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Lessons · Vocabulary · Grammar · Appendices · Texts

Vocabulary · School and students

(upload audio)
l'école (f)	/ekɔl/	school
l'élève (m)	/e.lɛv/	pupil
l'étudiant (m) l'étudiante (f)	/etydjɑ̃/ /etydjɑ̃t/	student
le collège (classes 6-4)	/kɔ.lɛʒ/	jr. high school (grades 6-9)
le collégien la collégienne	/kɔ.le.ʒjɛ̃/ /kɔ.le.ʒjɛn/	jr. high school student
le lycée (classes 3-terminale)	/li.se/	high school (grades 10-12)
le lycéen la lycéenne	/li.se.ɛ̃/ /li.se.ɛn/	high school student
l'université (f) la fac(ulté)	/y.ni.vɛʁ.si.te/ /fak/ /fa.kyl.te/	university
l'enseignement supérieur		higher education graduate school

Grammar · Present perfect with regular verbs

The passé composé^{present perfect} is a compound tense, and is therefore composed of an auxiliary verb and a past participle. With most verbs, that auxiliary verb is avoir.

Meaning

In English, verbs conjugated in the passé composé literally mean have/has ____ed. While there is a simple past tense in French, it is almost always only used in formal writing, so verbs conjugated in the passé composé can also be used to mean the English simple tense.

For example, the passé composé forms of parler^{to speak} , [avoir] parlé, literally mean has/have spoken, but also means spoke.

Basic formation

To conjugate a verb in the passé composé, the helping verb, usually avoir, is conjugated in the present indicative and the past participle is then added.

Auxiliary verb - avoir

Conjugate avoir in the present indicative.

j'ai	I have	nous avons	we have
tu as	you have	vous avez	you have
il a	he has	ils ont	they have
elle a	she has	elles ont	they have

Past participle

• -er verbs: replace -er with é
• -ir verbs: replace -ir with i
• -re verbs: replace -re with u
• irregular verbs: varied; must be memorized

Formation of the past participle
Verb Group	Infinitive	Stem	Past Participle
-er verbs	jouer	jou	joué
-ir verbs	finir	fin	fini
-re verbs	répondre	répond	répondu

Avoir + past participle

J'ai joué	I have played	Nous avons joué	We have played
Tu as joué	You have played	Vous avez joué	You have played
Il a joué	He has played	Ils ont joué	They have played
Elle a joué	She has played	Elles ont joué	They have played

Please also note:

Fem. Subject or Person (Elles, Elle, Nous, On etc.)- Add another e with no aigu or grave to end of word- if a female person is partaking in the group.

Plural Subject (On, Nous, Tu, Vous etc.)- Add another "s" to end of word.

Finally, some verbs are irregular for the past participle, such as aller (to go), instead of using avoir to form the past participle, they will use être (to be) to form the past participle.

Always check the verb's irregularities before using to form past participle. Some "past participle" irregulars are regular verbs when forming other tenses.

Vocabulary · At school · À l'école

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le professeur la prof	/pʁɔ.fɛ.sœʁ/ /pʁɔf/	teacher, professor
la bourse	/buʁs/	scholarship
le diplôme (professionnel)	/di.plom/	diploma
le bac(calauréat)	/bak/ /bakalɔʀea/	high school exit exam
la bibliothèque	/bi.bli.jɔ.tɛk/	library
la note	/nɔt/	grade, mark (as on a test)
les cours	/kuʁ/	classes or courses
la classe	/klas/	grade (e.g. 6th Grade)
en cours de [...]		in [...] class
Pendant les cours
le tableau	/ta.blɔ/	chalkboard
la craie	/kʁɛ/	chalk
le pupitre	/pypitʁ/	school desk
l'examen (m)	/ɛɡzamɛ̃/	exam, test
les devoirs	/dǝ.vwaʁ/	homework
la classe	/klas/	class
la cantine	/kɑ̃.tin/	cafeteria
la récréation la cour	/ʁe.kʁe.a.sjɔ̃/ /kuʁ/	recess courtyard
Describing teachers and students
intelligent(e)	/ɛ̃teliʒɑ̃/ /ɛ̃teliʒɑ̃t/	intelligent
strict(e)	/stʁikt/	strict

^ The word professeur is considered masculine at all times, even if the teacher is female. The only case when "professeur" can be preceded by feminine determinant is either when contracting it in colloquial language "la prof", or when adding a few words before : "madame/mademoiselle la/le professeur".

Vocabulary · Actions

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passer un examen		to take a test
étudier	/e.ty.dje/	to study		Il étudie nuit et jour.	He studied night and day.
écrire	/e.kʁiʁ/	to write
lever (la main)		to raise (your hand)
poser (une question)		to ask (a question)
répondre (à)	/re.pɔ̃dʁ/	to answer, to reply (to)		Il a répondu à toutes les questions.	He answered all of the questions.
parler	/paʁle/	to speak		Ils ont parlé plusieurs heures avant d'aller se coucher.	They talked for several hours before bedtime.
écouter	/ekute/	to listen (to)		J’écoute la radio.	I listen to the radio.
entendre	/ɑ̃.tɑ̃dʁ/	to hear (of)		Elle entend des voix.	She hears voices.
regarder	/ʁǝ.ɡaʁ.de/	to watch
déjeuner	/de.ʒœ.ne/	to (eat) lunch		Déjeunez- vous á onze heure ?	You (formal) eat lunch at eleven O'clock?

In French, you do not "own" body parts. While in English, you would say my hand or your hand, the definite article is almost always used in French:

la main^{my hand}

la jambe^{my leg}

le bras^{my arm}

To and of are part of the verbs écouter and entendre respectively. It is not necessary to add a preposition to the verb. Other verbs, such as répondre (à), meaning to respond (to), are almost always followed by a preposition.

Supplementary examples

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C’est un auteur que j’ai peu étudié.		He is an author that I have little studied.
On ne devient pas savant sans étudier.		You do not become learned without studying.
Ce pianiste étudie plusieurs heures par jour.		This pianist exercises several hours a day.
Il étudie l’écriture sainte.		He studies scripture.
Elle parle couramment le français.		She speaks French fluently.
Ne parlez pas si haut.		Do not talk so loud.
Écoutez, j’ai quelque chose à vous dire.		Listen, I have something to say to you.
J'ai entendu plusieurs fois ce chanteur à la Scala.		I heard this singer several times at La Scala.
Tu dois répondre aux questions que je te pose.		You must answer the questions I ask you.
Il répond à toutes les lettres qu’il reçoit.		He responds to all the letters that he receives.

Grammar · To write and to read · Écrire et lire

Écrire

Écrire is an irregular French verb, meaning to write. It varies from other -re verbs in the plural conjugation, by adding a v. Its past particple, écrit, is also irregular.

écrire  /e.kʁiʁ/	to write
j'écris /e.kʁi/	I write
tu écris /e.kʁi/	you write
il écrit  /e.kʁi/	he writes
nous écrivons /e.kʁi.vɔ̃/)	we write
vous écrivez /e.kʁi.ve/	you write
ils écrivent /e.kʁiv/	they write
écrit  /e.kʁi/	written

The verb coécrire^{to co-write} /ko.e.kʁiʁ/ is conjugated the same way. The nouns écriture /e.kʁi.tyʁ/, meaning writing or handwriting, and écrivain /e.kʁi.vɛ̃/, meaning writer, are derived from écrire.

Lire

Lire is an irregular French verb, meaning to read. Its plural conjugation adds an s, and its past participle is lu.

lire  /liʁ/	to read
je lis  /'li/	I read
tu lis  /'li/	you read
il lit  /'li/	he reads
nous lisons /li.zɔ̃/	we read
vous lisez /li.ze/	you read
ils lisent /liz/	they read
lu /ly/	read

The verbs élire^{to elect} /e.liʁ/ and relire^{to reread} /ʁǝ.liʁ/ are conjugated the same way. The adjective lisible /lizibl/, meaning readable or legible, is derived from lire.

Examples

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Mon père écrit des poèmes pour ma mère.		My father writes poems for my mother.
As-tu écrit ce slogan sur le mur ?		Have you written that slogan on the wall?
Il a une mauvaise écriture.		He has bad handwriting.
Jean lit très souvent.		Jean reads very often.
Il faut lire et relire les auteurs de l’antiquité.		You must read and reread the authors of antiquity.
On a relu le projet de loi.		We have reviewed the bill.
Son écriture n’est pas belle, mais elle est lisible.		His writing is not beautiful, but it is readable.
Je pense que ce candidat va être élu, et toi ?		I think this candidate will be elected, and you?
J'ai coécris ce livre avec Marc.		I wrote this book with Marc.

Supplementary vocabulary · School supplies · Les fournitures scolaires

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la craie	/kʁɛ/	chalk		J'ai écrit au tableau avec de la craie.	I wrote on the blackboard with chalk.
le tableau	/ta.blɔ/	the board
le stylo (stylo à bille)	/stil.o/	(ballpoint) pen
le crayon	/kʀɛ.jɔ̃/	pencil
la calculatrice	/kal.ky.la.tʁis/	calculator
le livre	/livʁ/	book	une livre is a pound
le bouquin	/bu.kɛ̃/	book	colloquial; also rabbit	J'ai commencé un nouveau bouquin hier.	I started a new book yesterday.
le cahier	/ka.je/	notebook
le papier la feuille de papier	/pa.pje/	paper sheet of paper
le bloc-notes	/blɔk.nɔt/	notepad
le sac à dos	/sak.a.dɔ/	backpack
la gomme	Fr-gomme.ogg	eraser
la règle	/ʁɛɡl/	ruler
le feutre	/føtʁ/	marker
le cartable		backpack

Supplementary vocabulary · School subjects · Les matières d'enseignement

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l'informatique (f)	/ɛ̃.fɔʁ.ma.tik/	computer science
la littérature	/li.te.ʁa.tyʁ/	literature
la musique	/myzik/	music
les langues
l'anglais	/ɑ̃.ɡlɛ/	English
le français	/fʁɑ̃.sɛ/	French		Il parle très bien français.	He speaks French very well.
l'espagnol (m)	/ɛs.pa.ɲɔl/	Spanish
l'allemand (m)	/al.mɑ̃/	German		L’allemand est une langue germanique. Mon stagiaire parle un allemand impeccable.	German is a Germanic language. My trainee speaks perfect German.
le russe	/ʁys/	Russian
l'italien (m)	/i.ta.ljɛ̃/	Italian
les sciences naturelles
la biologie	/bjɔ.lo.ʒi/	biology
la chimie	/ʃi.mi/	chemistry
la physique	/fi.zik/	physics		Ses matières préférées sont la chimie et la physique.	His preferred subjects are chemistry and physics.
les mathématiques
l'algèbre (f)	/al.ʒɛbʁ/	algebra
le calcul	/kal.kyl/	calculus
la géométrie	/ʒe.ɔ.me.tʁi/	geometry
les sciences sociales
l'économie (f)	/e.kɔ.nɔ.mi/	economics
la géographie	/ʒe.ɔ.ɡʁa.fi/	geography
l'histoire (f)	/is.twaʁ/	history

Supplementary vocabulary · Classes/grades

The way that grades are numbered in France is opposite the way they are in the US. Whereas American grade numbers increase as you approach your senior year, they descend in France.

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Classe Terminale		12th Grade	Age 17-18
1ère (la première classe)		11th Grade	Age 16-17
2ème (la deuxième classe)		10th Grade	Age 15-16
3ème (la troisième classe)		9th Grade	Age 14-15
4ème (la quatrième classe)		8th Grade	Age 13-14
5ème (la cinquième classe)		7th Grade	Age 12-13
6ème (la sixième classe)		6th Grade	Age 11-12
CM2 (CM = cours moyen)		5th Grade	Age 10-11
CM1		4th Grade	Age 9-10
CE2 (CE = cours élémentaire)		3rd Grade	Age 8-9
CE1		2nd Grade	Age 7-8
CP (CP = cours préparatoire)		1st Grade	Age 6-7

Exercises

ExercisePresent perfect translation

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate each phrase.

I finished. (finir)	J'ai fini.
I have listened. (écouter)	J'ai écouté.
We played. (jouer)	Nous avons joué.
Jacques has waited. (attendre)	Jacques a attendu.
We finished. (finir)	Nous avons fini.
He studied. (étudier)	Il a étudié.
They watched. (regarder)	Ils ont regardé.
We studied. (étudier)	Nous avons étudié.
They listened. (écouter)	Ils ont écouté.

ExercisePresent perfect

(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Rewrite each phrase in the present perfect.

Je regarde	J'ai regardé
Vous jouez	Vous avez joué
Elle écoute	Elle a écouté
Elles finissent	Elles ont fini
Ils regardent	Ils ont regardé
Nous entendons	Nous avons entendu
Elle joue	Elle a joué
Je finis	J'ai fini

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