| 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. | |
| agit |
| 1. v. acts, third-person singular present indicative of agir, to act | |
| 2. v. acted, third-person singular past historic of agir, to act | |
| acts |
|
| agir |
| 1. v. to act | |
| Il faut agir pour lutter contre la pauvreté. - We must act in order to fight poverty. | |
| 2. v. to act, to do (something) | |
| Il n’agit pas comme il devrait. - He’s not doing as he should. | |
| 3. v. to act, behave | |
| Vous agissez en enfants. - You’re acting like children. | |
| Il agit comme un fou. - He’s acting like a madman. | |
| 4. v. to act on | |
| 5. v. (legal, followed by contre) prosecute, sue | |
| 6. v. (impersonal, reflexive, followed by de) to be, be all about, be a question of | |
| Dans le livre il s’agit d’une femme perdue. - The book is about a lost woman. | |
| Il s’agit de vous en tirer honorablement. - It’s all about you getting out of there honorably. | |
| Dans la vie; il s’agit de faire son devoir. - Life is all about doing your duty. | |
| Il s’agissait de choisir entre les ducs. - It was about choosing between the two dukes. | |
| 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). | |
| vertu |
| 1. n-f. virtue | |
| 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 | |
| en vertu de |
| 1. prep. by virtue of, due to | |
| en vertu de quoi - in witness whereof | |
| une |
| 1. num. feminine singular of un | |
| 2. art. a / an (feminine indefinite article) | |
| 3. n-f. front page (of a publication) | |
| procuration |
| 1. n-f. proxy | |
| 2. n-f. power of attorney | |
| par |
| 1. prep. through | |
| par la fenêtre - through the window | |
| aller par le parc - go through the park | |
| 2. prep. by (used to introduce a means; used to introduce an agent in a passive construction)) | |
| voyager par train - travel by train | |
| par surprise - by surprise | |
| le bateau est attaqué par des pirates. - the boat is being attacked by pirates. | |
| 3. prep. over (used to express direction) | |
| Viens par ici ! - Come over here! | |
| 4. prep. from (used to describe the origin of something, especially a view or movement) | |
| voir par devant - see from the back | |
| le liquide est arrivé par le robinet - the liquid arrived from the tap | |
| 5. prep. around, round (inside of) | |
| par tout le cinéma - all around the cinema | |
| 6. prep. on (situated on, used in certain phrases) | |
| par terre - on the ground | |
| 7. prep. on, at, in (used to denote a time when something occurs) | |
| par un beau jour - on a nice day | |
| par un soir - in one evening | |
| 8. prep. in | |
| marcher par deux - walk in twos | |
| 9. prep. per, a, an | |
| trois fois par semaine - three times a week | |
| 10. prep. out of (used to describe the reason for something) | |
| par pure colère - out of pure anger | |
| par tristesse - out of sadness | |
| 11. prep. for | |
| 12. n-m. (golf) par | |
| procuration |
| 1. n-f. proxy | |
| 2. n-f. power of attorney | |
