| renoncer |
| 1. v. to resign, to quit | |
| 2. v. to renounce, to waive (legal; right) | |
| entièrement |
| 1. adv. entirely | |
| 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 | |
| une |
| 1. num. feminine singular of un | |
| 2. art. a / an (feminine indefinite article) | |
| 3. n-f. front page (of a publication) | |
| chose |
| 1. n-f. thing | |
| 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. | |
| 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 | |
| vouloir |
| 1. v. to want, wish, desire | |
| Je veux voir le soleil. - I want to see the sun. | |
| Hitler voulait la guerre, mais beaucoup n'en étaient pas conscients. - Hitler wanted war, but many were not aware of it. | |
| 2. v. to see oneself as; to give the impression of, to seem | |
| 3. n-m. will | |
| plus |
| 1. adv. more, -er (used to form comparatives of adjectives) | |
| Ton voisin est plus moche que mon frère. - Your neighbour is uglier than my brother. | |
| Le tien est beaucoup plus grand que le mien. - Yours is much bigger than mine. | |
| Elle est plus belle que sa cousine. - She is more beautiful than her cousin. | |
| Elles sont toutes plus entêtées les unes que les autres. - They are each more stubborn than the last. | |
| 2. adv. more, -er (used to form comparatives of adverbs) | |
| Elle le fait plus rapidement que lui. - She does it more quickly than he does. | |
| plus vite ! - faster! | |
| 3. adv. (after a verb) more, -er (indicating a higher degree or quantity) | |
| Je travaille plus en ce moment. - I am working more at the moment. | |
| Je veux faire plus. - I want to do more. | |
| 4. adv. more (indicating a greater quantity) (+preo, noun) | |
| Elle a plus de chocolat. - She has more chocolate. | |
| Plus de la moitié reste. - More than half is left. | |
| 5. adv. more (supplementary, preceded by de) | |
| Une heure de plus et il serait mort. - One more hour and he would be dead. | |
| Un kilo de plus, s'il vous plaît. - One more kilo, please. | |
| 6. adv. (preceded by a definite article) the most, -est (used to form superlatives of adjectives and adverbs) | |
| la plus grande - the biggest | |
| le plus difficile - the most difficult | |
| 7. adv. (usually with the negative particle ne, see usage notes below) no longer, not ... any more | |
| Tu n'existes plus. - You no longer exist. / You don't exist any more. | |
| Il n'y a plus de travail. - There is no more work. | |
| 8. adv. (elliptically, introducing each clause) the more ..., the more ... | |
| Plus je vois, plus je veux. - The more I see, the more I want. | |
| 9. adv. (similarly, used with other comparatives) the more ..., the ... | |
| Plus j'écoute, moins je comprends. - The more I listen, the less I understand. | |
| 10. n-m. plus, the symbol + | |
| 11. v. singular past historic of plaire | |
| 12. Participle. masculine plural of plu | |
| 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. | |
| 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 | |
| part |
| 1. n-f. share | |
| une grande part - a large share | |
| 2. n-f. portion, part, slice | |
| une grande part de tarte - a large portion of cake | |
| pour ma part - for my part, as far as I'm concerned, as for me | |
| pour la part de mon ami - as far as my friend's concerned, as for my friend | |
| 3. n-f. proportion | |
| une grande part de quelque chose - a large proportion of something | |
| il y a une grande part de fiction dans son récit - his/her account is highly fictional | |
| 4. v. third-person singular present indicative of partir | |
| 5. n-m. newborn | |
| partir |
| 1. v. (obsolete, transitive) to share, to share out, to divide | |
| Avoir maille à partir avec quelqu'un. - To have scores to settle with someone, to have a bone to pick with someone. | |
| 2. v. to go away, leave, depart | |
| 3. v. to originate | |
| Toutes les artères partent du cœur. - All arteries originate from the heart. | |
| 4. v. to die | |
| Il ne s'est pas vu partir - He has not seen death | |
| 5. v. to emanate | |
| Cette croyance est partie d'un mauvais principe. - This belief emanates from an evil principle. | |
| 6. v. (Quebec, informal, transitive) to start | |
| partir une affaire - to start a business | |
