faire |
1. v. to do | |
faire la vaisselle - to do the washing-up. | |
Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? - What are you doing? | |
Fais pas ça. - Don't do that. | |
2. v. to make | |
faire une erreur - to make a mistake. | |
faire un voyage - to take a trip | |
3. v. to say (of a person), to go (of an animal) | |
"Je t'aime," fit-il. - "I love you," he said. | |
Le chat fait "miaou". - The cat goes "meow". | |
4. v. to make (cause someone or something to do something) | |
Tu me fais rire. - You make me laugh. | |
La chanson me fait pleurer. - The song makes me cry. | |
5. v. to act like (something) | |
Fais pas ton innocent avec moi. - Don't act like you're so innocent around me./Don't give me that innocent act. | |
6. v. (impersonal) to be (of the weather or various situations) | |
Il fait chaud/froid/noir/beau dehors. - It is hot/cold/dark/nice outside. | |
Ça fait dix ans que nous nous connaissons. - We have known each other for ten years. | |
Ça fait bizarre. - That seems/looks bizarre; that gives a bizarre effect/appearance/result. | |
Ça fait très monsieur, ta cravate. - Your tie makes you look like a real gentleman. | |
7. v. to do, to make (oneself) | |
Elle se fait les ongles. - She is doing her nails. | |
8. v. to be, to get (used for a passive action) | |
se faire piquer - to be stung | |
Je me suis fait avoir. - I got screwed. | |
Est-ce que tu t'es fait couper les cheveux ? - Did you get your hair cut? | |
9. v. to ripen (of fruit), to mature | |
10. v. to become used to, to get used to | |
Je ne m'y suis toujours pas fait. - I still haven't got used to it. | |
11. v. (slang) to do (to have sex with) | |
12. v. (informal, intransitive) to defecate; (metaphorically) to shit oneself (to be terrified) | |
L'enfant a fait dans son pantalon. - The child soiled his trousers. | |
Ils viennent d'entendre les nouvelles et ils font dans leur culotte. - They've just heard the news and they're shitting themselves. | |
13. v. to become, to get | |
sortir |
1. v. to exit, go out, come out | |
Je suis sorti de l'école. - I came out of school. | |
2. v. to take out, bring out | |
Je sortais les poubelles tous les mardis et les jeudis soirs. - I used to take out the trash every Tuesday and Thursday evenings. | |
3. n-m. end, closing | |
Au sortir du printemps - At the closing of spring | |
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). | |
plus |
1. adv. more, -er (used to form comparatives of adjectives) | |
Ton voisin est plus moche que mon frère. - Your neighbour is uglier than my brother. | |
Le tien est beaucoup plus grand que le mien. - Yours is much bigger than mine. | |
Elle est plus belle que sa cousine. - She is more beautiful than her cousin. | |
Elles sont toutes plus entêtées les unes que les autres. - They are each more stubborn than the last. | |
2. adv. more, -er (used to form comparatives of adverbs) | |
Elle le fait plus rapidement que lui. - She does it more quickly than he does. | |
plus vite ! - faster! | |
3. adv. (after a verb) more, -er (indicating a higher degree or quantity) | |
Je travaille plus en ce moment. - I am working more at the moment. | |
Je veux faire plus. - I want to do more. | |
4. adv. more (indicating a greater quantity) (+preo, noun) | |
Elle a plus de chocolat. - She has more chocolate. | |
Plus de la moitié reste. - More than half is left. | |
5. adv. more (supplementary, preceded by de) | |
Une heure de plus et il serait mort. - One more hour and he would be dead. | |
Un kilo de plus, s'il vous plaît. - One more kilo, please. | |
6. adv. (preceded by a definite article) the most, -est (used to form superlatives of adjectives and adverbs) | |
la plus grande - the biggest | |
le plus difficile - the most difficult | |
7. adv. (usually with the negative particle ne, see usage notes below) no longer, not ... any more | |
Tu n'existes plus. - You no longer exist. / You don't exist any more. | |
Il n'y a plus de travail. - There is no more work. | |
8. adv. (elliptically, introducing each clause) the more ..., the more ... | |
Plus je vois, plus je veux. - The more I see, the more I want. | |
9. adv. (similarly, used with other comparatives) the more ..., the ... | |
Plus j'écoute, moins je comprends. - The more I listen, the less I understand. | |
10. n-m. plus, the symbol + | |
11. v. singular past historic of plaire | |
12. Participle. masculine plural of plu | |
ou |
1. conj. or | |
2. conj. either...or | |
Ou il est fou ou il est bête. - Either he's mad or he's stupid. | |
moins |
1. adv. comparative of peu; less, fewer | |
Faites moins de bruit. - Make less noise. | |
J'ai dû attendre moins de dix minutes. - I had to wait less than ten minutes. | |
De moins en moins de personnes peuvent se permettre de passer des vacances à l'étranger. - Fewer and fewer people can afford to spend holidays abroad. | |
2. adv. (with numbers) minus; negative | |
moins cinq - minus five | |
3. adv. preceded by a definite article superlative of peu; the least | |
C'est lui qui gagne le moins (d'argent) dans sa famille. - He earns the least money in his family. | |
C'était la chose la moins surprenante. - It was the least surprising thing. | |
4. n-m. the minus sign | |
5. prep. minus | |
Cinq moins deux font trois - Five minus two makes three. | |
grand |
1. adj. big, great, grand | |
2. adj. tall | |
Il est grand comment ? - How tall is he ? | |
3. adj. grown up, big | |
Quand je serai grande, je veux être astronaute. - When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut. | |
Il l'a fait tout seul comme un grand garçon. - He did it all on his own like a big boy. | |
4. adj. (usually capitalized) great, an honorific title | |
Alexandre le Grand - Alexander the Great | |
5. adj. great; big fat; an intensifier | |
un grand tricheur - a big fat cheater | |
6. adj. extensive, large | |
7. n-m. grown-up | |
nombre |
1. n-m. number | |
nombrer |
1. v. to number | |
des |
1. art. plural of un | |
2. art. plural of une | |
3. art. plural of du | |
4. art. plural of de la | |
5. art. plural of de l' | |
6. contraction. contraction of de les (of the, from the, some) | |
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 | |
les |
1. art. plural of le: the | |
2. art. plural of la: the | |
3. pron. plural of le: them | |
4. pron. plural of la: them | |
de l' |
1. art. some; the singular prevocalic partitive article | |
Voudriez-vous de l’ail ? - Would you like some garlic? | |
personnes |
1. n. plural of personne | |
personne |
1. n-f. person | |
2. pron. (with ne) no one, nobody | |
Il n'y a personne ici. - There is nobody here. | |
Qui l'a lu? Personne. - Who has read it? No one. | |
Il n'a parlé avec personne. - He spoke to nobody. | |
Personne ne parle avec lui. - No one speaks with him. | |
3. pron. anyone | |
Il le sait mieux que personne. - He knows it better than anyone. | |
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 | |
lieu |
1. n-m. place | |
2. n-m. any of several fish from the Pollachius family | |
où |
1. adv. where (interrogative) | |
Où est la gare? - Where is the station? | |
Où tu vas, là ? - Hey, where are you going? | |
Comment savez-vous où j'habite ? - How do you know where I live? | |
2. adv. where (relative pronoun) | |
3. adv. at that time; when | |
Je ne l'ai pas vu aussi heureux depuis le jour où il est devenu père. - I haven't seen him so happy since the day when he became a father. | |
4. adv. (poetic) whither, to where | |
Un ciel plus pur et des dieux meilleurs, je t'offre à Rome où je me rends. - A purer heaven and better gods I offer you in Rome, whither I go. | |
elles |
1. pron. they (female) | |
2. pron. them (female) | |
3. n. plural of elle | |
se |
1. pron. The third-person reflexive and reciprocal direct and indirect object pronoun. | |
2. pron. (to) himself | |
3. pron. (to) herself | |
4. pron. (to) oneself | |
5. pron. (to) itself | |
6. pron. (to) themselves | |
7. pron. (to) each other | |
8. pron. (Louisiana) (The second-person plural reflexive and reciprocal direct and indirect object pronoun.) | |
Je suis partie à la chasse et faut vous autres se comportes bien. - I'm going hunting and y'all need to behave yourselves. | |
trouvaient |
1. v. third-person plural imperfect indicative of trouver | |
trouver |
1. v. to find; to retrieve something lost, turn up something hidden, or encounter something previously unknown to one | |
Quand est-ce qu'elle a trouvé les clés ? - When did she find the keys? | |
2. v. to find (something to be the case); to think or consider (something to be so) | |
Je vous trouve si jolie. - I find you so pretty. | |
3. v. to find oneself (at a place or in a situation) | |
4. v. to be found, to be situated, to be | |
La boulangerie se trouve en face du cinéma. - The bakery is found opposite the cinema. | |
5. v. (impersonal, reflexive, se trouver) to be the case, to turn out (that) | |
Il se trouve que je passe près de chez vous. - I happen to be heading past your place. | |