eau

water

noun OH Common

Usage Note

Eau is one of the shortest French words but phonetically tricky — the au digraph gives the 'oh' sound. The plural eaux is spelled differently but pronounced identically. French table culture distinguishes eau plate (still water) and eau gazeuse (sparkling), and asking for une carafe d'eau at a restaurant gets you free tap water.

Examples

"Un verre d'eau, s'il vous plaît."

Natural Translation

A glass of water, please.

Literal Translation

A glass of-water, if-it-you pleases

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