OffQc | Québécois French Guide

When paying the cashier in a store or restaurant, you’ll probably be asked a question or two. Here are 8 typical questions often heard in Québec, to help you be better prepared.

1. Avez-vous la carte de points?
Do you have the points card? Different stores have different names for their points card. At Pharmaprix, for example, it’s called la carte Optimum. Avez-vous la carte Optimum?

2. Voulez-vous la facture?
Do you want the receipt? At fast food restaurants, many customers don’t want the receipt, so cashiers have a habit of asking if you want it. In Montréal, the receipt is most often called une facture, and much more rarely un reçu.

3. Voulez-vous un sac?
Do you want a bag? Because many stores are now in the practice of charging their customers for plastic bags, you may be asked if you want one.

4. C’est tout? Ça va être tout? C’est complet?
Will that be all? We looked at these questions recently here. You might be asked one of these questions at a fast food restaurant. (You can review how to order in French at Tim Hortons here and at McDonalds here.)

5. C’est pour ici ou pour emporter?
Is it for here or to go? You can answer this question with pour ici (for here) or pour emporter (to go). Other times, the question might be asked as c’est pour ici? or c’est pour manger ici?, in which case you can answer with either oui or non, (c’est) pour emporter.

6. Voulez-vous un cabaret?
Do you want a tray? If you’ve ordered food, you might be asked if you want a tray to carry it on. In Montréal, a tray is most often called un cabaret. You might also hear it called un plateau, but this term is more likely to be used by francophones who aren’t from Québec.

7. Voulez-vous un cabaret de transport?
Do you want a coffee tray / a tray for the drinks? This is a smaller kind of tray, usually made of cardboard, used for carrying take-away cups of coffee or other drinks. There’s an image of a cabaret de transport here. In that same post, you’ll also discover (or review) what coffee cup sleeves are called in French, in case you want to ask for one.

8. Avez-vous dix sous?
Have you got a dime? When paying a cashier, you might be asked for five cents (cinq sous, cinq cennes), ten cents (dix sous, dix cennes) or twenty-five cents (vingt-cinq sous, vingt-cinq cennes) to facilitate making your change. For example, if you owe 4,10 $ (quatre et dix) and you pay with a five-dollar bill, you might be asked for ten cents (avez-vous dix sous?) so that your change will consist simply of a one-dollar coin (une piasse, in colloquial language), rather than a number of coins totalling 90 cents.

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Get caught up: The OffQc book 1000 Québécois French is a condensed version of all the language that appeared in the first 1000 posts on OffQc. You can buy and download it here.