So here, le petit-déjeuner is treated as a single noun meaning breakfast, not just the adjective petit plus the noun déjeuner used freely.

Why is there le before both meal names, even though English usually just says breakfast and lunch?

French often uses the definite article where English does not. So le petit-déjeuner and le déjeuner can mean breakfast and lunch in a general sense, not necessarily the breakfast and the lunch of one specific day.

That is very normal in French:

• J’aime le café. = I like coffee.
• Le petit-déjeuner précède le déjeuner. = Breakfast comes before lunch.