| 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 | |
| charmant |
| 1. adj. charming | |
| 2. Participle. present participle of charmer | |
| charmer |
| 1. v. to charm (with magic) | |
| 2. v. to charm | |
| 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 | |
| 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' | |
| de la |
| 1. art. of the | |
| 2. art. some; the feminine partitive article | |
| Voudriez-vous de la confiture ? - Would you like some jam? | |
| J'ai mangé de la tarte - I ate some pie. | |
| voir |
| 1. v. to see (visually) | |
| Je vois ma mère là-bas. - I see my mother over there. | |
| On ne voit pas souvent de la neige par ici. - One doesn't often see snow around here. | |
| 2. v. to see (to understand) | |
| Tu vois que tu avais tort ? - Do you see that you were wrong? | |
| 3. v. to see (to visit, to go and see) | |
| 4. adv. (Louisiana French) please (used to mark the imperative) | |
| Viens voir ici. - Come here please. | |
| assise |
| 1. n-f. foundation (supporting base of a wall) | |
| 2. n-f. (figuratively) base, foundation | |
| 3. n-f. (geology) stratum, bed, layer (layer of sedimentary rock) | |
| 4. n-f. (ecology) stratum (layer of vegetation) | |
| 5. n-f. (anatomy) stratum (layer of tissue) | |
| 6. n-f. (masonry) course (row or layer of bricks) | |
| 7. n-f. seat of a chair | |
| 8. Participle. feminine singular of assis | |
| Elle est assise en ce moment-même. - She is sitting down at this very moment. | |
| 9. adj. feminine singular of assis | |
| asseoir |
| 1. v. to sit down; to get seated | |
| Assieds les enfants sur des chaises ! - Sit the children down on chairs! | |
| 2. v. to assert | |
| asseoir sa domination - to assert one's dominance | |
| 3. v. to sit down; to sit up; to take a seat | |
| sur |
| 1. prep. on, upon | |
| 2. prep. on top of | |
| 3. prep. from on top of | |
| 4. prep. above | |
| 5. prep. out of | |
| sept sur dix - seven out of ten | |
| 6. prep. in the case of | |
| 7. prep. about, concerning | |
| 8. prep. (informal, France) in (a place) | |
| sur Paris - in Paris | |
| 9. adj. sour | |
| une |
| 1. num. feminine singular of un | |
| 2. art. a / an (feminine indefinite article) | |
| 3. n-f. front page (of a publication) | |
| bûche |
| 1. n-f. log | |
| bûcher |
| 1. n-m. woodshed (enclosed, roofed structure, often an outbuilding, used primarily to store firewood) | |
| 2. n-m. pyre (funeral pile; combustible heap on which corpses are burned) | |
| 3. n-m. stake (pile of wood on which a person condemned to death is burned) | |
| 4. n-m. (in the plural) the flames of Hell | |
| 5. v. to hew | |
| 6. v. (informal) to slug away, to hit the books | |
| devant |
| 1. prep. confronted with, faced with | |
| 2. prep. in front of, before | |
| 3. prep. outside | |
| 4. n-m. front | |
| 5. Participle. present participle of devoir | |
| 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 | |
| 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. | |
| humble |
| 1. adj. humble | |
| feu |
| 1. n-m. fire | |
| As-tu remarqué que tes cheveux sont en feu ? - Have you noticed that your hair is on fire? | |
| 2. n-m. (cigarette) lighter | |
| 3. n-m. traffic light | |
| 4. adj. deceased, the late | |
| Elle était la sœur de feu Jean Dupont - She was the sister of the late Jean Dupont | |
| et |
| 1. conj. and | |
| surveillant |
| 1. Participle. present participle of surveiller | |
| 2. n-m. supervisor | |
| 3. n-m. warden, warder | |
| 4. n-m. monitor, prefect | |
| surveiller |
| 1. v. (espionage) to monitor, to survey, to watch | |
| sa |
| 1. det. (possessive) his, her, its, their, one's | |
| Emma est allée chez sa sœur. - Emma went to her sister's house. | |
| Pierre a perdu sa carte d'identité. - Pierre has lost his identity card. | |
| Sa voiture est blanche. - Their car is white. | |
| soupe |
| 1. n-f. soup | |
| La soupe est trop chaude. - The soup is too hot. | |
| 2. v. first-person singular present of souper | |
| 3. v. third-person singular present of souper | |
| 4. v. second-person singular imperative of souper | |
| souper |
| 1. n-m. (Switzerland, Belgium, Quebec, Louisiana French) dinner (the main evening meal) | |
| Veuillez m'excuser, je serai en retard pour le souper. - Excuse me, I'll be late for dinner. | |
| 2. n-m. (France) a light meal eaten at night, after the main evening meal | |
| 3. v. to dine | |
| J'ai hâte d'aller souper! - I can't wait to dine! | |
| 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). | |
| tricotant |
| 1. Participle. present participle of tricoter | |
| tricoter |
| 1. v. to knit | |
| activement |
| 1. adv. actively | |
