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. | |
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. | |
y |
1. pron. there (at a place) | |
Il est dans la maison. Il y est. - He is in the house. He is there. | |
2. pron. there, thither (to there) | |
Nous allons au Mexique. Nous y allons. - We are going to Mexico. We are going there. | |
3. pron. Used as a pronoun to replace an adverbial phrase starting with à. | |
Je pense à mon pays. J'y pense. - I think about my country. I think about it. | |
4. pron. With verbs: see for verbs which use this structure. | |
5. pron. With adjectives. Only used with a handful of adjectives (the most common combination being y compris, which is a special case), mainly in legal terminology. | |
personnes y nommées - Persons named there(in) | |
procédures y afférentes - Related procedures | |
documents y relatifs - Related documents | |
eaux y affluentes - Tributary waters | |
6. pron. (Quebec, France, colloquial) he: Alternative form of il | |
7. pron. (Quebec, France, colloquial) they: Alternative form of ils | |
8. pron. (Quebec, colloquial) they: Alternative form of elles | |
a |
1. n. a, the name of the Latin-script letter A | |
2. pron. (Quebec, colloquial) alt form-lite, elle, , she | |
C'te fille-là, a'a l'air cute. - This girl, she looks cute. | |
3. v. third-person singular present indicative of avoir | |
Elle a un chat. - She has a cat. | |
avoir |
1. n-m. asset, possession | |
2. v. to have (to own; to possess) | |
J'aimerais avoir 20 dollars. - I would like to have 20 dollars. | |
3. v. (auxiliary) to have (auxiliary verb to form compound past tenses of most verbs) | |
J'ai parlé. - I have spoken, I spoke. | |
Qu'est-ce que vous m'avez fait ? - What have you done to me? | |
4. v. to have (a condition) | |
J'ai faim. - I have hunger. | |
J'ai soif. - I have thirst. | |
J'ai froid. - I have cold. | |
J'ai chaud. - I have hot. | |
J'ai la chiasse. - I have the shits. | |
J'ai le rhume. - I have a cold. | |
J'ai le SIDA. - I have AIDS. | |
J'ai de la fièvre. - I've got a fever. | |
5. v. to have (a measure or age) | |
Elle a 19 ans. - She has 19 years. | |
6. v. to have (to trick) | |
Tu t'es fait avoir. - You've been had. | |
7. v. to have (to participate in an experience) | |
avoir des relations sexuelles - to have sexual relations | |
8. v. (indtr, à) to have (to), must +preo, à, infinitive | |
J'ai à vous parler. - I have to talk to you. | |
il y a |
1. v. singular present indicative of y avoir: there is, there are | |
Il y a un problème. - There is a problem. | |
Il y a deux personnes ici. - There are two people here. | |
2. prep. ago | |
Je l'ai vu il y a longtemps. - I saw it a long time ago. | |
Elle est allée en France il y a deux ans. - She went to France two years ago. | |
C'est il y a dix ans que je suis allé aux États-Unis. - It was ten years ago that I went to the United States. | |
y a |
1. v. (colloquial)contraction of il y a | |
Heureusement, y a l'amour. - Fortunately, there's love. Lyric by Michelle Daniel (1968) | |
y avoir |
1. v. (impersonal, transitive) there be | |
Il y a deux raisons. - There are two reasons. | |
point |
1. n-m. point (small mark) | |
2. n-m. (sports) point | |
3. n-m. full stop, period (punctuation mark) | |
4. n-m. (knitting) stitch pattern | |
5. n-m. dot (Morse code symbol) | |
6. adv. (literary, dialectal, usually with "ne") not | |
Ne craignez point - Fear not | |
7. Participle. past participle of poindre | |
8. v. third-person singular present indicative of poindre | |
poindre |
1. v. to prick, sting | |
2. v. to sting, afflict (of pain, love etc.) | |
3. v. to come up (of a plant), peep through | |
4. v. to break, dawn (of day); to break (of dawn) | |
5. v. to appear, spring up | |
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 | |
Règle |
1. Proper noun. Norma (constellation) | |
2. n-f. rule, regulation | |
3. n-f. rule, period of ruling | |
La règle du Roi Henry - King Henry's rule. | |
4. n-f. ruler (for measuring length) | |
5. n-f. (in plural) period, menstruation | |
6. v. first-person singular present of régler | |
7. v. third-person singular present of régler | |
8. v. second-person singular imperative of régler | |
régler |
1. v. to sort out, to settle (a problem, a bill) | |
On va régler le problème tout de suite. - We will sort out that problem immediately. | |
2. v. to set, to adjust | |
Régler le réveil pour 8 heures. - Set the alarm for 8 o'clock. | |
3. v. to regulate | |
4. v. to rule; to put lines on | |
Régler le papier. | |
de règle |
1. adj. customary, usual | |
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 | |
cette |
1. det. feminine singular of ce | |
Maison |
1. Proper noun. surname, eq=Maison | |
2. n-f. house | |
3. adj. homemade | |
une grande tarte maison - a big home-made pie | |
spécialité maison - speciality of the house | |
4. adj. (employment) in-house | |
La compagnie a un département de traduction maison. - The company has an in-house translation department. | |
5. adj. (colloquial intensifier) first-rate, top-notch | |
une engueulade maison - a hell of a telling off | |