French › Level two lessons › School · L'école

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Contents

[edit] Dialogue

[edit] Culture · Education in France

[edit] Vocabulary · School and students

l'école (f) Listen /ekɔl/ school
l'élève (m) Listen /e.lɛv/ pupil
l'étudiant (m)
l'étudiante (f)
Listen /etydjɑ̃/
Listen /etydjɑ̃t/
student
le collège (classes 6-4) Listen /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) Listen /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)
Listen /y.ni.vɛʁ.si.te/
Listen /fak/
Listen /fa.kyl.te/
university
l'enseignement supérieur higher education
graduate school

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] Examples

[edit] Vocabulary · At school · À l'école

le professeur[1]
la prof
Listen /pʁɔ.fɛ.sœʁ/
/pʁɔf/
teacher, professor
la bourse Listen /buʁs/ scholarship
le diplôme (professionnel) Listen /di.plom/ diploma
le bac(calauréat) Listen /bak/
Listen /bakalɔʀea/
high school exit exam
la bibliothèque Listen /bi.bli.jɔ.tɛk/ library
la note Listen /nɔt/ grade, mark (as on a test)
les cours Listen /kuʁ/ classes or courses
la classe Listen /klas/ grade (e.g. 6th Grade)
en cours de [...] in [...] class
Pendant les cours
le tableau Listen /ta.blɔ/ chalkboard
la craie Listen /kʁɛ/ chalk
le pupitre Listen /pypitʁ/ school desk
l'examen (m) Listen /ɛɡzamɛ̃/, /eɡzamɛ̃/ exam, test
les devoirs /dǝ.vwaʁ/ homework
la classe Listen /klas/ class
la cantine /kɑ̃.tin/ cafeteria
la récréation
la cour
Listen /ʁe.kʁe.a.sjɔ̃/
Listen /kuʁ/
recess
courtyard
Describing teachers and students
intelligent(e) Listen /ɛ̃teliʒɑ̃/
/ɛ̃teliʒɑ̃t/
intelligent
strict(e) Listen /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".

[edit] Vocabulary · Actions

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

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.

[edit] Supplementary examples

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.

[edit] Supplementary usage notes · Entendre

[edit] Grammar · To write and to read · Écrire et lire

[edit] 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.

Present indicative verb
to write
écrire (Listen /e.kʁiʁ/)
j' écris Listen /e.kʁi/ I write nous écrivons /e.kʁi.vɔ̃/ we write
tu écris Listen /e.kʁi/ you write vous écrivez /e.kʁi.ve/ you write
il écrit Listen /e.kʁi/ he writes ils écrivent /e.kʁiv/ they write
elle écrit she writes elles écrivent
on écrit one writes
past participle: écrit (Listen /e.kʁi/)

The verb coécrire (to co-write · /ko.e.kʁiʁ/) is conjugated the same way. The nouns écriture (f) (Listen /e.kʁi.tyʁ/), meaning writing or handwriting, and écrivain (m, f) (Listen /e.kʁi.vɛ̃/), meaning writer, are derived from écrire.

[edit] Lire

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

Present indicative verb
to read
lire (Listen /liʁ/)
je lis Listen /'li/ I read nous lisons Listen /li.zɔ̃/ we read
tu lis Listen /'li/ you read vous lisez /li.ze/ you read
il lit Listen /'li/ he reads ils lisent /liz/ they read
elle lit she reads elles lisent
on lit one reads
past participle: lu ( /ly/)

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

[edit] Examples

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. John 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.

[edit] Supplementary vocabulary · School supplies · Les fournitures scolaires

la craie Listen /kʁɛ/ (cray) chalk J'ai écrit au tableau avec de la craie. I wrote on the blackboard with chalk.
le tableau Listen /ta.blɔ/ (tah-bloh) the board
le stylo (stylo à bille) Listen /stil.o/ (steel-oh ah bee-yuh) (ballpoint) pen
le crayon Listen /kʀɛ.jɔ̃/ (kreh-yuhoh(n)) pencil
la calculatrice /kal.ky.la.tʁis/ calculator
le livre Listen /livʁ/ (leevr) book une livre (f) is a pound
le bouquin Listen /bu.kɛ̃/ book colloquial; also rabbit J'ai commencé un nouveau bouquin hier. I started a new book yesterday.
le cahier Listen /ka.je/ (kah-yuhay) notebook
le papier
la feuille de papier
Listen /pa.pje/ (pah-pyuhay) paper
sheet of paper
le bloc-notes /blɔk.nɔt/ (blohk-noht) notepad
le sac à dos /sak.a.dɔ/ (sahk-ah-doh) backpack
la gomme Listen (gum) eraser
la règle Listen /ʁɛɡl/ (rehgl) ruler
le feutre /føtʁ/ (fewtr) marker

[edit] Supplementary vocabulary · School subjects · Les matières d'enseignement

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

[edit] 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.

Classe Terminale 12th Grade
1ère (la première classe) 11th Grade
2ème (la deuxième classe) 10th Grade
3ème (la troisième classe) 9th Grade
4ème (la quatrième classe) 8th Grade
5ème (la cinquième classe) 7th Grade
6ème (la sixième classe) 6th Grade
CM2 (CM = cours moyen) 5th Grade
CM1 4th Grade
CE2 (CE = cours élémentaire) 3rd Grade
CE1 2nd Grade
CP1 (CP = cours préparatoire) 1st Grade

[edit] Text

[edit] 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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