| 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 | |
| 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' | |
| compagnie |
| 1. n-f. company | |
| 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 | |
| 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) | |
| tel |
| 1. adj. such | |
| 2. prep. like, as | |
| Il fond sur elle tel un oiseau de proie. - He swoops down on her like a bird of prey. | |
| 3. prep. such as | |
| Ottawa compte aussi de charmantes tables, tel le Fraser Café. - Ottawa is also home to some enchanting restaurants, such as the Fraser Café. | |
| 4. pron. one (impersonal pronoun) | |
| un tel |
| 1. pron. so-and-so | |
| Homme |
| 1. Proper noun. Man (genus Homo) | |
| 2. n-m. man (adult male human) | |
| C'est un homme bien, le meilleur d'entre nous. - He's a good man, the best of us. | |
| 3. n-m. man, Man (species) | |
| 4. n-m. man (virile male) | |
| 5. n-m. man (employee) | |
| 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. | |
| vaut |
| 1. v. third-person singular present indicative of valoir | |
| valoir |
| 1. v. to be worth | |
| Selon leur mère, une femme vaut deux hommes. - According to their mother, a woman is worth two men. | |
| 2. v. to earn, to win, to bring (something of value, ironic usage notwithstanding) | |
| Qu'est-ce qui nous vaut la visite indési—euh, inopinée ? | |
| 3. v. to be equal to | |
| Une année-lumière vaut donc approximativement 63 241 soixante-trois-mille-deux-cent-quarante-et-une unités astronomiques. - One light year is equal to approximately 63,241 astronomical units. | |
| 4. v. to be the same, to have no difference between | |
| mieux |
| 1. adv. comparative of bien; better | |
| Il va mieux que jamais. - He's going better than ever. | |
| Timothée la connaît bien mieux que moi. - Timothy knows her better than I do. | |
| 2. adv. (with definite article, le mieux) superlative of bien; best | |
| 3. adv. (Saint-Étienne) more, -er. | |
| C'est mieux cher si tu achètes à l'unité. - It's more expensive if you buy individually. | |
| 4. n-m. the best of one's ability, one's best | |
| valoir mieux |
| 1. v. (impersonal) to be better, to be preferrable | |
| Il y a beaucoup d'occasions où il vaut mieux se taire que de parler. - There are many occasions when it is better to be quiet than to speak. | |
| Il vaudrait mieux que tu te rhabilles avant que mon mari ne rentre. - You'd better put your clothes back on before my husband comes home. | |
| Il aurait mieux valu ne pas savoir. - It would have been better not to know. | |
| écouter |
| 1. v. to listen | |
| 2. v. to listen to | |
| J’écoute la radio. | |
| 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. | |
| parler |
| 1. v. to speak, talk | |
| Il a commencé à parler à l’âge de quatre ans. - He began to speak at the age of four. | |
| Ils ont parlé plusieurs heures avant d’aller se coucher. - They spoke several hours before going to sleep. | |
| 2. v. to be able to communicate in a language; to speak | |
| Elle parle couramment français. - She speaks French fluently | |
| 3. v. (heraldry) to cant; (of a coat of arms) to make a pun of its bearer's name | |
| Armes parlantes. | |
| 4. v. takes a reflexive pronoun | |
| se parler à soi-même - to talk to oneself | |
| 5. n-m. parlance | |
| 6. n-m. vernacular, dialect | |
