Lesson 3 Flashcards Preview

to buy - acheter. This verb is conjugated in the present as follows: j’achète, tu achètes, il/elle/on achète, nous achetons, vous achetez, ils/elles achètent.

more than - plus que

less than - moins que. Note that there is no word for “shorter” in French. The construction moins que is used to denote inferiority in a comparative relationship. Most comparatives are constructed this way, with few exceptions.

to become - devenir

by - par. Here, the past participle of écrire is used as an adjective.

each (one), every (one), all of the - chacun (de/des). Note the use here of the feminine form of chacun to agree with the feminine noun pizza. This pronoun can also mean “each person,” or chaque personne.

Note how the plural subject is modified by chacun here. The possessive adjective (leur) agrees with the subject.

Note the agreement between the possessive adjective and the subject.

superlative - le/la/les plus ___. Note the struture of superlatives in French: le/la/les plus + adjective.

approximately - environ. The expression à peu près can work as an alternative to this adverb.

a quarter past - et quart. Note that to say “a quarter to four,” you would say Il est quatre heures moins le quart.

___ to an hour (time) - moins ___. Note that you could also say Il est trois heures cinquante.

as ___ as (comparison) - aussi ___ que. The construction aussi que is used to denote equality between things or people.

as much/many as - autant que

the best (adj.) - le meilleur. Le meilleur is the irregular superlative form of the adjective bon. Its spelling can change depending on the number and gender of the noun. Note that you could also say Je suis l’élève le plus intelligent de l’école.

better (than) (adj.) - meilleur (que). This is the irregular comparative form of the adjective bon.

better (than) (adv.) - mieux (que). Mieux is the irregular comparative form of the adverb bien. Its spelling is invariable. Also recall that à le must be replaced with au.

the best (adv.) - le mieux. This is the irregular superlative form of the adverb bien.

worse (than) (adj.) - pire (que). This is the irregular comparative form of the adjective mauvais. You can also use the regular form plus mauvais (que).

the worst (adj.) - le pire. This is the irregular superlative form of the adjective mauvais. You can also use the regular form le plus mauvais.

worse (than) (adv.) - plus mal (que), pis (que). These are the comparative forms of the adverb mal, the first of which is regular and the second of which is irregular.

the worst (adv.) - le plus mal, le pis. These are the superlative forms of the adverb mal. Le plus mal is regular. Le pis, which is irregular, can only be used as a noun.

“pis” is old French for “pire”

like, as - comme

such, like, such as - tel. Tel is frequently used to form similes in French. It must agree with the noun that it modifies. Its feminine singular form is telle.

any, anyone, someone - tel (de). When followed by the preposition de, tel means “any of.”

As an indefinite adjective, tel indicates undesignated people or things. In this sense, tel is more or less equivalent to n’importe.

to prefer - préférer. Note that you can also use the expression aimer mieux, which translates to “like better.”

preferred, favorite - préféré. It is possible to say favori as well as préféré, but the latter is much more common.

several - plusieurs

some, a few - quelques

a thing - une chose. Note that an informal alternative is un truc.

something - quelque chose. Note that, as in English, quelque chose literally translates as “some thing.”

Note how ne… rien serves as the negative replacement for quelque chose.

not many, not a lot - pas beaucoup. Note that pas beaucoup can also be used with a verb, as in the sentence “He does not eat a lot.” Here, pas beaucoup would need to be used with ne in order to create a negative sentence – Il ne mange pas beaucoup.

Note the negative form of il y a, il n’y a pas.

enough - assez. Note that suffisamment is an alternative for “enough.” Also note that if an adverb of quantity is followed by a noun, the preposition de must be placed between the adverb and the noun: assez + de + noun.

rather, quite - assez. On top of meaning “enough,” assez can also be used to mean “rather” or “quite,” or even “very” and “particularly.”

just - juste. An alternative is seulement, meaning “only.” As in English, juste can be an adjective meaning “fair” or “equitable.” In this case, its opposite is injuste, “unfair” or “unjust.”

a pen - un stylo

a pencil - un crayon

glue - la colle

a (chalk)board - un tableau. This noun can also mean “table” or “chart.”

an armchair - un fauteuil

a stapler - une agrafeuse

a classroom - une salle (de classe)

history - l’histoire. This is a feminine word. Sujet, “subject,” is a masculine noun. French tends to add a definite article (le/la) before broad and generalized concepts, such as history, languages, virtues, and forms of government.

English - l’anglais

a story - une histoire. Recall that this word also means “history.” The verb “to tell,” as in “to tell a story,” is raconter: raconter une histoire.

complicated - compliqué. Note the use of the feminine form here.

the one(s) who/that - celui/celle/ceux/celles qui. Celui, celle, ceux, and celles are demonstrative pronouns.

this one (here) - celui-ci/celle-ci. Note that celui-là/celle-là can be used to say “that one (there).”

which (one/ones) - lequel/laquelle/lesquels. These are generally used to mean “which (of these)” when placed at the start of a question. Note that these are compound words that combine the definite articles with quel. Both parts of the compound word must agree with the gender and number of the noun being modified.

which - lequel/laquelle/lesquels. These words are used whenever “which” follows a preposition in English. For example, the phrase “for which” would be translated as pour lequel.

me - moi. Moi is a stressed (or disjunctive) pronoun. We will learn more about these elsewhere. Recall that penser à means “to think about.”

everyone, everybody - tout le monde. Note that this would literally translate as “all the world.”

The use of dashes in hundreds is optional, but has recently become more common. When cent and vingt are multiplied, they become plural: 200 = deux cents. However, when followed by another number, they are singular: 213 = deux cent treize.

hundred(s) - centaine(s). This is a feminine term. The French here translates more directly to “That costs several hundreds of euros.”

Note that mille is always singular. To express “(many) thousands of” something, you would typically use des milliers de.

Note that the formation of higher numbers is largely intuitive. As another example, 1500 would be mille cinq cents.

Note that un million must take de before a noun: “one million cars” – un million de voitures. However: “two million cars” – deux millions voitures.

Note that un milliard must take de before a noun: “one billion houses” – un milliard de maisons. However: “two billion houses” – deux milliards maisons.

a millionaire - un millionnaire. This is an invariable noun.

a billionaire - un milliardaire. This is an invariable noun in that its spelling does not change, but it is feminine here because of Lucy’s gender.

certain, some - certain(s). Note that certain can also mean “certain,” as in “inevitable” or “confident.”

house (of someone) - chez. To refer to a specific person’s house or place of business, chez is used to indicate possession. Chez can also be used figuratively to mean “in someone’s work.” For instance, chez cet auteur means “in this author’s work.”

maybe, perhaps - peut-être

someone - quelqu’un. Note that quelqu’un can also be used to say “anyone.”

(at) first - d’abord. D’abord is used to indicate the first in a series of events.

next, then - ensuite, puis. Both of these words are interchangeable, with the exception that ensuite can sometimes also mean “later.”

to take a class - suivre un cours. Note that suivre means “to follow.” To specify the kind of class, add de: Tu suis un cours d’anglais means “You’re taking an English class.”

also, equally - également

really, truly - vraiment. Note that vraiment is formed from the adjective vrai, meaning “true.”

probably - probablement

surely - sûrement. Note that sûrement is a stronger synonym of probablement.

possibly - possiblement

potentially - éventuellement. Note that éventuellement is a false cognate and does not actually mean “eventually.” It is a synonym of possiblement and is used to suggest that something might happen depending on the circumstances.

therefore, thus, so - donc. Keep in mind that donc can also mean “then” or “in that case.”

so, therefore, thus - ainsi. Note that you could use donc here. Note also that ainsi can be used to mean “like that” or “this way.” For example, c’est ainsi essentially translates to “that’s the way it is.”

so, then, in that case - alors

so, well - alors. Alors is commonly used this way in spoken French, usually to begin sentences.

finally - finalement. Recall that enfin could also work here.

currently - actuellement. Note that this word does not translate into English as “actually.” Actuellement is one of the most common false cognates that you will encounter in French.

actually, in fact - en fait. You could also say en réalité.

a lesson - une leçon

an exam - un examen

to pass an exam - réussir un examen. Note that it would be wrong to say passer un examen.

a quiz - une interro(gation). The abbreviated form interro is used more frequently than interrogation.

to try - essayer. Note that this verb should be followed by the preposition de.

This verb can also be conjugated this way: j’essaye, tu essayes, il/elle/on essaye, nous essayons, vous essayez, ils/elles essayent. Both are correct.

to end - terminer. Note that terminer is a synonym of finir and can mean both “to finish” or “to reach the end of” something.

to stop - arrêter. This verb applies to the cessation of an activity. Another form, the reflexive s’arrêter, applies to movement. Also note the feminine word for “studies,” études.

to know - savoir. Note that savoir is used to denote knowing how to do things as well as knowing facts. It can easily be confused with another French verb, connaître, which has a slightly different meaning.

Note the very useful phrase je ne sais pas – “I don’t know.”

to know, to meet - connaître. Connaître is used to indicate that you know someone, or that you know or are familiar with something. Another example: je connais ce livre – “I know this book (I am familiar with it).”

Note the construction savoir + infinitive: “to know how to ___.” Comment, “how,” is not needed.

an idea - une idée. Note the added “e” at the end of meilleure, since idée is a feminine noun.

adorable - adorable

tired - fatigué. Recall that adjectives must agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify, so if a girl said this sentence, it would be fatiguée.

angry - fâché. This adjective is formed from the past participle of the verb fâcher, “to anger.”

a gift, a present - un cadeau