soutenu |
1. Participle. past participle of soutenir | |
2. adj. sustained, maintained, concerted | |
une attention soutenue | |
des efforts soutenus | |
résistance soutenue | |
3. adj. sustained, lasting, enduring | |
un bonheur soutenu | |
un enthousiasme soutenu | |
4. adj. (of language) high-register; formal | |
du langage soutenu, la langue soutenue | |
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 | |
rien |
1. pron. nothing | |
Je n'ai besoin de rien d'autre. - I need nothing else. | |
2. n-m. a nothing | |
petits riens – little things, little nothings | |
de rien |
1. Phrase. (after being thanked) you're welcome, it's nothing | |
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. | |
ne |
1. part. (literary) not (used alone to negate a verb; now chiefly with only a few particular verbs: see usage notes) | |
2. part. not, no (used before a verb, with a coordinating negative element usually following; see Usage Notes, below) | |
3. part. (Used in a subordinate clause before a subjunctive verb (especially when the main verb expresses doubt or fear), to provide extra overtones of doubt or uncertainty (but not negating its verb); the so- | |
4. part. In comparative clauses usually translated with the positive sense of the subsequent negative | |
Apprendre le français est plus facile qu'on ne pense. - Learning French is easier than you (might) think. | |
y |
1. pron. there (at a place) | |
Il est dans la maison. Il y est. - He is in the house. He is there. | |
2. pron. there, thither (to there) | |
Nous allons au Mexique. Nous y allons. - We are going to Mexico. We are going there. | |
3. pron. Used as a pronoun to replace an adverbial phrase starting with à. | |
Je pense à mon pays. J'y pense. - I think about my country. I think about it. | |
4. pron. With verbs: see for verbs which use this structure. | |
5. pron. With adjectives. Only used with a handful of adjectives (the most common combination being y compris, which is a special case), mainly in legal terminology. | |
personnes y nommées - Persons named there(in) | |
procédures y afférentes - Related procedures | |
documents y relatifs - Related documents | |
eaux y affluentes - Tributary waters | |
6. pron. (Quebec, France, colloquial) he: Alternative form of il | |
7. pron. (Quebec, France, colloquial) they: Alternative form of ils | |
8. pron. (Quebec, colloquial) they: Alternative form of elles | |
a |
1. n. a, the name of the Latin-script letter A | |
2. pron. (Quebec, colloquial) alt form-lite, elle, , she | |
C'te fille-là, a'a l'air cute. - This girl, she looks cute. | |
3. v. third-person singular present indicative of avoir | |
Elle a un chat. - She has a cat. | |
avoir |
1. n-m. asset, possession | |
2. v. to have (to own; to possess) | |
J'aimerais avoir 20 dollars. - I would like to have 20 dollars. | |
3. v. (auxiliary) to have (auxiliary verb to form compound past tenses of most verbs) | |
J'ai parlé. - I have spoken, I spoke. | |
Qu'est-ce que vous m'avez fait ? - What have you done to me? | |
4. v. to have (a condition) | |
J'ai faim. - I have hunger. | |
J'ai soif. - I have thirst. | |
J'ai froid. - I have cold. | |
J'ai chaud. - I have hot. | |
J'ai la chiasse. - I have the shits. | |
J'ai le rhume. - I have a cold. | |
J'ai le SIDA. - I have AIDS. | |
J'ai de la fièvre. - I've got a fever. | |
5. v. to have (a measure or age) | |
Elle a 19 ans. - She has 19 years. | |
6. v. to have (to trick) | |
Tu t'es fait avoir. - You've been had. | |
7. v. to have (to participate in an experience) | |
avoir des relations sexuelles - to have sexual relations | |
8. v. (indtr, à) to have (to), must +preo, à, infinitive | |
J'ai à vous parler. - I have to talk to you. | |
il y a |
1. v. singular present indicative of y avoir: there is, there are | |
Il y a un problème. - There is a problem. | |
Il y a deux personnes ici. - There are two people here. | |
2. prep. ago | |
Je l'ai vu il y a longtemps. - I saw it a long time ago. | |
Elle est allée en France il y a deux ans. - She went to France two years ago. | |
C'est il y a dix ans que je suis allé aux États-Unis. - It was ten years ago that I went to the United States. | |
y a |
1. v. (colloquial)contraction of il y a | |
Heureusement, y a l'amour. - Fortunately, there's love. Lyric by Michelle Daniel (1968) | |
y avoir |
1. v. (impersonal, transitive) there be | |
Il y a deux raisons. - There are two reasons. | |
pas |
1. n-m. step, pace, footstep | |
2. n-m. (geography) strait, pass | |
Pas de Calais - Strait of Dover | |
3. n-m. thread, pitch (of a screw or nut) | |
4. adv. The most common adverb of negation in French, typically translating into English as not, don't, doesn't, etc. | |
Je ne sais pas. - I don't know | |
Ma grande sœur n'habite pas avec nous. - My big sister doesn't live with us. | |
J’veux pas travailler. - I don't wanna work. | |
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 | |
pas de |
1. prep. (Quebec, informal) without | |
Tu shakais comme une poule pas de tête. - You were shaking like a headless chicken. | |
quoi |
1. pron. (interrogative, ;, for things) what | |
2. pron. (after a preposition) | |
De quoi parle-t-il ? - What is he talking about? | |
À quoi penses-tu ? - What are you thinking about? | |
À quoi cela sert-il ? - What is this used for? | |
Avec quoi cela se mange-t-il ? - What is this supposed to be eaten with? | |
En vue de quoi fais-tu cela ? - What are you doing this for? | |
3. pron. (attributive, or direct object, ;, colloquial) | |
C'est quoi ? (attributive) - What is this/that? (noncolloquial French: qu') (noncolloquial French: qu') | |
Il dit quoi ? (direct object) - What does he say? (noncolloquial French: que) (noncolloquial French: que) | |
4. pron. (relative, ;, for things) what, (that) which | |
5. pron. (direct object) | |
Je sais quoi faire. - I know what to do. | |
Je ne sais pas quoi faire. - I don't know what to do. (more formal French: Je ne sais que faire.) (more formal French: Je ne sais que f | |
6. pron. (after a preposition) | |
Laisse-moi te montrer ce sur quoi je travaille en ce moment. - ...that on which I am working... | |
Et voilà à quoi nous avons passé notre temps. - And that's what we've spent our time on. | |
Ils ont perdu beaucoup d'argent, en conséquence de quoi ils ont dû fermer le magasin. - They've lost a lot of money, in consequence of which they | |
7. pron. after de and before an infinitive verb | |
8. pron. enough (of something specific) | |
Il y avait de quoi remplir trois boîtes. - There was enough to fill three boxes. | |
9. pron. nothing | |
Il n'y a pas de quoi en faire tout un plat ! - There's nothing to make a big thing out of! | |
Merci !—Il n'y a pas de quoi me remercier. - There is nothing to thank me for. | |
10. pron. (before a subjunctive verb) whatever | |
11. pron. (direct object) | |
Quoi que je fasse, rien ne changera. - Whatever I may do, nothing will change. | |
12. pron. (subject of an impersonal verb) | |
Quoi qu'il arrive, je serai là. - Whatever may happen, I will be there. | |
13. adv. (colloquial) you know, like, y'know | |
Alors, ce mec m'a dit de te donner son porte-monnaie, quoi. - So, this guy, like, told me to give you his wallet. | |
14. Phrase. what? say again? | |
de quoi |
1. interj. what was that | |
De quoi?! | |
2. Phrase. What is necessary to | |
J'ai de quoi acheter une voiture. - I have enough (money) to buy a car. | |
3. Phrase. (Quebec, informal) something | |
Y'a-tu de quoi à manger? - Is there something to eat? | |
pas de quoi |
1. interj. (informal) you're welcome (after being thanked) | |