| si |
| 1. conj. if, whether | |
| Je me demande si elle sera seule. - I wonder if she'll be alone. | |
| Je veux savoir si tu viendras ou non. - I want to know if you're coming or not. | |
| 2. conj. if (assuming that) | |
| Si j'avais ses pouvoirs, je créerais un monde où le mal n'existe pas. - If I had his power, I'd create a world where evil didn't exist. | |
| Si tu n'avais pas appelé, je serais morte. - If you hadn't called, I'd be dead. | |
| 3. conj. even if | |
| 4. conj. although, while | |
| 5. interj. yes (used to contradict a negative statement) | |
| Tu ne m’aimes pas, n’est-ce pas ? — Si ! - You don’t like me, do you? — Yes, I do! | |
| Moi, je n'ai rien fait ! — Si ! - I didn't do anything! — Yes, you did! | |
| 6. adv. so, such (intensifier) | |
| J’étais si fatigué ces jours-ci que je n’avais pas le courage de vous écrire. - I was so tired those days that I didn't have the energy to write to you. | |
| Cela n'aurait pas été une si bonne idée. - That wouldn't have been such a good idea. | |
| 7. adv. (si + adjective/adverb + que ...) however (to whatever extent or degree) | |
| Si bavard qu'il soit, il ne dit rien de stupide. - However talkative he may be, he doesn't say anything stupid. | |
| 8. n-m. (music) si, the note 'B' | |
| je |
| 1. pron. I | |
| Me |
| 1. n. Abbreviation of Maître/Maitre(, a title given to lawyers and notaries public.) | |
| 2. pron. (direct object) me | |
| Est-ce que tu me vois ? - Do you see me? | |
| 3. pron. (indirect object) to me | |
| Émilien me donne un peu d'argent. - Émilien gave some money to me. | |
| mets |
| 1. n-m. (cooking) dish | |
| 2. v. first-person singular present indicative of mettre | |
| 3. v. second-person singular present indicative of mettre | |
| 4. v. second-person singular imperative of mettre | |
| mettre |
| 1. v. to put; to place | |
| 2. v. to put on | |
| 3. v. to set (to lay a table) | |
| 4. v. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to start (+ à) (something / doing something), to get around to doing something | |
| 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 | |
| manger |
| 1. v. to eat | |
| J'ai mangé de la viande pour le souper. - I ate some meat for dinner. | |
| 2. v. to eat | |
| C'est bizarre que je ne mange rien. - It's strange that I don't eat anything. | |
| Manger au restaurant. - To eat in a restaurant. | |
| 3. n-m. food, foodstuff | |
| Cette boulangérie a du manger délicat. - This bakery has elegant food | |
| des |
| 1. art. plural of un | |
| 2. art. plural of une | |
| 3. art. plural of du | |
| 4. art. plural of de la | |
| 5. art. plural of de l' | |
| 6. contraction. contraction of de les (of the, from the, some) | |
| 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 | |
| les |
| 1. art. plural of le: the | |
| 2. art. plural of la: the | |
| 3. pron. plural of le: them | |
| 4. pron. plural of la: them | |
| de l' |
| 1. art. some; the singular prevocalic partitive article | |
| Voudriez-vous de l’ail ? - Would you like some garlic? | |
| chips |
| 1. n-f. (Anglicism) chips (American English), crisps (British English) | |
| je |
| 1. pron. I | |
| 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. | |
| sais |
| 1. v. first-person singular present indicative of savoir | |
| 2. v. second-person singular present indicative of savoir | |
| savoir |
| 1. v. to know (something) | |
| Savais-tu qu'il parle si bien l'anglais? - Did you know that he speaks English so well? | |
| Comment savait-il que j'étais là? - How did he know that I was there? | |
| Il est difficile de savoir si elle ment. - It's difficult to know if she's lying. | |
| Il tire cette approche en inventant une situation initiale, dans laquelle on interrogerait les individus sur la forme qu'ils voudraient d'une société sans qu'ils sachent quelle place ils y aura | |
| Difficile à savoir (expression; compare Difficile à dire, voir, faire) | |
| 2. v. to know how (to do something) | |
| Savez-vous nager? - Do you know how to swim? | |
| 3. v. to be able to, to be apt to (especially in the negative or interrogative conditional; used in the positive in Belgium) | |
| Il ne saurait tarder que... - It cannot/will not be long before... | |
| 4. v. to find out | |
| Nous devons savoir pourquoi il a fait ça. - We have to find out why he did this. | |
| 5. n-m. knowledge | |
| 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. | |
| je ne sais pas |
| 1. Phrase. I don't know | |
| Me |
| 1. n. Abbreviation of Maître/Maitre(, a title given to lawyers and notaries public.) | |
| 2. pron. (direct object) me | |
| Est-ce que tu me vois ? - Do you see me? | |
| 3. pron. (indirect object) to me | |
| Émilien me donne un peu d'argent. - Émilien gave some money to me. | |
| arrêter |
| 1. v. to halt; to stop | |
| 2. v. to arrest (a criminal, etc) | |
| 3. v. to come to a stop | |
| 4. v. (Louisiana French, Cajun French) to wait | |
