Fruits and Vegetables in English: Vocabulary List, IPA & Examples

Fruits and vegetables are essential vocabulary topics for English learners. In this lesson, you will learn a list of useful vegetable and fruit names in English with ESL pictures to broaden your vocabulary and improve everyday conversations about food and cooking.

Fruits and Vegetables

Learning the names of fruits and vegetables helps you describe food, follow recipes, and communicate naturally in English. Below is a useful vocabulary list along with pronunciation and short explanations.

Vegetables

Below is a list of common vegetables in English. Some items such as tomato, cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin, and bell pepper are technically fruits from a biological perspective because they develop from flowers and contain seeds. However, in everyday cooking and conversation they are usually categorized as vegetables.

Related lessons:

• Vegetable Names in English
• Cooking Terms in English

Fruits

Below is a list of common fruit names in English. Fruits are typically sweet and grow from flowers containing seeds.

Related lesson:

• • List of Fruits

Vegetables and Fruits with Examples

Below are example sentences using common fruit and vegetable vocabulary in English.

• Artichoke leaves are sometimes used in traditional medicine.
• I like asparagus soup.
• Coconut is one of the staple exports of many tropical islands.
• The plum season is about to begin.
• The pineapple was sweet and juicy.
• Never has a passion fruit tasted sweeter.
• Lychee is a tropical fruit from Southeast Asia.
• He cut the orange into quarters.
• The fruit tasted much like a mango.
• Each cake had a cherry on top.
• He spread some strawberry jam on his toast.
• He put a grape into his mouth and swallowed it whole.
• The nectarine is a fruit much like a peach.
• Brush the cake with strained apricot jam.
• Kiwi fruits are perfect for a healthy snack.
• When I cut the lemon, juice squirted into my eye.
• Jack and Jill eat many kinds of food, but they like blueberries.
• They bought watermelons and ate them as they walked.
• The zucchini plants quickly became my favorite.
• Tomato soup is my cup of tea.
• Sweet potatoes contain many useful nutrients.
• Spinach is rich in iron and very good for you.
• The red cabbage salad is an extra treat.
• I opened cartons of bean sprouts, basil, and lettuce.
• Eat up your broccoli. It’s good for you.
• Cabbage can be eaten raw.
• She cut up the carrots and put them in the pot.
• I’m making the sauce for the cauliflower.
• He gave me a huge cucumber.
• He likes to eat eggplants.
• Serve with sausages or mushroom gravy.
• Life is like an onion; you peel it one layer at a time.
• An average potato has about 90 calories.
• Pumpkin pie is a traditional American dish served on Thanksgiving.

Is a Tomato a Fruit or a Vegetable?

The debate over whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable depends entirely on who you ask:
a scientist or a chef.

1. The Botanical Perspective (Scientific Definition)

In botany, a fruit is defined as the seed-bearing structure that develops from the ovary of a flowering plant.
Because tomatoes contain seeds and grow from the flower of the plant, they are scientifically classified as fruits.

Under this definition, tomatoes belong in the same category as many other fruits such as
apples, peaches, cucumbers, pumpkins, and watermelons.

2. The Culinary Perspective (Cooking Definition)

In everyday cooking, foods are often classified by flavor and culinary use rather than plant biology.
In this context, a vegetable is typically something that has a savory flavor and is used in main dishes.

Since tomatoes have a savory umami taste and are commonly used in dishes like
salads, soups, sauces, and pasta, chefs generally treat them as vegetables rather than fruits.

For example, tomatoes are rarely used in fruit salads or desserts, which is another reason they are usually grouped with vegetables in cooking.

Fun Fact: The Legal Ruling

In 1893, the U.S. Supreme Court actually had to settle this debate.
In the famous case Nix v. Hedden, the court ruled that the tomato should be classified as a
vegetable for trade and tax purposes, because people generally eat it like a vegetable rather than a fruit.

“A botanist will tell you a tomato is a fruit; a chef will tell you it’s a vegetable; but a wise person knows not to put it in a fruit salad.”