| 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). | |
| passant |
| 1. n-m. passer-by | |
| 2. n-m. loop (in belt etc.) | |
| 3. adj. busy (as in a busy street) | |
| 4. adj. (heraldry) passant | |
| 5. Participle. present participle of passer | |
| passer |
| 1. v. to go past | |
| 2. v. to cross (a border) | |
| 3. v. (legal) to pass | |
| passer une loi - to pass a law | |
| 4. v. to spend (time) | |
| J'ai passé les vacances en Espagne. - I spent the holidays in Spain. | |
| J'ai passé une splendide soirée chez toi. - I had a great evening at your place. | |
| 5. v. to publish (a newspaper) | |
| 6. v. to take, to sit (an exam or test) | |
| J'ai réussi l'examen que j'avais passé en avril. - I passed the exam that I took in April. | |
| 7. v. to pass (an exam or test) | |
| Il est passé à l'examen. - He passed the exam. | |
| 8. v. (dated) to pass (an exam or test) | |
| Il a passé l'examen. - He passed the exam. | |
| 9. v. (public transportation) to run | |
| Le train passe toutes les vingt minutes. - The train runs every 20 minutes. | |
| 10. v. to exceed (a limit) | |
| 11. v. to percolate | |
| 12. v. to hand down, to pass on | |
| 13. v. to be allowed | |
| 14. v. to pass, to go (between two entities) | |
| 15. v. to show (a movie) | |
| 16. v. to go up (a grade) | |
| 17. v. to shift (change gear) | |
| 18. v. to go down | |
| 19. v. to go up | |
| 20. v. to stop by, to pop in | |
| Il est passé nous voir. - He stopped by to see us. | |
| Je vais y passer demain pour mes affaires. - I'm going to stop by there tomorrow for my things. | |
| 21. v. to pass away, to die | |
| 22. v. (music) to spin (e.g. a disk) | |
| 23. v. (TV) to show (be on television) | |
| 24. v. (sports) to pass (kick, throw, hit etc. the ball to another player) | |
| 25. v. (athletics) to pass (the relay baton) | |
| 26. v. to pass on (infect someone else with a disease) | |
| 27. v. to put, to place, to slip (move a part of one's body somewhere else) | |
| 28. v. to wipe, rub | |
| Elle passe de la crème sur son ventre. - She's rubbing cream on her belly. | |
| 29. v. to skip a go | |
| 30. v. to put (make something undergo something) | |
| 31. v. (card games) to pass (not play upon one's turn) | |
| 32. v. to take place, to happen, to come to pass | |
| Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé ici ? - What happened here? | |
| 33. v. to go by | |
| 34. v. to do without | |
| Je ne peux pas me passer du café le matin. - I can't do without a cup of coffee in the morning. | |
| 35. v. to don | |
| Il passa son pantalon. - He put on his pants. | |
| 36. v. (indtr, pour) to be thought to be, to be said to be, to be taken for | |
| faire passer quelqu'un pour quelque chose - to make someone out to be something | |
| se faire passer pour - to pass oneself off as, to pose as, to impersonate | |
| en passant |
| 1. adv. in passing; incidentally, by the way | |
| 2. adv. (chess) en passant | |
| 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' | |
| main |
| 1. n-f. hand | |
| 2. n-f. (soccer) handball | |
| 3. n-f. (poker) hand | |
| passer la main |
| 1. v. (figuratively) indtr, à to step down in favour of, to stand aside in favour of, to pass the mantle to, to pass the torch on to, to pass the baton on to, to hand the reins to; to hang up one's boots | |
| sous |
| 1. prep. below, under | |
| 2. n. plural of sou | |
| 3. n. (slang) money | |
| sou |
| 1. n-m. (historical, numismatics) sou (old French coin) | |
| 2. n-m. (by extension, chiefly in the colloquial) money; cash | |
| Tu peux me prêter des sous ? - Can you lend me some cash? | |
| 3. n-m. (Quebec, Louisiana, colloquial) cent (one hundredth of a dollar) | |
| Ça va être six piastres et vingt-cinq sous, s'il te plaît. - That'll be six dollars and twenty-five cents, please. | |
| 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 | |
| récipient |
| 1. n-m. container, vessel, recipient | |
| 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. | |
| décela |
| 1. v. third-person singular past historic of déceler | |
| déceler |
| 1. v. to uncover, to reveal, to discover | |
| 2. v. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to show oneself, to come out | |
| 3. Paronyms. dessaler, desceller, desseller | |
| décéler |
|
| 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) | |
| bout |
| 1. n-m. end, extremity, tip (of a physical object) | |
| 2. n-m. bit, piece, scrap | |
| 3. n-m. (nautical) rope | |
| 4. n-m. (curling) end | |
| 5. v. third-person singular present indicative of bouillir | |
| bouillir |
| 1. v. to boil (becoming boiling; reach boiling point) | |
| 2. v. to boil (cause to boil) | |
| 3. v. (figuratively) to seethe | |
| 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 | |
| papier |
| 1. n-m. paper (A material used for writing or printing on, made from cellulose pulp rolled into thin sheets) | |
| 2. n-m. paper (official documents) | |
| 3. n-m. article, piece (in a newspaper) | |
| 4. n-m. (plural) paperwork | |
| 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. | |
| prit |
| 1. v. third-person singular past historic of prendre | |
| 2. n-m. (slang) penis | |
| 3. n-m. (slang) a stupid or contemptible man | |
| prendre |
| 1. v. to take | |
| prends ma main - take my hand | |
| 2. v. to eat; to drink | |
| elle prend un café - she is drinking a coffee | |
| 3. v. to get; to buy | |
| Je vais prendre le plat du jour. - I'll get the dish of the day. | |
| 4. v. to rob; to deprive | |
| prendre quelque chose à quelqu'un | |
| 5. v. to make | |
| prendre une décision - to make a decision | |
| prendre des mesures draconiennes - to take draconian measures | |
| 6. v. to catch, to work, to start | |
| le feu ne prend pas - the fire won't start | |
| la sauce ne prend pas - the sauce isn't thickening | |
| ma mayonnaise ne prend pas - my mayonnaise isn't setting | |
| ça ne prend pas avec moi - that won't wash with me | |
| 7. v. to get (something) caught (in), to jam | |
| je me suis pris la main dans la porte - I caught my hand in the door | |
| je me suis pris la porte dans la figure | |
| 8. v. indtr, à | |
| Qu'est-ce qui t'a pris ? Qu'est-ce qui t'est passé par la tête ? - What were you thinking? What got into you? What came over you? | |
| Qu'est-ce qui lui a pris ? Quelle mouche l'a piqué ? - What was he thinking? What got into him? | |
| bien lui en prit | |
| mal lui en prit | |
| 9. v. to start having a negative feeling towards someone | |
| prendre en aversion | |
| prendre en grippe | |
| prendre en dégoût | |
| 10. v. (followed by a partitive, in various idiomatic expressions) to gain | |
| prendre de la vitesse - to gain speed | |
| prendre du galon - to gain a promotion | |
| prendre de l'avance - to gain ground | |
| prendre du retard - to fall behind schedule, to run late, to drop behind | |
| prendre de la hauteur - to gain some perspective | |
| prendre du recul - to take a step back | |
| prendre de la bouteille - to gain experience | |
| en prendre de la graine - to take away a lesson | |
| prendre du poids - to gain weight | |
| prendre de la masse - to build muscle | |
| prendre de la brioche, prendre du bide, prendre du ventre - to get a paunch | |
| prendre du bouchon | |
| prendre de l'élan - to gain momentum | |
| prendre de l'âge | |
| prendre de la valeur - to gain value | |
| prendre de l'importance | |
| 11. v. (colloquial ; impersonal) to take (a certain amount of time) | |
| Ça va me prendre au moins deux heures pour le mettre à jour. | |
| 12. v. (colloquial ; impersonal ; by extension) to take (a certain number or amount of) | |
| Pour finir dans deux heures, ça prend trois personnes. - To finish in two hours, it'll take three people. | |
| 13. v. (impersonal) to come over (to arise in and gain some control over one's thoughts and/or actions) | |
| il prend quelque chose à quelqu'un - something comes over someone | |
| Il lui prend une fantaisie de mettre le feu à la maison. | |
| soin |
| 1. n-m. care | |
| prendre soin |
| 1. v. (indtr, de) (Indicates attention paid to, care and responsibility taken for a thing or person.) | |
| 2. v. (complement of de) being (a) thing(s) to see to, look after, keep in order, manage | |
| 3. v. (complement of de) being (a) person(s) to take care of, to care for | |
| 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 | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| montrer |
| 1. v. to show | |
| Montre-le-moi. - Show it to me. | |
| 2. v. to display, to demonstrate one's characteristics | |
