| 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 | |
| avait |
| 1. v. third-person singular imperfect indicative of avoir | |
| 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. | |
| y avoir |
| 1. v. (impersonal, transitive) there be | |
| Il y a deux raisons. - There are two reasons. | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| argent |
| 1. n-m. silver | |
| 2. n-m. money, cash | |
| 3. n-m. (tincture) argent (white in heraldry) | |
| 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 | |
| mon |
| 1. det. (possessive) my (used to qualify masculine nouns and vowel-initial words regardless of gender) | |
| J'ai perdu mon chapeau. - I lost my hat. | |
| La décision a été prise pendant mon absence. - The decision was taken in my absence. | |
| 2. det. Followed by rank, obligatory way of addressing a (male) superior officer within the military. (Folk etymology: military-specific short for "monsieur".) | |
| portefeuille |
| 1. n-m. wallet | |
| 2. n-m. folder | |
| 3. n-m. portfolio (investments) | |
| 4. n-m. (politics) portfolio | |
