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. | |
sait |
1. v. third-person singular present indicative of savoir | |
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 | |
chanter |
1. v. (singing) to sing | |
2. v. to crow | |
mieux |
1. adv. comparative of bien; better | |
Il va mieux que jamais. - He's going better than ever. | |
Timothée la connaît bien mieux que moi. - Timothy knows her better than I do. | |
2. adv. (with definite article, le mieux) superlative of bien; best | |
3. adv. (Saint-Étienne) more, -er. | |
C'est mieux cher si tu achètes à l'unité. - It's more expensive if you buy individually. | |
4. n-m. the best of one's ability, one's best | |
que |
1. conj. that (introduces a subordinate noun clause and connects it to its parent clause) | |
Je vois que tu parles bien français. - I see that you speak French well. | |
2. conj. Substitutes for another, previously stated conjunction. | |
Si le temps est beau et que tout le monde est d'accord, nous mangerons en plein air. - If the weather is nice and if everyone likes the idea, we'll eat outside. | |
3. conj. when, no sooner | |
Il était à peine parti qu’elle a téléphoné à la police. - No sooner had he left when she called the police. | |
4. conj. (Links two noun phrases in apposition forming a clause without a (finite) verb, such that the complement acts as predicate.) | |
5. conj. introduces a comparison | |
6. conj. (comparisons of superiority or inferiority) than | |
Il est plus grand que son père. - He is taller than his father. | |
7. conj. (comparisons of equality) as | |
Elle est aussi intelligente que toi. - She is as smart as you. | |
8. conj. (used with ne) only, just; but, nothing but | |
Je ne mange que des fruits. - I eat nothing but fruit. | |
9. conj. how (in rhetorical interjections) | |
Que c'est beau! - How beautiful it is! | |
Mais que t'es drôle, quoi. - Oh, how funny you are. | |
10. pron. (tlb, interrogative) | |
11. pron. (slightly formal, accusative) (The inanimate direct-object interrogative pronoun.) | |
Que pensez-vous de cette peinture ? - What do you think of that painting? | |
Qu'auriez-vous fait d'autre ? - What else would you have done? | |
12. pron. (slightly formal, nominative) (The inanimate subject or predicative interrogative pronoun.) | |
Qu'est-il arrivé ? - What happened? | |
Que me vaut cette visite ? - To what do I owe this visit? | |
Que sommes-nous ? - What are we? | |
13. pron. (accusative, relative) (The direct object relative pronoun.) | |
C'est un homme que je connais très bien. - He's a man whom I know very well. | |
Je viens de lire la lettre que vous m'avez envoyée. - I've just read the letter that you sent me. | |
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. | |
importe |
1. v. first-person singular present of importer | |
2. v. third-person singular present of importer | |
3. v. second-person singular imperative of importer | |
importer |
1. v. to import | |
2. v. (indtr, à) to matter, to be relevant, important (to someone) | |
En quoi cela m'importe-t-il ? | |
Que vous importe ? | |
Il m'importe peu de savoir s'il a réussi. | |
Ses résultats importaient peu à ses parents. | |
lequel |
1. pron. (relative, following a preposition) which, that, whom | |
Elle préfère l'homme avec lequel tu sortais. - She prefers the man with whom you were going out. | |
Il se remet à travailler sur le projet pour lequel il avait déjà passé tellement de temps. - He's starting to work on the project on which he had already spent so much time. | |
2. pron. (interrogative) which one | |
Passe-moi le ballon. ― Lequel ? Il y en a trois. - Pass me the ball. — Which one? There are three of them. | |
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 | |
entre |
1. prep. between | |
2. prep. among | |
3. v. first-person singular present of entrer | |
4. v. third-person singular present of entrer | |
5. v. second-person singular imperative of entrer | |
entrer |
1. v. to enter | |
Entrer dans la salle. - Enter the room. | |
d'entre |
1. prep. of, among | |
Certains d'entre eux sont d'accord. | |
Mais si peu de poètes s'y essaient, beaucoup d'entre ceux qui s'efforcent malgré tout d'en perpétuer la tradition passent à la postérité. | |
Si aucun d'entre eux ne recueille la majorité absolue, un second décompte est mis en œuvre pour départager les deux candidats arrivés en tête. | |
nous |
1. pron. the plural personal pronoun in the first person: | |
2. pron. (subject pronoun) we. | |
3. pron. (object pronoun) us, to us. | |
4. pron. (royal, obsolete) we (as the royal we) | |
5. n-m. the nous, (divine) reason in philosophy | |
entre nous |
1. Phrase. between ourselves, between you and me | |