Quantities and measurements

French recipes use metric measurements such as grams, centiliters, and liters, alongside everyday quantities such as a pinch or a spoonful.

Some quantities are exact, such as 250 grammes de farine. Others are approximate, such as une pincée de sel, une tranche de pain, or un peu de sucre. You will encounter both when you shop, cook, or read a recipe.

Common measurements for food and cooking

Recipes use units of weight and volume as well as measurements based on spoons:

In written recipes, measurements are usually abbreviated. You may see 250 g de farine, 50 cl de lait, or 1 l d'eau.

Une cuillère à café literally means a coffee spoon, but as a measurement it corresponds approximately to a teaspoon. Une cuillère à soupe is a tablespoon.

Centiliters are common in French recipes. For example, 25 cl is 250 milliliters, or one quarter of a liter.

Portions and approximate amounts

Not everything is measured by weight or volume. These words let you describe portions and amounts of food:

The meaning of some of these words depends on what is being measured.

Une gousse d'ail is a clove of garlic, while une noix de beurre is a small knob of butter. In the second expression, noix describes an approximate amount. By itself, noix is a walnut.

Other expressions work with many different foods:

• une tranche de pain: a slice of bread
• une poignée de noix: a handful of nuts
• un morceau de fromage: a piece of cheese
• un peu de sucre: a little sugar

For more examples, see Portions and quantities. For conversations about serving sizes and sharing, see Conversations about food portions.

Containers and food packages

When you shop for food, the container or package also expresses a quantity:

These words combine with the food or drink they contain:

The English translation depends on the product. Une boîte, for example, can be a can of tomatoes or a box containing another type of food.

Using de after a quantity

A common pattern connects a quantity with the food or ingredient being measured:

quantity + de + food or ingredient

Before a vowel, de becomes d', as in un litre d'eau or une bouteille d'huile.

The same pattern applies to quantity expressions such as beaucoup de, un peu de, and assez de:

• beaucoup de fromage
• un peu de beurre
• assez de farine

Counting food by individual items

When a recipe or shopping list counts individual items, the number goes directly before the noun:

Compare an individual count with a measured quantity:

• deux tomates: two tomatoes
• 500 grammes de tomates: 500 grams of tomatoes

The first tells you how many tomatoes you need. The second gives you their weight.

Exact and approximate quantities

Recipes do not always give an exact measurement. These expressions tell you that an amount is approximate or depends on preference:

Compare how the amount of sugar changes:

• 100 g de sucre: 100 g of sugar
• environ 100 g de sucre: about 100 g of sugar
• un peu de sucre: a little sugar

Selon votre goût is used for ingredients such as salt, pepper, herbs, or spices when the amount depends on personal preference.

Reading quantities in a French recipe

An ingredient list brings several of these patterns together:

• 250 g de farine
• 100 g de sucre
• 2 œufs
• 50 g de beurre
• 20 cl de lait
• une pincée de sel

Foods counted individually do not need de: 2 œufs.

Measurements and quantity expressions generally do: 250 g de farine, 20 cl de lait, and une pincée de sel.

From learning to practice

When you cook, look at the quantities in a recipe and try to express them in French. Pay particular attention to whether the recipe counts individual items, gives a measurement with de, or uses an approximate amount such as une pincée or un peu de.