| au |
| 1. contraction. contraction of à le | |
| Il étudie la musique au conservatoire. - He studies music at the conservatory. | |
| à |
| 1. Notes. In Canada, à and a are not homophones, à a, a ɑː. | |
| 2. prep. to (destination) | |
| aller au bout - go to the end / go all the way | |
| Je vais à Paris. - I am going to Paris. | |
| 3. prep. to (until) | |
| Le spectacle sera de 18h à 21h. - The show will be from 6 pm to 9 pm. | |
| 4. prep. on the, to (some directions) | |
| Tournez à gauche ! - Turn to the left! | |
| Ne tournez pas encore à droite ! - Don't turn to the right yet! | |
| Le vent vire au nord. - The wind turns north. | |
| L'école est à gauche. - The school is on the left. | |
| 5. prep. at (said of a particular time) | |
| à dix heures et quart - at quarter past ten | |
| Je pars à cinq heures précises. - I am leaving at exactly five o'clock. | |
| 6. prep. at, in, on (said of a particular place) | |
| à la maison - at home | |
| à l'hôtel - at the hotel | |
| au comptoir du bar - at the bar | |
| au bois - in the woods | |
| J'habite à un demi-kilomètre d'ici. - I live half a kilometer from here. | |
| La maison qui a été détruite hier soir ne se trouvait qu'à trois kilomètres de chez nous. - The house that was destroyed last night was only three kilometers from our place.à trois kilomètres d | |
| 7. prep. Used in various interjections used as warnings or exhortations | |
| au voleur ! - stop thief! | |
| à l'assassin ! - murderer! | |
| au meurtre ! - murder! murderer! | |
| à moi ! - help! | |
| à l'aide ! - help! | |
| au secours ! - help! | |
| au feu ! - fire! | |
| aux armes ! - to arms! | |
| à l'attaque ! - attack! forward! charge! up and at 'em! | |
| à l'abordage ! - on board! | |
| au boulot ! - get to work! let's get to work! | |
| au travail ! - get to work! let's get to work! | |
| 8. prep. from (origin) | |
| Nous prenons de l'eau au puits. - We get water from the well. | |
| Je l'ai eu à la bibliothèque. - I got it from the library. | |
| Voilà la femme à laquelle j'ai acheté mon chien - There's the woman I bought my dog from. | |
| 9. prep. of (belonging to) | |
| C'est un ami à moi. - This is a friend of mine. | |
| Cette voiture est à John. - This is John's car. | |
| le chien à Marie - Mary's dog nonstandard: one normally would use de here | |
| 10. prep. till, until (used in farewells) | |
| à plus tard - see you later | |
| à bientôt - see you soon | |
| Salut, donc. À demain. - Bye, then. 'Til tomorrow / see you tomorrow. | |
| 11. prep. (cuisine) cooked in or with | |
| 12. prep. Used to make compound nouns to state what something is used for | |
| moulin à poivre - pepper mill | |
| sac à dos - backpack | |
| boite à musique - music box | |
| 13. prep. (before an infinitive) to (used to express something not completed) | |
| l'équipe à battre - the team to beat | |
| Il n'y a jamais grand-chose à faire par ici. - There's never much to do around here. | |
| Là où tu ne vois pas grand-chose, je ne trouve qu'une grande abondance de choses qui restent à faire. - Where you see nothing great, I only see a great abundance of things that need doing. | |
| Il reste deux tâches à finir. - There are two things left to finish. | |
| Il y a de la bière à boire. - There's some beer to drink. | |
| 14. prep. Used to describe a part of something, often translated into English as a compound adjective | |
| un animal à quatre pattes - a four-legged animal | |
| une femme au visage pâle - a pale-faced woman | |
| un homme à longue barbe - a long-bearded man — a man with a long beard | |
| une chemise à manches courtes - a short-sleeved shirt | |
| une maison aux murs de brique - a brick-walled house / a house with brick walls | |
| 15. prep. by | |
| peu à peu - bit by bit | |
| petit à petit - little by little | |
| minute à minute - minute by minute | |
| jour à jour - day by day | |
| un à un - one by one | |
| 16. prep. or, to (used to express an approximate number) | |
| six à sept personnes - six or seven people | |
| de vingt à trente ans - from twenty to thirty years | |
| tous les cinq à six ans - every five or six years | |
| 17. prep. Used to indicate the recipient of certain phrasal verb. | |
| mettre le feu à - to set fire to | |
| clouer le bec à - to shut (someone) up | |
| donner la chasse à - to give chase to | |
| 18. prep. with | |
| le |
| 1. art. the (definite article) | |
| Le lait du matin. - The milk of the morning. | |
| 2. art. Used before abstract nouns; not translated in English. | |
| L'amour est aveugle. - Love is blind. | |
| 3. art. (before parts of the body) the; my, your, etc. | |
| Il s’est cassé la jambe. - He has broken his leg. | |
| 4. art. (before units) a, an | |
| Cinquante kilomètres à l’heure. - fifty kilometres an hour | |
| 5. pron. (direct object) him, it | |
| Où est Malik ? Je ne le vois pas. - Where is Malik? I don't see him. | |
| Mon sac ? Je vais le mettre dans la voiture. - My bag? I'm going to put it in the car. | |
| 6. pron. used to refer to something previously mentioned or implied; not translated in English | |
| Je suis petit et lui, il l’est aussi. - ... and he is it too | |
| lit |
| 1. n-m. bed | |
| Où est-il? Il dort dans son lit. - Where is he? He's sleeping in his bed. | |
| 2. v. third-person singular present indicative of lire | |
| Jean lit très souvent. - Jean reads very often. | |
| lire |
| 1. v. to read | |
| 2. v. to be read | |
| 3. n-f. lira (unit of currency) | |
| au lit |
| faire pipi au lit - to wet the bed | |
| 1. adv. (sexuality, figuratively) in bed | |
| 2. interj. to bed! off to bed! sleepy time! | |
| ils |
| 1. pron. they (male or mixed group) | |
| 2. pron. (Quebec, informal) they (female) | |
| enlevaient |
| 1. v. third-person plural imperfect indicative of enlever | |
| enlever |
| 1. v. to remove, take off, take away, clear | |
| 2. v. to take off, remove (clothes) | |
| Elle enleva ses lunettes et j'aperçus sa beauté. - She took off her glasses and I glimpsed her beauty. | |
| 3. v. to kidnap, abduct | |
| 4. v. to win, capture, carry off | |
| 5. v. to come out, wash off | |
| leurs |
| 1. det. (possessive) plural of leur: their (used before a plural noun) | |
| Elles ont oublié leurs livres. - They forgot their books. | |
| 2. pron. (possessive) plural of leur: theirs (referring to a plural noun) | |
| Ce sont vos papiers ou les leurs ? - Are those your papers or theirs? | |
| Je préfère nos voisins aux leurs. - I prefer our neighbors over theirs. | |
| J'ai besoin de vos papiers, pas des leurs. - I need your papers, not theirs. | |
| lunettes |
| 1. n. plural of lunette | |
| 2. n. (plurale tantum) spectacles, eyeglasses | |
| lunette |
| 1. n-f. (astronomy) telescope (refracting telescope) | |
| 2. n-f. (architecture) lunette | |
| 3. n-f. toilet seat | |
| 4. n-f. (ornithology) breastbone | |
| 5. n-f. (in the plural) eyeglasses, spectacles | |
| d'abord |
| 1. adv. first, at first, right away | |
| 2. adv. primarily | |
| 3. adv. for one thing | |
| 4. adv. Used to add annoyed emphasis, particularly to a refusal | |
| J'irai pas d'abord! - I won't go then! | |
| 5. adv. (Québec) in that case, then, if that is so | |
| Okay, d'abord. - Okay, then. | |
| D'abord, pourquoi tu es toujours ici? - In that case, why are you still here? | |
| et |
| 1. conj. and | |
| leurs |
| 1. det. (possessive) plural of leur: their (used before a plural noun) | |
| Elles ont oublié leurs livres. - They forgot their books. | |
| 2. pron. (possessive) plural of leur: theirs (referring to a plural noun) | |
| Ce sont vos papiers ou les leurs ? - Are those your papers or theirs? | |
| Je préfère nos voisins aux leurs. - I prefer our neighbors over theirs. | |
| J'ai besoin de vos papiers, pas des leurs. - I need your papers, not theirs. | |
| râteliers |
| 1. n. plural of râtelier | |
| râtelier |
| 1. n-m. hayrack; rack (for tools etc.) | |
| 2. n-m. (colloquial) false teeth, dentures | |
| 3. n-m. dentition (actual)(R:fr:Littré),R:fr:TLFi | |
| ensuite |
| 1. adv. in turn, subsequently, thereafter | |
| dans |
| 1. prep. (literal, figurative) in, inside (enclosed in a physical space, a group, a state) | |
| vieillir dans la misère - to grow old in poverty | |
| être dans l'infanterie - to be in the infantry | |
| avoir quelque chose dans la bouche - to have something in the mouth | |
| dans les circonstances d'une pandémie - under the circumstances of a pandemic | |
| Il habite dans le quartier le plus riche de Paris. - He lives in the richest district of Paris. | |
| Il nage comme un poisson dans l'eau. - He swims like a fish in the water. | |
| mettre l'argent dans la poche - to put money into one's pocket | |
| Bienvenue dans le meilleur bar de tout Paris. - Welcome to the best bar in all of Paris. | |
| 2. prep. to (indicates direction towards certain large subdivisions, see usage notes) | |
| Aujourd'hui, je vais dans le Maine, et demain, je vais dans l’État de New York. - Today, I'm going to Maine, and tomorrow, I'm going to New York. | |
| 3. prep. in, within (a longer period of time) | |
| Je serai prêt dans une heure. - I'll be ready in one hour. | |
| Il arrivera dans trois jours. - He will arrive in three days. | |
| 4. prep. (with respect to time) during | |
| dans un temps donné - during a given time | |
| dans ma jeunesse - in my youth | |
| 5. prep. out of, from | |
| boire dans une tasse - to drink from a cup | |
| Il prend le beurre dans le réfrigérateur. - He takes the butter out of the fridge. | |
| 6. prep. (metonymy) in; in the works of | |
| le marxisme dans Sartre - Marxism in the works of Sartre | |
| 7. prep. (colloquial) (Used in dans les) | |
| dans les trentes kilos - about thirty kilos | |
| dans les dix euros - about ten euros | |
| 8. n. plural of dan | |
| un |
| 1. art. an, a | |
| 2. num. number box, fr | |
| 3. num. one | |
| 4. pron. one, someone | |
| 5. n-m. one (the number or figure) | |
| verre |
| 1. n-m. (usually) glass (substance) | |
| verre de couleur - colored glass | |
| 2. n-m. symbol of fragility | |
| Ça casse comme le verre. - That breaks like glass. | |
| 3. n-m. symbol of transparency | |
| Une maison de verre. - A house of glass. | |
| 4. n-m. Object of this substance | |
| 5. n-m. (optics) lens, glass | |
| un verre de lunettes - a glasses lens, an eyeglass lens | |
| un verre grossissant - a magnifying glass, a magnifying lens | |
| 6. n-m. glass (drinking vessel) | |
| un verre en cristal - a crystal glass | |
| 7. n-m. the content of such a vessel | |
| On va boire un verre! - Let's go have a drink! | |
| 8. v. singular present of verrer | |
| 9. v. second-person singular imperative of verrer | |
| et |
| 1. conj. and | |
| plaçaient |
| 1. v. third-person plural imperfect indicative of placer | |
| placer |
| 1. v. to place (to put in a specific location) | |
| 2. v. to seat (to put an object into a place where it will rest) | |
| 3. v. to place (to earn a given spot in a competition) | |
| Le |
| 1. Proper noun. surname, from=Vietnamese | |
| 2. art. the (definite article) | |
| Le lait du matin. - The milk of the morning. | |
| 3. art. Used before abstract nouns; not translated in English. | |
| L'amour est aveugle. - Love is blind. | |
| 4. art. (before parts of the body) the; my, your, etc. | |
| Il s’est cassé la jambe. - He has broken his leg. | |
| 5. art. (before units) a, an | |
| Cinquante kilomètres à l’heure. - fifty kilometres an hour | |
| 6. pron. (direct object) him, it | |
| Où est Malik ? Je ne le vois pas. - Where is Malik? I don't see him. | |
| Mon sac ? Je vais le mettre dans la voiture. - My bag? I'm going to put it in the car. | |
| 7. pron. used to refer to something previously mentioned or implied; not translated in English | |
| Je suis petit et lui, il l’est aussi. - ... and he is it too | |
| tout |
| 1. adv. all | |
| 2. det. all | |
| 3. n-m. whole, entirety, total | |
| le tout | |
| 4. pron. everything | |
| en |
| 1. prep. in (used to indicate space, also see usage notes) | |
| J'habite en Angleterre. - I live in England. | |
| 2. prep. to (indicates direction towards certain very large locations, see usage notes) | |
| Il est allé en France. - He went to France. | |
| 3. prep. by (used to indicate means) | |
| aller en bus - go by bus | |
| partir en voiture - leave by car | |
| 4. prep. as | |
| Il me traite en ami. - He treats me as a friend. | |
| habillé en père Noël - dressed as Father Christmas | |
| 5. prep. at (used to describe an ability) | |
| fort en histoire - good at history | |
| 6. prep. of, made of (used to describe composition) | |
| une chaise en hêtre - a chair made of beech/a beech chair | |
| une fourchette en métal - a fork made of metal/a metal fork | |
| 7. prep. in (during the following time (used for months and years)) | |
| en 1993 - in 1993 | |
| en janvier - in January | |
| en septembre 2001 - in September 2001 | |
| 8. prep. (followed by a gerund) while | |
| 9. prep. (followed by a gerund) by, in describing a way of getting something | |
| C'est en trichant qu'il est devenu champion. - It was by cheating that he became champion. | |
| 10. prep. in (used to describe color) | |
| une photo en noir et blanc - a photo in black and white | |
| 11. prep. in (used to describe feelings) | |
| en détresse - in distress | |
| 12. prep. in (as part of something) | |
| en équipe - on a team | |
| 13. pron. (Used as the object of a verb to indicate an indefinite quantity; of it, of them. Replaces the partitive article (du, de la, etc.)) | |
| Essaies-en ! - Try some (of it / them)! | |
| Tu as combien de livres ? J'en ai trois. - How many books do you have? I have three (of them). | |
| Y a-t-il beaucoup de pièces ? Oui. Il y en a beaucoup. - Are there many rooms? Yes, there are many (of them). | |
| Martin a trois sandwichs, mais j'en ai seulement deux. - Martin has three sandwiches, but I have only two (of them). | |
| Il y en a combien ? - How many of them are there? | |
| Je bois de l'alcool parce que j'en ai besoin - I drink alcohol because I need (of) it. | |
| 14. pron. Adverbial preposition indicating movement away from a place already mentioned; from there, from it. Replaces the phrase de là or d’ici. | |
| Est-ce qu'elle vient de Barcelone ? Oui, elle en vient. - Does she come from Barcelona? Yes, she comes (from there). | |
| évidence |
| 1. n-f. obviousness, clearness | |
| Il faut se rendre à l'évidence. - We must face the facts. | |
| C'est l'évidence même. - It is completely obvious. | |
