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👉 French food vocabulary (with audio) »
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Level A1 (Beginner)
Published February 1, 2026 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online, with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a voice artist from France.
The French Word of the Day is boulangerie, meaning “bakery,” an essential word for traveling or living in France. We’ll also answer the question: What’s the difference between a boulangerie and pâtisserie?
📘 Boulangerie meaning in French
A boulangerie (f.) is a French bakery that specializes in bread and everyday baked goods like baguettes, croissants, and pains au chocolat. In France, boulangeries are neighborhood staples — people often stop by daily to buy fresh bread for meals or breakfast.
🥐 Boulangerie vs pâtisserie
Boulangeries focus mainly on bread and simple pastries made with dough, while pâtisseries (pastry shops) specialize in desserts and sweets such as cakes, tarts, éclairs, and macarons. Many shops combine both, but traditionally, bread comes from the boulangerie and desserts come from the pâtisserie.
🎧 Boulangerie pronunciation in French
The pronunciation of boulangerie is /bu.lɑ̃ʒ.ʁi/ (IPA), which sounds roughly like “boo-lahn-zhree.”
📝 Boulangerie usage examples
Cette boulangerie fait de très bons croissants.
This bakery makes very good croissants.
L’odeur de la boulangerie me donne faim.
The smell of the bakery makes me hungry.
Je vais à la boulangerie acheter des pains au chocolat.
I’m going to the bakery to buy chocolate croissants.
👉 See also: Aller conjugation chart (to go) »
Il y a toujours une queue devant cette boulangerie.
There is always a line in front of this bakery.
True language mastery comes from the mastery of vocabulary.
👉 See also: French food vocabulary (100 words with audio) »
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🔗 Related words and expressions
- le boulanger / la boulangère — baker (m/f)
- la pâtisserie — pastry, cake shop
- la viennoiserie — pastry, sweet baked goods
- la baguette — baguette
- le pain — bread
- le croissant — croissant
- une vitrine de pâtisseries — pastry display window
📚 Related lessons on FrenchLearner!
👉 French food vocabulary (with Marie’s audio) »
👉 French desserts »
👉 French pastries »
