| le |
| 1. art. the (definite article) | |
| Le lait du matin. - The milk of the morning. | |
| 2. art. Used before abstract nouns; not translated in English. | |
| L'amour est aveugle. - Love is blind. | |
| 3. art. (before parts of the body) the; my, your, etc. | |
| Il s’est cassé la jambe. - He has broken his leg. | |
| 4. art. (before units) a, an | |
| Cinquante kilomètres à l’heure. - fifty kilometres an hour | |
| 5. pron. (direct object) him, it | |
| Où est Malik ? Je ne le vois pas. - Where is Malik? I don't see him. | |
| Mon sac ? Je vais le mettre dans la voiture. - My bag? I'm going to put it in the car. | |
| 6. pron. used to refer to something previously mentioned or implied; not translated in English | |
| Je suis petit et lui, il l’est aussi. - ... and he is it too | |
| four |
| 1. n-m. oven | |
| 2. n-m. stove | |
| 3. n-m. flop | |
| 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 | |
| ma |
| 1. det. feminine singular of mon | |
| Ma mère est venue me voir. - My mother came to see me. | |
| Maison |
| 1. Proper noun. surname, eq=Maison | |
| 2. n-f. house | |
| 3. adj. homemade | |
| une grande tarte maison - a big home-made pie | |
| spécialité maison - speciality of the house | |
| 4. adj. (employment) in-house | |
| La compagnie a un département de traduction maison. - The company has an in-house translation department. | |
| 5. adj. (colloquial intensifier) first-rate, top-notch | |
| une engueulade maison - a hell of a telling off | |
| 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. | |
| fonctionne |
| 1. v. first-person singular present of fonctionner | |
| 2. v. third-person singular present of fonctionner | |
| 3. v. second-person singular imperative of fonctionner | |
| fonctionner |
| 1. v. to function, to work | |
| pas |
| 1. n-m. step, pace, footstep | |
| 2. n-m. (geography) strait, pass | |
| Pas de Calais - Strait of Dover | |
| 3. n-m. thread, pitch (of a screw or nut) | |
| 4. adv. The most common adverb of negation in French, typically translating into English as not, don't, doesn't, etc. | |
| Je ne sais pas. - I don't know | |
| Ma grande sœur n'habite pas avec nous. - My big sister doesn't live with us. | |
| J’veux pas travailler. - I don't wanna work. | |
| très |
| 1. adv. very | |
| bien |
| 1. adj. good, all right, great | |
| 2. adj. good looking, nice | |
| 3. adv. well | |
| Ça va bien ? - It goes well? | |
| Il joue vraiment bien au football. - He plays soccer really well. | |
| 4. adv. indeed; so | |
| Bien, on peut partir maintenant ? - So, can we leave now? | |
| 5. adv. (followed by de, des, or du) a lot (of) | |
| Macy Gray a traversé bien des épreuves. - Macy Gray got through a lot of ordeals. | |
| 6. adv. very; really | |
| C'est bien aimable à vous. - it's very considerate of you. | |
| C'est bien beau, mais... - It's all very well, but... | |
| Je te trouve bien silencieux aujourd'hui. - You seem very quiet today. | |
| Il est bien moche, ce type. Ce type est vraiment moche. - That guy is really ugly. | |
| 7. adv. (in comparisons) much (more, less, better, etc.) | |
| Jérémie est bien plus fort que moi. - Jérémie is much stronger than me. | |
| bien meilleur que ... - much better than ..., much better than ... | |
| 8. n-m. good as opposed to evil | |
| 9. n-m. a commodity, a good | |
| 10. n-m. a possession | |
| très bien |
| 1. adv. very good, very well | |
| 2. adv. excellent | |
| aujourd'hui |
| 1. adv. today | |
| 2. adv. nowadays | |
| 3. n-m. today | |
