Restaurant reservations (Advanced): Setting preferences for seating, such as indoor, outdoor, or specific views.

💬 Indoors is en salle "in the dining room" and outdoors is en terrasse. Answer with just one of them: En terrasse, s'il vous plaît.

💬 French often uses on "someone/people" where English says "I was told". On m'a dit is literally "someone told me". On m'a conseillé "I was recommended" works the same way.

💬 Belle comes before vue, unlike most French describing words, which follow the noun. A few common ones like beau/belle, grand and petit sit in front.

💬 Port means harbour, not the drink. The final t is silent: (por).

💬 "A view of" is une vue sur, not de. Swap the place: une vue sur la mer "a sea view".

💬 Au is à + le fused together. Before a feminine word it stays split: face à la mer "facing the sea".

🇫🇷 Tables with a view are the first to go in seaside towns, especially on summer evenings. Ask for them when you book rather than when you arrive.

💬 Both words take an extra e and s because they describe les tables, which is feminine and plural. For a single table it becomes prise.

💬 Toutes sounds its t: (toot). The s is silent here because a consonant follows.

🇫🇷 This is the usual light reply to bad news on the phone. It's polite and shows you're moving on without fuss.

💬 French says "would there remain to you" il vous resterait rather than "would you have left". The ending -ait softens it into a gentle request.

💬 The opposite is à l'extérieur "outside". In restaurants, though, people usually say en salle versus en terrasse.

💬 Près needs de after it, and de shrinks to d' before a vowel: près d'une fenêtre, but près de la porte "near the door".

💬 The person who still has something goes before reste. Swap it to talk about yourselves: Il nous reste une table "We have one table left".

💬 A baie vitrée is a large picture window or glass wall, not a bay window that juts out. You'll see it in modern dining rooms with a view.

💬 Il me reste means "I have left", literally "there remains to me". It's handy anywhere: Il me reste dix euros "I've got ten euros left".

💬 Answer simply with Oui, ça m'irait très bien "Yes, that would suit me fine". Ça me va is the everyday present-tense version.

💬 Se libérer means "to become free". French often adds se where English uses "becomes" or "gets", as in la place se libère "the spot frees up".

💬 Pourriez is the polite "could" form of pouvoir. In speech the last syllable sounds like -ié (poo-ree-ay), with the z silent.

💬 Prévenir looks like "prevent", but it means to let someone know or warn them in advance.

🇫🇷 It's fine to ask this, but don't count on a callback. Many places simply seat you on the terrace when you arrive if something has opened up.

💬 Le here means "it" and goes before the verb, not after it as in English. The same goes for je la prends "I'll take it".

💬 French books "at" a name: à quel nom is literally "at which name". Answer with Au nom de Martin "Under the name Martin".

💬 French books "at" a name: à quel nom. You'd answer Au nom de Martin "Under the name Martin".

🇫🇷 French phone numbers are read in pairs: zéro six, douze, trente-quatre…. Mobile numbers start with 06 or 07.

💬 À + a time means "see you then": À demain "See you tomorrow", À ce soir "See you tonight".

🇫🇷 Staff say this at the end of almost any daytime exchange. After about 5pm it switches to Bonne soirée "Have a good evening".

🇫🇷 This is the reflex reply when someone wishes you a good day. On its own, À vous aussi is enough.