| c'est |
| 1. contraction. it is (used to define the preceding word) | |
| Le temps, c'est de l'argent. - Time is money. | |
| 2. contraction. it is (used to introduce a focus) | |
| 3. contraction. this is | |
| ce |
| 1. det. this, that | |
| 2. pron. (subject of être, with predicative adjectives or relative clauses, singular only) it, this, that (see § Usage notes, below) | |
| C'est beau ! - It is beautiful! | |
| est-ce que...? - is it that...? | |
| ce dont je parlais - that which I was speaking of | |
| C'eût été avec plaisir, mais... - It would have been with pleasure, but... | |
| C'eût été dommage... - It would have been a pity... | |
| 3. pron. (subject of être, with predicate nouns) he, she, it, this, that | |
| C'est un/une célébrité. - He/she is a celebrity. | |
| Ce sont des célébrités. - These are celebrities. | |
| Ce sont des gens bien. - These are good people. | |
| ce semble - it seems | |
| ce peuvent être... - these may be... | |
| est |
| 1. adj. east | |
| 2. n-m. east | |
| 3. v. third-person singular present indicative of être | |
| être |
| 1. v. to be | |
| Vous devez être plus clairs. - You must be clearer. | |
| 2. v. (auxiliary) Used to form the perfect and pluperfect tense of (including all reflexive verbs) | |
| Après être allé au yoga, je suis rentré chez moi. - After having gone to yoga, I came back home. | |
| 3. v. (semi-auxiliary) to be (Used to form the passive voice) | |
| Il peut être battu ce soir. - He can be beaten this evening. | |
| 4. n-m. being, creature | |
| 5. n-m. being, the state or fact of existence | |
| la |
| 1. art. the (definite article) | |
| 2. pron. her, it (direct object) | |
| Où est Judith ? Je ne la vois pas. - Where is Judith? I don't see her. | |
| Prends cette boîte et mets-la dans le coin. - Take that box and put it in the corner. | |
| 3. n-m. (music) la, the note 'A' | |
| meilleure |
| 1. adj. feminine singular of meilleur | |
| 2. n-f. female equivalent of meilleur | |
| meilleur |
| 1. adj. comparative of bon ("better") | |
| J'aime la pizza, mais les raviolis sont meilleurs. - I like pizza, but ravioli is better. | |
| C'est une meilleure chanteuse que moi. - She's a better singer than I am. | |
| 2. adj. comparative of bien | |
| 3. adj. when preceded by definite article, le meilleur superlative of bon ("best") | |
| 4. adj. when preceded by definite article, le meilleur superlative of bien ("best") | |
| 5. n-m. best | |
| Pour arriver à votre but, il va falloir donner le meilleur de vous-même. - To reach your goal, you'll have to do your best. | |
| Ces gars-là sont vraiment les meilleurs. - Those guys really are the best. | |
| c'est la meilleure |
| 1. Phrase. (informal) that's rich! ((an expression of surprised indignation)) | |
| pièce |
| 1. n-f. room (in a house, etc) | |
| 2. n-f. piece | |
| 3. n-f. (money) coin | |
| 4. n-f. play (in a theatre) | |
| 5. n-f. (heraldry) ordinary | |
| 6. n-f. (legal) document, paper | |
| 7. n-f. patch | |
| de |
| 1. prep. of (expresses belonging) | |
| Paris est la capitale de la France. - Paris is the capital of France. | |
| 2. prep. of (used to express property or association) | |
| Œuvres de Fermat - Fermat’s Works | |
| Elle est la femme de mon ami. - She is my friend’s wife. | |
| le voisin de Gabriel - Gabriel's neighbor | |
| 3. prep. from (used to indicate origin) | |
| Elle vient de France. - She comes from France. | |
| Êtes-vous de Suisse ? - Are you from Switzerland? | |
| Ce fromage vient d’Espagne. - This cheese is from Spain. | |
| C’est de l’ouest de la France. - It’s from the west of France. | |
| Le train va de Paris à Bordeaux. - The train goes from Paris to Bordeaux. | |
| 4. prep. of (indicates an amount) | |
| 5 kilos de pommes. - 5 kilograms of apples. | |
| Un verre de vin - A glass of wine | |
| Une portion de frites - A portion of fries | |
| 5. prep. used attributively, often translated into English as a compound word | |
| Un jus de pomme - Apple juice | |
| Un verre de vin - A glass of wine | |
| Une boîte de nuit - A nightclub | |
| Un chien de garde - A guarddog | |
| Une voiture de sport - A sportscar | |
| Un stade de football - A football stadium | |
| 6. prep. from (used to indicate the start of a time or range) | |
| De 9:00 à 11:00 je ne serai pas libre. - From 9 to 11 I won’t be free. | |
| Je travaille de huit heures à midi. - I work from 8 o'clock to noon. | |
| un groupe de cinq à huit personnes - a group of from five to eight people | |
| 7. prep. used after certain verbs before an infinitive, often translated into English as a gerund or an infinitive | |
| J’ai arrêté de fumer. - I stopped smoking. | |
| Il continue de m’embêter. - He keeps annoying me. | |
| Elle m’a dit de venir. - She told me to come. | |
| Nous vous exhortons de venir. - We urge you to come. | |
| 8. prep. by (indicates the amount of change) | |
| Boire trois tasses par jour réduirait de 20 % les risques de contracter une maladie. - Drinking three cups a day would reduce the risks of catching an illness by 20%. | |
| 9. art. Used in the plural with prepositioned adjectives. | |
| Ce sont de bons enfants. - They are good children. | |
| Il y a d’autres exemples. - There are other examples. | |
| 10. art. Used in negated sentences with the grammatical object. | |
| Elle n’a pas de mère. - She doesn’t have a mother. | |
| Il ne mange pas de viande. - He doesn’t eat meat. | |
| Il n’y a pas de problèmes. - There are no problems. | |
| 11. n-f. abbreviation of dame | |
| son |
| 1. n-m. sound | |
| Le son de ce piano est agréable. (The sound of this piano is nice.) | |
| 2. det. (possessive) his, her, their, its (used to qualify masculine nouns and before a vowel) | |
| Elle a perdu son chapeau. - She lost her hat. | |
| Il a perdu son chapeau. - He lost his hat. | |
| J'aime son amie. - I like his/her girlfriend. | |
| La décision a été prise pendant son absence. - The decision was taken in her/his absence. | |
| 3. n-m. bran | |
| Ceci est du pain de son. - This bread is done with bran. | |
| sac |
| 1. n-m. bag, sack | |
| 2. n-m. (dated slang) ten French francs | |
| 3. n-m. plunder, loot | |
| c'est |
| 1. contraction. it is (used to define the preceding word) | |
| Le temps, c'est de l'argent. - Time is money. | |
| 2. contraction. it is (used to introduce a focus) | |
| 3. contraction. this is | |
| ce |
| 1. det. this, that | |
| 2. pron. (subject of être, with predicative adjectives or relative clauses, singular only) it, this, that (see § Usage notes, below) | |
| C'est beau ! - It is beautiful! | |
| est-ce que...? - is it that...? | |
| ce dont je parlais - that which I was speaking of | |
| C'eût été avec plaisir, mais... - It would have been with pleasure, but... | |
| C'eût été dommage... - It would have been a pity... | |
| 3. pron. (subject of être, with predicate nouns) he, she, it, this, that | |
| C'est un/une célébrité. - He/she is a celebrity. | |
| Ce sont des célébrités. - These are celebrities. | |
| Ce sont des gens bien. - These are good people. | |
| ce semble - it seems | |
| ce peuvent être... - these may be... | |
| est |
| 1. adj. east | |
| 2. n-m. east | |
| 3. v. third-person singular present indicative of être | |
| être |
| 1. v. to be | |
| Vous devez être plus clairs. - You must be clearer. | |
| 2. v. (auxiliary) Used to form the perfect and pluperfect tense of (including all reflexive verbs) | |
| Après être allé au yoga, je suis rentré chez moi. - After having gone to yoga, I came back home. | |
| 3. v. (semi-auxiliary) to be (Used to form the passive voice) | |
| Il peut être battu ce soir. - He can be beaten this evening. | |
| 4. n-m. being, creature | |
| 5. n-m. being, the state or fact of existence | |
| la |
| 1. art. the (definite article) | |
| 2. pron. her, it (direct object) | |
| Où est Judith ? Je ne la vois pas. - Where is Judith? I don't see her. | |
| Prends cette boîte et mets-la dans le coin. - Take that box and put it in the corner. | |
| 3. n-m. (music) la, the note 'A' | |
| chose |
| 1. n-f. thing | |
| la |
| 1. art. the (definite article) | |
| 2. pron. her, it (direct object) | |
| Où est Judith ? Je ne la vois pas. - Where is Judith? I don't see her. | |
| Prends cette boîte et mets-la dans le coin. - Take that box and put it in the corner. | |
| 3. n-m. (music) la, the note 'A' | |
| plus |
| 1. adv. more, -er (used to form comparatives of adjectives) | |
| Ton voisin est plus moche que mon frère. - Your neighbour is uglier than my brother. | |
| Le tien est beaucoup plus grand que le mien. - Yours is much bigger than mine. | |
| Elle est plus belle que sa cousine. - She is more beautiful than her cousin. | |
| Elles sont toutes plus entêtées les unes que les autres. - They are each more stubborn than the last. | |
| 2. adv. more, -er (used to form comparatives of adverbs) | |
| Elle le fait plus rapidement que lui. - She does it more quickly than he does. | |
| plus vite ! - faster! | |
| 3. adv. (after a verb) more, -er (indicating a higher degree or quantity) | |
| Je travaille plus en ce moment. - I am working more at the moment. | |
| Je veux faire plus. - I want to do more. | |
| 4. adv. more (indicating a greater quantity) (+preo, noun) | |
| Elle a plus de chocolat. - She has more chocolate. | |
| Plus de la moitié reste. - More than half is left. | |
| 5. adv. more (supplementary, preceded by de) | |
| Une heure de plus et il serait mort. - One more hour and he would be dead. | |
| Un kilo de plus, s'il vous plaît. - One more kilo, please. | |
| 6. adv. (preceded by a definite article) the most, -est (used to form superlatives of adjectives and adverbs) | |
| la plus grande - the biggest | |
| le plus difficile - the most difficult | |
| 7. adv. (usually with the negative particle ne, see usage notes below) no longer, not ... any more | |
| Tu n'existes plus. - You no longer exist. / You don't exist any more. | |
| Il n'y a plus de travail. - There is no more work. | |
| 8. adv. (elliptically, introducing each clause) the more ..., the more ... | |
| Plus je vois, plus je veux. - The more I see, the more I want. | |
| 9. adv. (similarly, used with other comparatives) the more ..., the ... | |
| Plus j'écoute, moins je comprends. - The more I listen, the less I understand. | |
| 10. n-m. plus, the symbol + | |
| 11. v. singular past historic of plaire | |
| 12. Participle. masculine plural of plu | |
| avantageuse |
| 1. adj. feminine singular of avantageux | |
| avantageux |
| 1. adj. advantageous | |
| pour |
| 1. prep. for (meant for, intended for) (followed by a noun or pronoun) | |
| J'ai un cadeau pour toi. - I've got a gift for you. | |
| 2. prep. for (in support of) | |
| Pourquoi voter pour lui ? - Why did you vote for him? | |
| 3. prep. for (as a consequence for) | |
| Il faut le punir pour ses crimes. - He must be punished for his crimes. | |
| 4. prep. for (an intended destination) | |
| Sébastien est parti pour Londres. - Sébastien left for London. | |
| 5. prep. to (to bring about an intended result) (followed by a verb in the infinitive) | |
| Je veux chanter pour te faire revenir. - I want to sing to make you come back. | |
| 6. prep. for, to (according to) | |
| Pour moi, ce film est trop irréaliste. - For me, this film is too unrealistic. | |
| lui |
| 1. pron. him, he; the third-person masculine singular personal pronoun used after a preposition, or as the predicate of a linking verb, or when disjoined from a sentence, or as a stressed subject | |
| J'habitais avec lui. - I was living with him. | |
| C'est lui qui a dit cela. - It was him who said that. | |
| Lui, il n'en sait rien. - He doesn't know anything about it. | |
| 2. pron. him, her; the third-person singular personal pronoun used as an indirect object | |
| Je lui ai donné le livre. - I gave the book to him/her. | |
| 3. Participle. past participle of luire | |
| celle |
| 1. pron. feminine singular of celui | |
| J'avais oublié ma gomme, alors j'ai emprunté celle de Pierre. - I'd forgotten my eraser, so I borrowed Pierre's. | |
| celui |
| 1. pron. the one | |
| Le bon choix est celui que je vous ai indiqué. - The right choice is the one I have indicated to you. | |
| Les états paranoïaques, tels que ceux de schizophrénie, peuvent sembler superficiellement similaires mais sont caractéristiquement différents. - Paranoid states, such as those of schizophrenia | |
| Contrairement au modèle français, le Président du Conseil ne dispose pas de pouvoir formel, tel que celui de désigner ou renvoyer les autres, ou encore la capacité de dissoudre le Parlement. - | |
| qui |
| 1. pron. (interrogative) who, whom | |
| Tu as vu qui ? - Who have you seen? | |
| Je ne sais pas qui vous êtes. - I don't know who you are. | |
| 2. pron. (relative) who, whom (after a preposition), which, that | |
| La personne qui parle connait bien son sujet. - The person who speaks knows his/her subject well. | |
| Cette voiture bleue qui passe me plait beaucoup. - This blue car which is passing I like a lot. | |
| J’aime les chiens qui sont calmes. - I like dogs that are quiet. | |
| Un homme à qui j’ai parlé. - A man to whom I spoke/have spoken. | |
| Si lugubre que fût l’appartement, c’était un paradis pour qui revenait du lycée. - Gloomy as the apartment was, it was still a paradise for those who came back from school. | |
| Rira bien qui rira le dernier. - Who laughs last laughs well. | |
| 3. conj. (Louisiana French, Cajun French) if | |
| Qui elle en a, ça va faire. - If she has any, that will do. | |
| doit |
| 1. v. third-person singular present indicative of devoir: must, has to | |
| Il doit aller en France un jour. - He must go to France one day. | |
| Must |
|
| devoir |
| 1. n-m. duty | |
| manquer à son devoir, manquer à tous ses devoirs - to fail in one's duty, duties | |
| Il est de mon devoir de protéger le roi. - It is my duty to protect the king. | |
| 2. n-m. exercise, assignment (set for homework) | |
| 3. v. must, to have to, should (as a requirement) | |
| Les auteurs d'un dictionnaire doivent déterminer au départ les catégories de mots à retenir, en fonction des limites imposées par l'éditeur et du public visé. - The authors of a dictionary have | |
| 4. v. (present) must | |
| 5. v. (conditional) should | |
| 6. v. must, to do or have with certainty | |
| 7. v. to owe (money, obligation and etc) | |
| 8. v. (literary, intransitive, in imperfect subjunctive, with inversion of subject) (even) though it be necessary (+ infinitive) | |
| 9. v. to have a duty to | |
| lui |
| 1. pron. him, he; the third-person masculine singular personal pronoun used after a preposition, or as the predicate of a linking verb, or when disjoined from a sentence, or as a stressed subject | |
| J'habitais avec lui. - I was living with him. | |
| C'est lui qui a dit cela. - It was him who said that. | |
| Lui, il n'en sait rien. - He doesn't know anything about it. | |
| 2. pron. him, her; the third-person singular personal pronoun used as an indirect object | |
| Je lui ai donné le livre. - I gave the book to him/her. | |
| 3. Participle. past participle of luire | |
| procurer |
| 1. v. to get, obtain (for someone) | |
| 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 | |
| plus |
| 1. adv. more, -er (used to form comparatives of adjectives) | |
| Ton voisin est plus moche que mon frère. - Your neighbour is uglier than my brother. | |
| Le tien est beaucoup plus grand que le mien. - Yours is much bigger than mine. | |
| Elle est plus belle que sa cousine. - She is more beautiful than her cousin. | |
| Elles sont toutes plus entêtées les unes que les autres. - They are each more stubborn than the last. | |
| 2. adv. more, -er (used to form comparatives of adverbs) | |
| Elle le fait plus rapidement que lui. - She does it more quickly than he does. | |
| plus vite ! - faster! | |
| 3. adv. (after a verb) more, -er (indicating a higher degree or quantity) | |
| Je travaille plus en ce moment. - I am working more at the moment. | |
| Je veux faire plus. - I want to do more. | |
| 4. adv. more (indicating a greater quantity) (+preo, noun) | |
| Elle a plus de chocolat. - She has more chocolate. | |
| Plus de la moitié reste. - More than half is left. | |
| 5. adv. more (supplementary, preceded by de) | |
| Une heure de plus et il serait mort. - One more hour and he would be dead. | |
| Un kilo de plus, s'il vous plaît. - One more kilo, please. | |
| 6. adv. (preceded by a definite article) the most, -est (used to form superlatives of adjectives and adverbs) | |
| la plus grande - the biggest | |
| le plus difficile - the most difficult | |
| 7. adv. (usually with the negative particle ne, see usage notes below) no longer, not ... any more | |
| Tu n'existes plus. - You no longer exist. / You don't exist any more. | |
| Il n'y a plus de travail. - There is no more work. | |
| 8. adv. (elliptically, introducing each clause) the more ..., the more ... | |
| Plus je vois, plus je veux. - The more I see, the more I want. | |
| 9. adv. (similarly, used with other comparatives) the more ..., the ... | |
| Plus j'écoute, moins je comprends. - The more I listen, the less I understand. | |
| 10. n-m. plus, the symbol + | |
| 11. v. singular past historic of plaire | |
| 12. Participle. masculine plural of plu | |
| sûrement |
| 1. adv. surely, certainly | |
| 2. adv. probably | |
| 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 | |
| succès |
| 1. n-m. success | |
| Le film remporta beaucoup de succès - The film got a lot of success/The film was very successful | |
| 2. n-m. (gaming) achievement | |
| que |
| 1. conj. that (introduces a subordinate noun clause and connects it to its parent clause) | |
| Je vois que tu parles bien français. - I see that you speak French well. | |
| 2. conj. Substitutes for another, previously stated conjunction. | |
| Si le temps est beau et que tout le monde est d'accord, nous mangerons en plein air. - If the weather is nice and if everyone likes the idea, we'll eat outside. | |
| 3. conj. when, no sooner | |
| Il était à peine parti qu’elle a téléphoné à la police. - No sooner had he left when she called the police. | |
| 4. conj. (Links two noun phrases in apposition forming a clause without a (finite) verb, such that the complement acts as predicate.) | |
| 5. conj. introduces a comparison | |
| 6. conj. (comparisons of superiority or inferiority) than | |
| Il est plus grand que son père. - He is taller than his father. | |
| 7. conj. (comparisons of equality) as | |
| Elle est aussi intelligente que toi. - She is as smart as you. | |
| 8. conj. (used with ne) only, just; but, nothing but | |
| Je ne mange que des fruits. - I eat nothing but fruit. | |
| 9. conj. how (in rhetorical interjections) | |
| Que c'est beau! - How beautiful it is! | |
| Mais que t'es drôle, quoi. - Oh, how funny you are. | |
| 10. pron. (tlb, interrogative) | |
| 11. pron. (slightly formal, accusative) (The inanimate direct-object interrogative pronoun.) | |
| Que pensez-vous de cette peinture ? - What do you think of that painting? | |
| Qu'auriez-vous fait d'autre ? - What else would you have done? | |
| 12. pron. (slightly formal, nominative) (The inanimate subject or predicative interrogative pronoun.) | |
| Qu'est-il arrivé ? - What happened? | |
| Que me vaut cette visite ? - To what do I owe this visit? | |
| Que sommes-nous ? - What are we? | |
| 13. pron. (accusative, relative) (The direct object relative pronoun.) | |
| C'est un homme que je connais très bien. - He's a man whom I know very well. | |
| Je viens de lire la lettre que vous m'avez envoyée. - I've just read the letter that you sent me. | |
| il |
| 1. pron. he (third-person singular masculine subject pronoun for human subject) | |
| Il est parti. - He left. | |
| 2. pron. it (third-person singular subject pronoun for grammatically masculine objects) | |
| Je cherche mon livre. Où est-il ? - I'm looking for my book. Where is it? | |
| 3. pron. (impersonal pronoun) Impersonal subject; it | |
| Il pleut. - It’s raining. | |
| désire |
| 1. v. first-person singular present of désirer | |
| 2. v. third-person singular present of désirer | |
| 3. v. second-person singular imperative of désirer | |
| désirer |
| 1. v. to desire, want | |
