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How to Say ‘Le Petit Zinc restaurant, hello!’ in French

Restaurant Le Petit Zinc, bonjour !

reh-steu-RAHN luh puh-tee zank bohn-ZHOOR

[reh-steu-RAHN luh puh-tee zank bohn-ZHOOR]

🇫🇷 In France: This is how French restaurants answer the phone: the name first, then bonjour. Start your reply with your own bonjour before asking anything, since skipping it sounds abrupt.

Phrase Breakdown

Restaurant

[reh-steu-RAHN]

restaurant

A place where meals are served; same meaning as in English.

Example

Le restaurant dispose d'un parking privé.

The restaurant has a private parking lot.

Le Petit Zinc,

luh puh-tee zank

The Little Zinc,

The restaurant's name. Pause slightly after it, as a waiter does on the phone.

Example

Le Petit Zinc est près d'ici.

The Petit Zinc is near here.

Words in this phrase

Le

[luh]

the

Used as a function word to indicate a noun and to mark the noun as definite.

Example

Le chat noir.

The black cat.

Petit

[puh-tee]

Small/Little

Describes something of a smaller size or lesser degree.

Example

Elle a un petit chien.

She has a small dog.

Zinc

[zank]

Zinc (name; also a bar counter)

Part of the restaurant's name; 'zinc' is also slang for a café bar counter.

Example

On boit un café au zinc.

We drink a coffee at the bar counter.

bonjour !

bohn-ZHOOR

hello!

This is the standard greeting when answering the phone at a business. Say 'bon-ZHOOR' with a nasal 'on'.

Example

Bonjour ! Comment allez-vous ?

Hello! How are you?

Words in this phrase

bonjour

[bohn-ZHOOR]

hello

A common polite greeting used at the start of a conversation, email, or message.

Example

Bonjour, merci encore pour notre échange lors de l'événement.

Hello, thank you again for our conversation during the event.

Related guides

Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.French Conversation for Beginners: 6 Everyday Dialogues You'll Actually UseSix basic French conversations for beginners, from greeting a neighbour and introducing yourself to booking a restaurant, with translations, native audio and the phrases that keep them going.

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