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. | |
saurait |
1. v. third-person singular conditional of savoir | |
saurer |
1. v. to smoke (food etc.) | |
savoir |
1. v. to know (something) | |
Savais-tu qu'il parle si bien l'anglais? - Did you know that he speaks English so well? | |
Comment savait-il que j'étais là? - How did he know that I was there? | |
Il est difficile de savoir si elle ment. - It's difficult to know if she's lying. | |
Il tire cette approche en inventant une situation initiale, dans laquelle on interrogerait les individus sur la forme qu'ils voudraient d'une société sans qu'ils sachent quelle place ils y aura | |
Difficile à savoir (expression; compare Difficile à dire, voir, faire) | |
2. v. to know how (to do something) | |
Savez-vous nager? - Do you know how to swim? | |
3. v. to be able to, to be apt to (especially in the negative or interrogative conditional; used in the positive in Belgium) | |
Il ne saurait tarder que... - It cannot/will not be long before... | |
4. v. to find out | |
Nous devons savoir pourquoi il a fait ça. - We have to find out why he did this. | |
5. n-m. knowledge | |
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. | |
tenir |
1. v. to have; to hold | |
2. v. to keep | |
3. v. to take (e.g., take into account, take into consideration); to consider; to account for; to reflect | |
Peut-être devons-nous tenir compte de plusieurs problèmes. - Maybe we should take several issues into account. | |
4. v. to stay; to hold | |
5. v. to hold on | |
Elle descend en se tenant aux racines. - She comes down using the roots for handles (holding on to the roots). | |
6. v. to hold oneself, to be standing | |
Il se tenait dans le coin. - He stood in the corner. | |
7. v. to behave | |
Tiens-toi bien. - Behave yourself. | |
8. v. to maintain, remain in a certain position or disposition | |
Tiens-toi droit! - Keep yourself straight! | |
Elle se tient immobile sur la corde raide. - She stays still on the tightrope. | |
9. v. (indtr, à) to be attached to something, to be fond of something, to hold something dear; to wish to | |
10. v. to hang out | |
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 | |
tenir de |
1. v. to take after, act similarly to | |
En ce qui concerne la beauté, il tient de son père - As far as looks are concerned, he takes after his dad | |
parler |
1. v. to speak, talk | |
Il a commencé à parler à l’âge de quatre ans. - He began to speak at the age of four. | |
Ils ont parlé plusieurs heures avant d’aller se coucher. - They spoke several hours before going to sleep. | |
2. v. to be able to communicate in a language; to speak | |
Elle parle couramment français. - She speaks French fluently | |
3. v. (heraldry) to cant; (of a coat of arms) to make a pun of its bearer's name | |
Armes parlantes. | |
4. v. takes a reflexive pronoun | |
se parler à soi-même - to talk to oneself | |
5. n-m. parlance | |
6. n-m. vernacular, dialect | |