| 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... | |
| mec |
| 1. n-m. (slang) guy, fellow, bloke, chap, dude, boyfriend | |
| Quel mec a volé mon pantalon? - Which guy stole my pants? | |
| 2. n-m. (obsolete, slang) pimp | |
| 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 | |
| une |
| 1. num. feminine singular of un | |
| 2. art. a / an (feminine indefinite article) | |
| 3. n-f. front page (of a publication) | |
| vraie |
| 1. adj. feminine singular of vrai | |
| vrai |
| 1. adj. true | |
| C'est vrai? - Really? | |
| Est-il vrai que vous ayez dit qu'il a besoin de notre aide ? - Is it true that you said he needs our help? | |
| Il est vrai que l'on a dit cela. - It is true that we said that. | |
| Il n'est pas vrai que l'on ait dit cela. - It is not true that we said that. | |
| 2. adj. real, proper | |
| 3. adj. honest, sincere, truthful | |
| 4. n-m. truth | |
| 5. adv. true; truly | |
| Raconter vrai (to retell truly, without errors) | |
| serpillière |
| 1. n-f. mop, floorcloth | |
| 2. n-f. (colloquial pejorative) wimp | |
| je |
| 1. pron. I | |
| ai |
| 1. v. first-person singular present indicative of avoir | |
| J'ai un chien. - I have a dog. | |
| rarement |
| 1. adv. rarely, seldom | |
| rencontré |
| 1. Participle. past participle of rencontrer | |
| rencontrer |
| 1. v. to meet | |
| 2. v. to come across | |
| 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) | |
| canard |
| 1. n-m. duck (of either sex) | |
| 2. n-m. drake (male duck) | |
| 3. n-m. canard, hoax | |
| 4. n-m. (slang) newspaper | |
| Le canard enchaîné | |
| 5. n-m. (slang) a man who complies with every desire of his partner in order to avoid conflict | |
| 6. n-m. (slang) a man who tries to attract women by offering them gifts | |
| 7. n-m. lump of sugar dunked in coffee or brandy | |
| 8. n-m. (music, colloquial) off-note | |
| pareil |
| 1. adj. such | |
| Je n'ai jamais vu une chose pareille. - I've never seen such a thing. | |
| en pareil cas - in such a case | |
| 2. adj. like, alike, same | |
| Les chauves-souris voletaient en silence, pareilles à des ombres inquiètes. - Bats fluttered in silence like worried shadows. | |
| ux, Il est pareil à son père., t=He's like his father. | |
| 3. adv. the same; alike | |
| faire pareil - to do the same | |
| Elles étaient habillées pareil. - They were dressed alike. | |
| 4. adv. (Quebec, informal) anyway; just the same | |
| J'avais pas envie d'y aller, mais ch't'y allé pareil. - I didn't feel like going, but I went anyway. | |
| 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). | |
| tout |
| 1. adv. all | |
| 2. det. all | |
| 3. n-m. whole, entirety, total | |
| le tout | |
| 4. pron. everything | |
| en tout |
| 1. adv. in total, in all, all told | |
| cas |
| 1. n-m. case, situation | |
| dans la très grande majorité des cas - in the great majority of cases | |
| 2. n-m. (medicine) case | |
| 3. n-m. (law) case | |
| cas clinique - clinical case | |
| 4. n-m. (grammar) case | |
| en tout cas |
| 1. adv. anyway, anyhow, at any rate | |
| Je vous paierai dans un mois, je l’espère : en tout cas, je vous donnerai des sûretés suffisantes. - I will pay you in a month, I hope; in any case, I will give you sufficient sureties. | |
| on |
| 1. pron. (indefinite) one, people, you, someone (an unspecified individual) | |
| On ne peut pas pêcher ici - You can’t fish here | |
| 2. pron. (personal, informal) we | |
| On s’est amusés. - We had fun. | |
| sait |
| 1. v. third-person singular present indicative of savoir | |
| savoir |
| 1. v. to know (something) | |
| Savais-tu qu'il parle si bien l'anglais? - Did you know that he speaks English so well? | |
| Comment savait-il que j'étais là? - How did he know that I was there? | |
| Il est difficile de savoir si elle ment. - It's difficult to know if she's lying. | |
| Il tire cette approche en inventant une situation initiale, dans laquelle on interrogerait les individus sur la forme qu'ils voudraient d'une société sans qu'ils sachent quelle place ils y aura | |
| Difficile à savoir (expression; compare Difficile à dire, voir, faire) | |
| 2. v. to know how (to do something) | |
| Savez-vous nager? - Do you know how to swim? | |
| 3. v. to be able to, to be apt to (especially in the negative or interrogative conditional; used in the positive in Belgium) | |
| Il ne saurait tarder que... - It cannot/will not be long before... | |
| 4. v. to find out | |
| Nous devons savoir pourquoi il a fait ça. - We have to find out why he did this. | |
| 5. n-m. knowledge | |
| 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. | |
| porte |
| 1. n-f. door | |
| 2. n-f. gate (to a city, at airport) | |
| 3. n-f. (figuratively) gateway, means, door | |
| 4. v. first-person singular present of porter | |
| 5. v. third-person singular present of porter | |
| 6. v. second-person singular imperative of porter | |
| porter |
| 1. v. to carry | |
| 2. v. to support, to bear | |
| 3. v. to wear | |
| 4. v. (indtr, sur) to be about, to concern | |
| Sur quoi portait la question ? - What was the question concerning? | |
| 5. v. to feel, to carry one's self | |
| Je me porte mieux. - I am feeling better. | |
| Il se porte bien. - He's in good health. | |
| 6. n-m. porter (beer) | |
| 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 | |
| caleçon |
| 1. n-m. boxer shorts, boxer briefs | |
| 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 | |
| sein |
| 1. n-m. (anatomy) breast (the chest) | |
| sur votre jeune sein laissez rouler ma tête - let my head roll on your young breast | |
| 2. n-m. (anatomy) breast | |
| Elle a des gros seins - she has big breasts | |
| 3. n-m. (literary) womb | |
| elle a porté cet enfant dans son sein - she carried this child in her womb | |
| 4. n-m. bosom | |
| au sein de la famille - in the bosom of the family | |
| le sein du Père - the bosom of the Father | |
| du |
| 1. contraction. contraction of de + le (t=of the) | |
| « Eussent » est la troisième personne du pluriel de l'imparfait du subjonctif de « avoir ». - "Eussent" is the third-person plural imperfect subjunctive form of "avoir.". | |
| 2. contraction. , translation=The bulge gives 9nine liters more than the point which corresponds to that of the diameter of the base indicated by the gauge (...) | |
| 3. art. Forms the partitive article. | |
| Il mange du pain. - He eats bread. / He eats some bread. | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| au sein de |
| 1. prep. within, inside, in the midst | |
| couple |
| 1. n-m. two partners in a romantic or sexual relationship | |
| Jean et Amélie forment un joli couple. - Jean and Amélie make a cute couple. | |
| 2. n-m. (physics) a force couple; a pure moment | |
| 3. n-m. (mathematics) an ordered pair | |
| 4. n-f. (animal husbandry) an accessory used to tightly attach two animals next to each other by the neck | |
| 5. n-f. (regional) a pair of something | |
| 6. n-f. (Canada) a couple of something, not to be mistaken as a few | |
| coupler |
| 1. v. to couple | |
| 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 | |
| elle |
| 1. pron. she | |
| Je crois qu'elle est partie. - I think she left. | |
| 2. pron. it (feminine gender third-person singular subject pronoun) | |
| Voilà ma voiture. Elle a cinq ans. - That's my car. It is five years old. | |
| 3. pron. disjunctive form of elle; her; à elle = hers | |
| C’est à elle. - It's hers. | |
| sera |
| 1. v. third-person singular future indicative of être | |
| serait |
| 1. v. third-person singular conditional of être | |
| soit |
| 1. conj. or, meaning, that is to say | |
| 2. conj. either ... or | |
| Il veut adopter un animal de compagnie, soit un chat, soit un chien. - He wants to adopt a pet, either a cat, or a dog. | |
| Je lui ai dit que j'aimerais reprendre un de mes vieux passe-temps, soit jouer du piano, soit apprendre une langue. - I told him I want to take up one of my old hobbies agains, be that playing | |
| 3. v. third-person singular present subjunctive of être | |
| 4. v. (math) let be | |
| Soit f une fonction linéaire. - Let f be a linear function. | |
| 5. interj. OK; granted; so be it | |
| évidemment |
| 1. adv. of course, evidently, obviously | |
