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 | |
va |
1. v. third-person singular present indicative active of aller | |
2. v. second-person singular imperative of aller | |
3. v. third-person singular present indicative active of vader | |
4. v. second-person singular imperative of vader | |
aller |
1. v. to go + à, location (object) = to | |
Je vais au magasin. - I'm going to the store. | |
On y va. - Let's go. | |
2. v. to attend (school, church regularly) (+preo, à) | |
aller à l'école - to attend school | |
3. v. (when followed by an infinitive verb) to be going (to); will soon; (forms a near-future tense) | |
Il allait visiter sa famille. - He was going to visit his family. | |
Je vais aller au magasin. - I will go to the store. | |
4. v. (when followed by an adverb) to be (feeling) | |
J'espère que tu vas bien. - I hope you are well. | |
Tout ira bien - All will be well. | |
5. v. to go well + avec (object) = with (clothes, colors, etc.) | |
6. v. to suit (+preo, à, someone) | |
Cette robe te va bien ! - That dress suits you well! | |
7. v. to be X-proof (to be suitable for use in an appliance without running the risk of being damaged in the process) (+preo, à) | |
aller au four - to be ovenproof | |
aller au micro-ondes - to be microwave safe | |
aller au lave-vaisselle - to be dishwasher proof | |
8. n-m. outward trip; journey out; trip away | |
aller et retour - round trip | |
y aller |
1. v. (informal) to leave; to depart | |
2. v. (informal figuratively, with an adverb or an adverbial phrase) to go about something, to proceed in a certain manner | |
Vas-y mollo ! - Easy does it. | |
y aller mollo avec quelqu'un - to go easy on someone | |
y aller franco - to make no bones about something, to get straight to the point | |
ne pas y aller de main morte - to be heavy-handed. | |
ne pas y aller par quatre chemins - to go straight to the point | |
ne pas y aller avec le dos de la cuillère - to not to go in for half measures | |
y aller doucement - to take it easy | |
y aller franchement - to go at it | |
Tu ne crois pas que tu y vas un peu fort ? - Don't you think you're going a bit far? | |
il faut y aller quand même ! | |
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 | |
votre |
1. det. (possessive) your, belonging to you (plural or formal) | |
Monsieur, c'est votre portefeuille ? - Sir, is this your wallet? | |
S'il vous plaît, donnez-moi votre adresse. - Please give me your address. | |
tête |
1. n-f. head (part of the body) | |
J'ai mal à la tête - I have a headache | |
2. n-f. head (leader) | |
3. n-f. (soccer) header | |
4. n-f. (colloquial) a bright spark, a quick study | |
Ce type-là, c'est une tête - This guy is a head | |