mal |
1. n-m. (as in the phrase: avoir du mal) trouble, difficulty | |
J'ai du mal à m'imaginer ça. - I have trouble imagining that. | |
2. n-m. pain | |
J'ai mal à la tête. - I have pain at the head. | |
3. n-m. evil | |
Le philosophe abordait de grandes questions du bon et du mal. - The philosopher discussed broad questions of good and evil. | |
4. n-m. damage, harm | |
Le mal est fait. - The damage is done. | |
5. adv. badly | |
C'est mal fait. - It's done badly. | |
6. adj. (in set phrases and limited constructions) bad | |
bon an, mal an - good year, bad year | |
bon gré, mal gré - willy-nilly | |
Il est mal de infinitive - It’s wrong to infinitive | |
C'est mal de infinitive - It’s wrong to infinitive | |
lui |
1. pron. him, he; the third-person masculine singular personal pronoun used after a preposition, or as the predicate of a linking verb, or when disjoined from a sentence, or as a stressed subject | |
J'habitais avec lui. - I was living with him. | |
C'est lui qui a dit cela. - It was him who said that. | |
Lui, il n'en sait rien. - He doesn't know anything about it. | |
2. pron. him, her; the third-person singular personal pronoun used as an indirect object | |
Je lui ai donné le livre. - I gave the book to him/her. | |
3. Participle. past participle of luire | |
en |
1. prep. in (used to indicate space, also see usage notes) | |
J'habite en Angleterre. - I live in England. | |
2. prep. to (indicates direction towards certain very large locations, see usage notes) | |
Il est allé en France. - He went to France. | |
3. prep. by (used to indicate means) | |
aller en bus - go by bus | |
partir en voiture - leave by car | |
4. prep. as | |
Il me traite en ami. - He treats me as a friend. | |
habillé en père Noël - dressed as Father Christmas | |
5. prep. at (used to describe an ability) | |
fort en histoire - good at history | |
6. prep. of, made of (used to describe composition) | |
une chaise en hêtre - a chair made of beech/a beech chair | |
une fourchette en métal - a fork made of metal/a metal fork | |
7. prep. in (during the following time (used for months and years)) | |
en 1993 - in 1993 | |
en janvier - in January | |
en septembre 2001 - in September 2001 | |
8. prep. (followed by a gerund) while | |
9. prep. (followed by a gerund) by, in describing a way of getting something | |
C'est en trichant qu'il est devenu champion. - It was by cheating that he became champion. | |
10. prep. in (used to describe color) | |
une photo en noir et blanc - a photo in black and white | |
11. prep. in (used to describe feelings) | |
en détresse - in distress | |
12. prep. in (as part of something) | |
en équipe - on a team | |
13. pron. (Used as the object of a verb to indicate an indefinite quantity; of it, of them. Replaces the partitive article (du, de la, etc.)) | |
Essaies-en ! - Try some (of it / them)! | |
Tu as combien de livres ? J'en ai trois. - How many books do you have? I have three (of them). | |
Y a-t-il beaucoup de pièces ? Oui. Il y en a beaucoup. - Are there many rooms? Yes, there are many (of them). | |
Martin a trois sandwichs, mais j'en ai seulement deux. - Martin has three sandwiches, but I have only two (of them). | |
Il y en a combien ? - How many of them are there? | |
Je bois de l'alcool parce que j'en ai besoin - I drink alcohol because I need (of) it. | |
14. pron. Adverbial preposition indicating movement away from a place already mentioned; from there, from it. Replaces the phrase de là or d’ici. | |
Est-ce qu'elle vient de Barcelone ? Oui, elle en vient. - Does she come from Barcelona? Yes, she comes (from there). | |
a |
1. n. a, the name of the Latin-script letter A | |
2. pron. (Quebec, colloquial) alt form-lite, elle, , she | |
C'te fille-là, a'a l'air cute. - This girl, she looks cute. | |
3. v. third-person singular present indicative of avoir | |
Elle a un chat. - She has a cat. | |
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. | |
pris |
1. adj. taken | |
2. adj. occupied | |
3. v. first-person singular past historic of prendre | |
4. v. second-person singular past historic of prendre | |
5. Participle. past participle of prendre | |
prendre |
1. v. to take | |
prends ma main - take my hand | |
2. v. to eat; to drink | |
elle prend un café - she is drinking a coffee | |
3. v. to get; to buy | |
Je vais prendre le plat du jour. - I'll get the dish of the day. | |
4. v. to rob; to deprive | |
prendre quelque chose à quelqu'un | |
5. v. to make | |
prendre une décision - to make a decision | |
prendre des mesures draconiennes - to take draconian measures | |
6. v. to catch, to work, to start | |
le feu ne prend pas - the fire won't start | |
la sauce ne prend pas - the sauce isn't thickening | |
ma mayonnaise ne prend pas - my mayonnaise isn't setting | |
ça ne prend pas avec moi - that won't wash with me | |
7. v. to get (something) caught (in), to jam | |
je me suis pris la main dans la porte - I caught my hand in the door | |
je me suis pris la porte dans la figure | |
8. v. indtr, à | |
Qu'est-ce qui t'a pris ? Qu'est-ce qui t'est passé par la tête ? - What were you thinking? What got into you? What came over you? | |
Qu'est-ce qui lui a pris ? Quelle mouche l'a piqué ? - What was he thinking? What got into him? | |
bien lui en prit | |
mal lui en prit | |
9. v. to start having a negative feeling towards someone | |
prendre en aversion | |
prendre en grippe | |
prendre en dégoût | |
10. v. (followed by a partitive, in various idiomatic expressions) to gain | |
prendre de la vitesse - to gain speed | |
prendre du galon - to gain a promotion | |
prendre de l'avance - to gain ground | |
prendre du retard - to fall behind schedule, to run late, to drop behind | |
prendre de la hauteur - to gain some perspective | |
prendre du recul - to take a step back | |
prendre de la bouteille - to gain experience | |
en prendre de la graine - to take away a lesson | |
prendre du poids - to gain weight | |
prendre de la masse - to build muscle | |
prendre de la brioche, prendre du bide, prendre du ventre - to get a paunch | |
prendre du bouchon | |
prendre de l'élan - to gain momentum | |
prendre de l'âge | |
prendre de la valeur - to gain value | |
prendre de l'importance | |
11. v. (colloquial ; impersonal) to take (a certain amount of time) | |
Ça va me prendre au moins deux heures pour le mettre à jour. | |
12. v. (colloquial ; impersonal ; by extension) to take (a certain number or amount of) | |
Pour finir dans deux heures, ça prend trois personnes. - To finish in two hours, it'll take three people. | |
13. v. (impersonal) to come over (to arise in and gain some control over one's thoughts and/or actions) | |
il prend quelque chose à quelqu'un - something comes over someone | |
Il lui prend une fantaisie de mettre le feu à la maison. | |
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 | |
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 | |
montrer |
1. v. to show | |
Montre-le-moi. - Show it to me. | |
2. v. to display, to demonstrate one's characteristics | |
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. | |
son |
1. n-m. sound | |
Le son de ce piano est agréable. (The sound of this piano is nice.) | |
2. det. (possessive) his, her, their, its (used to qualify masculine nouns and before a vowel) | |
Elle a perdu son chapeau. - She lost her hat. | |
Il a perdu son chapeau. - He lost his hat. | |
J'aime son amie. - I like his/her girlfriend. | |
La décision a été prise pendant son absence. - The decision was taken in her/his absence. | |
3. n-m. bran | |
Ceci est du pain de son. - This bread is done with bran. | |
museau |
1. n-m. snout, muzzle (long, projecting nose, mouth and jaw of a beast) | |
2. n-m. (colloquial) face | |