Today we’ll look at one of the most important expressions in the French langauge “bon appétit!”, which means “enjoy your meal!”. We’ll also look at the synonymous and slightly more formal expression bonne dégustation as well as the shortened slang expression “bon ap!”.
Bon appétit ! – [bɔn-apeti]
Enjoy your meal!
Word origin
The French adjective bon comes from bonus in Latin. The masculine French noun appétit comes from the noun appetitus (desire for) and verb appetere (to seek after) in Latin.
Pronunciation
English speakers have adopted the French expression bon appétit and say “bohn-a-puh-tee”. The correct French pronunciation is: bohn ah-pay-tee or [bɔn-apeti]. This E with the upward slanting accute accent causes an ay sound as in play.
Example sentences
The French almost never start a meal without wishing each other “good appetite”. These first two example sentences are examples of how you’d hear bon appétit in a restaurant or someone’s home.
Heureux de vous avoir à notre restaurant, bon appétit !
Happy to have you at our restaurant. Enjoy your meal!
Je suis certain que tu vas adorer ce repas ! Bon appétit !
I’m sure you’ll love this meal. Bon appetit!
In addition to bon appétit, the French also use the expression bonne dégustation. The verb déguster means “to taste” in the context of tasting a high-quality food or beverage item.
Je suis ravi de vous présenter quelques specialités de la région. Bonne dégustation !
I’m delighted to show you some specialities from the region. Enjoy!
This final example uses a shortened informal and informal version: bon ap. You’d use this with friends and people you know. English equivalents are “enjoy” and “dig in”.
Bon ap, mes amis!
Dig in, my friends!
Word of the Day Lessons | Lessons by David Issokson
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