Fruits are plant foods that usually grow from flowers and contain seeds. In everyday English, we call something a fruit when it is sweet or used in desserts, snacks, and juices. Fruit can be eaten fresh, dried, or cooked, and it is often described by color, taste, and ripeness.

Vegetables are plant foods that come from many parts of a plant, such as roots, leaves, stems, or flowers. In everyday English, vegetables are usually less sweet and are often used in savory meals like salads, soups, and side dishes. Vegetable words are commonly grouped by the part of the plant we eat or by how we cook them.

English speakers often organize fruit and vegetables by how we use them in meals, not by strict biology. This helps you choose the right word in a grocery store or restaurant, because it matches how people talk. Common categories include berries, citrus, leafy greens, root vegetables, and herbs.

Word/Phrase	Definition	Example
leafy greens	vegetables with edible leaves	I added leafy greens to the salad.
root vegetables	vegetables that grow underground	Root vegetables are great for roasting.
citrus	fruits with a bright, tangy flavor and thick peel	Citrus fruits are high in vitamin C.
berries	small, soft fruits often eaten fresh	We bought berries for breakfast.
herbs	aromatic leaves used for flavor	I used fresh herbs in the sauce.

Most fruit and vegetable words are countable nouns, so you can use a or an and make plurals. This is useful for shopping, ordering, and describing quantity. Some items are commonly talked about in pieces, while others are often grouped in containers.

Rule	Example
Use a or an with one item	I ate an apple.
Use plural -s for more than one	We bought three bananas.
Use a container word for groups	A bunch of grapes, a bag of oranges.
Use some for an unspecified amount	I need some tomatoes.

To describe fruit and vegetables naturally, English often uses adjectives for freshness, ripeness, texture, and taste. These adjectives help you explain what you want and how something looks or feels. They also appear frequently in recipes and grocery labels.

Word/Phrase	Definition	Example
ripe	ready to eat, fully developed	These peaches are ripe.
unripe	not ready to eat yet	The avocado is still unripe.
fresh	recently picked or in good condition	Do you have fresh spinach?
crunchy	makes a crisp sound when eaten	The carrots are really crunchy.
juicy	full of liquid	This orange is very juicy.
bitter	sharp, not sweet	Some greens can taste bitter.

When buying fruit and vegetables, English uses common questions about price, quantity, and quality. These phrases help you interact with store staff and understand what people say at markets. They also help you request a specific amount or type.

Word/Phrase	Definition	Example
How much is this?	asks for the price	How much are the strawberries?
by the pound	priced per unit of weight	Apples are $2 a pound.
Do you have any…?	asks if something is available	Do you have any ripe bananas?
I’m looking for…	says what you want to buy	I’m looking for fresh basil.
I’ll take…	confirms what you will buy	I’ll take two tomatoes.

Fruit is often used in sweet dishes, breakfast, snacks, and drinks, while vegetables are common in savory meals. Knowing the typical meal context helps you choose the natural word and understand menus. Some items can appear in both sweet and savory dishes depending on the recipe.

Word/Phrase	Definition	Example
fruit salad	mixed fruit served cold	We had fruit salad for breakfast.
smoothie	blended drink often with fruit	She made a mango smoothie.
side salad	vegetables served with a meal	I’ll have a side salad.
vegetable soup	soup made mostly with vegetables	Vegetable soup is on the menu.
roasted vegetables	vegetables cooked in the oven	Roasted vegetables go well with chicken.

Some foods can be confusing because biology and everyday English do not match. In daily speech, tomato, cucumber, pepper, and avocado are often called vegetables because they are used in savory dishes. Learning this helps you sound natural even if you know the scientific classification.

Rule	Example
In cooking, tomato is usually treated as a vegetable	Add chopped tomato to the salad.
Cucumber and peppers are often called vegetables in stores	The vegetables are in aisle three.
Avocado is a fruit but often used like a vegetable	I put avocado on my sandwich.

Fruit and vegetable words often include tricky vowel sounds and stress patterns. Learning the main stress helps listeners understand you quickly. Focus on clear stress and the most common vowel sound in each word.

Rule	Description	Notation	Example
Stress in two syllables	Stress often falls on the first syllable in common food words	STRESS on first syllable	CAR-rot, AP-ple
Tomato variation	Two common pronunciations are both acceptable in English	tə-MAY-to or tə-MAH-to	I bought tomatoes.
Vegetable syllables	Vegetable commonly has four syllables in careful speech	VEG-tuh-buhl	Eat more vegetables.

English uses different quantity words depending on whether you mean pieces, weight, or containers. This is especially common with fruit and vegetables because people buy them in many forms. Using the right quantity phrase makes your meaning clear in shopping and cooking.

Rule	Example
Use numbers for individual items	Six oranges, two onions.
Use weight for bulk items	Two pounds of potatoes.
Use containers for grouped items	A bunch of bananas, a box of berries.
Use some for flexible amounts in cooking	Add some chopped cilantro.