on |
1. pron. (indefinite) one, people, you, someone (an unspecified individual) | |
On ne peut pas pêcher ici - You can’t fish here | |
2. pron. (personal, informal) we | |
On s’est amusés. - We had fun. | |
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. | |
peut |
1. v. third-person singular present indicative of pouvoir | |
pouvoir |
1. v. can, to be able to | |
Je peux venir ce soir. - I can come this evening. | |
2. v. may | |
désastre qui peut nous frapper - disaster which may strike us | |
3. v. (impersonal, reflexive) to be possible; may, could be | |
Il se peut que je sois malade. - (literally) It could be that I'm ill / (more naturally) I may be ill. / I could be ill. | |
4. n-m. (or un) power | |
prendre le pouvoir - to take power, to seize power | |
5. n-m. authority | |
6. n-m. (legal) power of attorney | |
rester |
1. v. to stay | |
On est restés à l'hôtel pendant une bonne part du séjour, on était tous malades. | |
2. v. to remain, be left over | |
Il reste un peu de riz dans le frigo, si tu veux. | |
3. v. to stay, to remain (to continue to have a particular quality) | |
Elle est restée comme elle était quand je l'ai rencontrée. | |
4. v. (rare) to rest | |
5. v. (Louisiana French, Canada) to live | |
Moi, je reste au Québec. | |
à |
1. Notes. In Canada, à and a are not homophones, à a, a ɑː. | |
2. prep. to (destination) | |
aller au bout - go to the end / go all the way | |
Je vais à Paris. - I am going to Paris. | |
3. prep. to (until) | |
Le spectacle sera de 18h à 21h. - The show will be from 6 pm to 9 pm. | |
4. prep. on the, to (some directions) | |
Tournez à gauche ! - Turn to the left! | |
Ne tournez pas encore à droite ! - Don't turn to the right yet! | |
Le vent vire au nord. - The wind turns north. | |
L'école est à gauche. - The school is on the left. | |
5. prep. at (said of a particular time) | |
à dix heures et quart - at quarter past ten | |
Je pars à cinq heures précises. - I am leaving at exactly five o'clock. | |
6. prep. at, in, on (said of a particular place) | |
à la maison - at home | |
à l'hôtel - at the hotel | |
au comptoir du bar - at the bar | |
au bois - in the woods | |
J'habite à un demi-kilomètre d'ici. - I live half a kilometer from here. | |
La maison qui a été détruite hier soir ne se trouvait qu'à trois kilomètres de chez nous. - The house that was destroyed last night was only three kilometers from our place.à trois kilomètres d | |
7. prep. Used in various interjections used as warnings or exhortations | |
au voleur ! - stop thief! | |
à l'assassin ! - murderer! | |
au meurtre ! - murder! murderer! | |
à moi ! - help! | |
à l'aide ! - help! | |
au secours ! - help! | |
au feu ! - fire! | |
aux armes ! - to arms! | |
à l'attaque ! - attack! forward! charge! up and at 'em! | |
à l'abordage ! - on board! | |
au boulot ! - get to work! let's get to work! | |
au travail ! - get to work! let's get to work! | |
8. prep. from (origin) | |
Nous prenons de l'eau au puits. - We get water from the well. | |
Je l'ai eu à la bibliothèque. - I got it from the library. | |
Voilà la femme à laquelle j'ai acheté mon chien - There's the woman I bought my dog from. | |
9. prep. of (belonging to) | |
C'est un ami à moi. - This is a friend of mine. | |
Cette voiture est à John. - This is John's car. | |
le chien à Marie - Mary's dog nonstandard: one normally would use de here | |
10. prep. till, until (used in farewells) | |
à plus tard - see you later | |
à bientôt - see you soon | |
Salut, donc. À demain. - Bye, then. 'Til tomorrow / see you tomorrow. | |
11. prep. (cuisine) cooked in or with | |
12. prep. Used to make compound nouns to state what something is used for | |
moulin à poivre - pepper mill | |
sac à dos - backpack | |
boite à musique - music box | |
13. prep. (before an infinitive) to (used to express something not completed) | |
l'équipe à battre - the team to beat | |
Il n'y a jamais grand-chose à faire par ici. - There's never much to do around here. | |
Là où tu ne vois pas grand-chose, je ne trouve qu'une grande abondance de choses qui restent à faire. - Where you see nothing great, I only see a great abundance of things that need doing. | |
Il reste deux tâches à finir. - There are two things left to finish. | |
Il y a de la bière à boire. - There's some beer to drink. | |
14. prep. Used to describe a part of something, often translated into English as a compound adjective | |
un animal à quatre pattes - a four-legged animal | |
une femme au visage pâle - a pale-faced woman | |
un homme à longue barbe - a long-bearded man — a man with a long beard | |
une chemise à manches courtes - a short-sleeved shirt | |
une maison aux murs de brique - a brick-walled house / a house with brick walls | |
15. prep. by | |
peu à peu - bit by bit | |
petit à petit - little by little | |
minute à minute - minute by minute | |
jour à jour - day by day | |
un à un - one by one | |
16. prep. or, to (used to express an approximate number) | |
six à sept personnes - six or seven people | |
de vingt à trente ans - from twenty to thirty years | |
tous les cinq à six ans - every five or six years | |
17. prep. Used to indicate the recipient of certain phrasal verb. | |
mettre le feu à - to set fire to | |
clouer le bec à - to shut (someone) up | |
donner la chasse à - to give chase to | |
18. prep. with | |
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. | |
service |
1. n-m. service | |
Cet employé a obtenu sa retraite après trente années de service. - This employee retired after thirty years of service. | |
être d'un bon service - to be of good service | |
2. n-m. (tennis) service | |
3. n-m. (Switzerland, in the plural) cutlery | |
4. n-m. set (collection of objects) | |
5. interj. (Switzerland) you're welcome | |
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. | |
assomme |
1. v. first-person singular present of assommer | |
2. v. third-person singular present of assommer | |
3. v. second-person singular imperative of assommer | |
assommer |
1. v. to slaughter (an animal) | |
2. v. to stun, knock out, poleaxe, sandbag | |
3. v. (by extension) to hit (someone) | |
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 | |
coups |
1. n. plural of coup | |
coup |
1. n-m. blow, hit, strike | |
2. n-m. sound of the action | |
coup de tonnerre - crash of thunder | |
3. n-m. physical consequences of the action (marks) | |
marqué de coups - scratched | |
4. n-m. (by extension) fast and instantaneous action | |
jeter un coup d'œil - to have a look | |
boire un coup - to have a drink | |
5. n-m. (firearm) load, shot | |
pistolet à six coups - six-shot pistol | |
6. n-m. bit (small quantity) | |
mettre un coup de peinture - to put a stroke of paint | |
7. n-m. planned action | |
préparer son coup - to make preparations | |
8. n-m. (slang) lay | |
Cette meuf, c'était le meilleur coup de ma vie. - This bird was the best shag of my life. | |
un bon coup - a good lay | |
ses |
1. det. his, her, its, their, one's (when referring to a plural noun) | |
Alicia dîne chez ses parents. - Alicia is having dinner at her parents' house. | |
Thomas a perdu ses clés. - Thomas has lost his keys. | |
Tout le monde doit apporter ses documents. - Everyone needs to bring their documents. | |
domestiques |
1. n. plural of domestique | |
2. v. second-person singular present of domestiquer | |
domestiquer |
1. v. to tame (an animal, etc.) | |