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. | |
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. | |
là |
1. adv. referring to physical place | |
2. adv. there | |
Je t'attendrai là. - I'll wait for you there. | |
3. adv. here; present (used with être) | |
Je suis (toujours) là. - I'm (still) here. | |
4. adv. (referring to an abstract destination or goal); there | |
Je suis presque là. - I'm almost there. | |
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 | |
quoi |
1. pron. (interrogative, ;, for things) what | |
2. pron. (after a preposition) | |
De quoi parle-t-il ? - What is he talking about? | |
À quoi penses-tu ? - What are you thinking about? | |
À quoi cela sert-il ? - What is this used for? | |
Avec quoi cela se mange-t-il ? - What is this supposed to be eaten with? | |
En vue de quoi fais-tu cela ? - What are you doing this for? | |
3. pron. (attributive, or direct object, ;, colloquial) | |
C'est quoi ? (attributive) - What is this/that? (noncolloquial French: qu') (noncolloquial French: qu') | |
Il dit quoi ? (direct object) - What does he say? (noncolloquial French: que) (noncolloquial French: que) | |
4. pron. (relative, ;, for things) what, (that) which | |
5. pron. (direct object) | |
Je sais quoi faire. - I know what to do. | |
Je ne sais pas quoi faire. - I don't know what to do. (more formal French: Je ne sais que faire.) (more formal French: Je ne sais que f | |
6. pron. (after a preposition) | |
Laisse-moi te montrer ce sur quoi je travaille en ce moment. - ...that on which I am working... | |
Et voilà à quoi nous avons passé notre temps. - And that's what we've spent our time on. | |
Ils ont perdu beaucoup d'argent, en conséquence de quoi ils ont dû fermer le magasin. - They've lost a lot of money, in consequence of which they | |
7. pron. after de and before an infinitive verb | |
8. pron. enough (of something specific) | |
Il y avait de quoi remplir trois boîtes. - There was enough to fill three boxes. | |
9. pron. nothing | |
Il n'y a pas de quoi en faire tout un plat ! - There's nothing to make a big thing out of! | |
Merci !—Il n'y a pas de quoi me remercier. - There is nothing to thank me for. | |
10. pron. (before a subjunctive verb) whatever | |
11. pron. (direct object) | |
Quoi que je fasse, rien ne changera. - Whatever I may do, nothing will change. | |
12. pron. (subject of an impersonal verb) | |
Quoi qu'il arrive, je serai là. - Whatever may happen, I will be there. | |
13. adv. (colloquial) you know, like, y'know | |
Alors, ce mec m'a dit de te donner son porte-monnaie, quoi. - So, this guy, like, told me to give you his wallet. | |
14. Phrase. what? say again? | |
de quoi |
1. interj. what was that | |
De quoi?! | |
2. Phrase. What is necessary to | |
J'ai de quoi acheter une voiture. - I have enough (money) to buy a car. | |
3. Phrase. (Quebec, informal) something | |
Y'a-tu de quoi à manger? - Is there something to eat? | |
faire |
1. v. to do | |
faire la vaisselle - to do the washing-up. | |
Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? - What are you doing? | |
Fais pas ça. - Don't do that. | |
2. v. to make | |
faire une erreur - to make a mistake. | |
faire un voyage - to take a trip | |
3. v. to say (of a person), to go (of an animal) | |
"Je t'aime," fit-il. - "I love you," he said. | |
Le chat fait "miaou". - The cat goes "meow". | |
4. v. to make (cause someone or something to do something) | |
Tu me fais rire. - You make me laugh. | |
La chanson me fait pleurer. - The song makes me cry. | |
5. v. to act like (something) | |
Fais pas ton innocent avec moi. - Don't act like you're so innocent around me./Don't give me that innocent act. | |
6. v. (impersonal) to be (of the weather or various situations) | |
Il fait chaud/froid/noir/beau dehors. - It is hot/cold/dark/nice outside. | |
Ça fait dix ans que nous nous connaissons. - We have known each other for ten years. | |
Ça fait bizarre. - That seems/looks bizarre; that gives a bizarre effect/appearance/result. | |
Ça fait très monsieur, ta cravate. - Your tie makes you look like a real gentleman. | |
7. v. to do, to make (oneself) | |
Elle se fait les ongles. - She is doing her nails. | |
8. v. to be, to get (used for a passive action) | |
se faire piquer - to be stung | |
Je me suis fait avoir. - I got screwed. | |
Est-ce que tu t'es fait couper les cheveux ? - Did you get your hair cut? | |
9. v. to ripen (of fruit), to mature | |
10. v. to become used to, to get used to | |
Je ne m'y suis toujours pas fait. - I still haven't got used to it. | |
11. v. (slang) to do (to have sex with) | |
12. v. (informal, intransitive) to defecate; (metaphorically) to shit oneself (to be terrified) | |
L'enfant a fait dans son pantalon. - The child soiled his trousers. | |
Ils viennent d'entendre les nouvelles et ils font dans leur culotte. - They've just heard the news and they're shitting themselves. | |
13. v. to become, to get | |
quoi faire |
1. adv. (informal, Louisiana French, Cajun French) why | |
Quoi faire t'as fait ça? - Why did you do that? | |
guillotiner |
1. v. to guillotine, to execute with a guillotine | |
ma |
1. det. feminine singular of mon | |
Ma mère est venue me voir. - My mother came to see me. | |
grand |
1. adj. big, great, grand | |
2. adj. tall | |
Il est grand comment ? - How tall is he ? | |
3. adj. grown up, big | |
Quand je serai grande, je veux être astronaute. - When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut. | |
Il l'a fait tout seul comme un grand garçon. - He did it all on his own like a big boy. | |
4. adj. (usually capitalized) great, an honorific title | |
Alexandre le Grand - Alexander the Great | |
5. adj. great; big fat; an intensifier | |
un grand tricheur - a big fat cheater | |
6. adj. extensive, large | |
7. n-m. grown-up | |
mère |
1. n-f. mother | |
et |
1. conj. and | |
cinquante |
1. num. fifty | |
personnes |
1. n. plural of personne | |
personne |
1. n-f. person | |
2. pron. (with ne) no one, nobody | |
Il n'y a personne ici. - There is nobody here. | |
Qui l'a lu? Personne. - Who has read it? No one. | |
Il n'a parlé avec personne. - He spoke to nobody. | |
Personne ne parle avec lui. - No one speaks with him. | |
3. pron. anyone | |
Il le sait mieux que personne. - He knows it better than anyone. | |
avec |
1. prep. (accompaniment) with | |
Je suis revenu avec lui. - I have returned with him. | |
Voudriez-vous y aller avec moi ? - Would you like to come with me? | |
Ils m'ont dit qu'ils étaient avec toi. - They told me that they were with you. | |
2. prep. (manner, instrument) with | |
Je l'ai fait avec plaisir. - I did it with pleasure. | |
3. adv. (informal) too, also | |
Il en est vraiment content. —Bien, moi avec. - He's really happy about it. —Well, me too. | |
elle |
1. pron. she | |
Je crois qu'elle est partie. - I think she left. | |
2. pron. it (feminine gender third-person singular subject pronoun) | |
Voilà ma voiture. Elle a cinq ans. - That's my car. It is five years old. | |
3. pron. disjunctive form of elle; her; à elle = hers | |
C’est à elle. - It's hers. | |
sera |
1. v. third-person singular future indicative of être | |
serait |
1. v. third-person singular conditional of être | |
soit |
1. conj. or, meaning, that is to say | |
2. conj. either ... or | |
Il veut adopter un animal de compagnie, soit un chat, soit un chien. - He wants to adopt a pet, either a cat, or a dog. | |
Je lui ai dit que j'aimerais reprendre un de mes vieux passe-temps, soit jouer du piano, soit apprendre une langue. - I told him I want to take up one of my old hobbies agains, be that playing | |
3. v. third-person singular present subjunctive of être | |
4. v. (math) let be | |
Soit f une fonction linéaire. - Let f be a linear function. | |
5. interj. OK; granted; so be it | |