French Word of the Day

the mess

Le désordre me rend fou, mais il ne la gêne pas.
The mess drives me crazy, but it doesn’t bother her.

TODAY
Our word is inspired by a topic that has been very popular with our readers in the past — le ménage, or housework.

to decide to, to persuade (someone) to

J’ai décidé d’essayer de décider Paul à venir.
I decided to try to persuade Paul to come.

TONGUE TWISTER!
Today’s example is a bit of wordplay — or jeu de mots. If you can say it 10 fois rapidement (10 times quickly), you might be a French Fanatic indeed!

TODAY
In French, a verb’s meaning can change depending upon the preposition that follows it. Today, we’re looking at an example of how verbs and prepositions interact to change a verb’s meaning, sometimes significantly. This is also a good time to remind ourselves that French verbs do not always take the same prepositions as their English counterparts.

already

Elle est déjà allée à Paris.
She has already gone to Paris.

GRAMMAR NOTE
Déjà is an adverb of time, but it behaves more like an adverb of frequency. In this example, note how it follows the conjugated verb.

TODAY
We’re looking at a word that is among adverbs of time and frequency. Their placement can be a little tricky, but, in general, adverbs of time are placed at the beginning or end of a sentence, while adverbs of frequency are generally placed after the conjugated verb. Sound like too much? Don’t worry. Over time, as you learn French, your ear will start to guide you.

collapsed

Où que vous regardiez, il y a des bâtiments effondrés.
Wherever you look, there are collapsed buildings.

to work part-time

Mike veut travailler à mi-temps pendant qu’il étudie.
Mike wants to work part-time while he’s studying.

TODAY
Our word is inspired by the subject of the workplace and working.

to scrub

Nous avons frotté les comptoirs.
We scrubbed the counters.

TODAY
Our word is inspired by a topic that has been very popular with our readers in the past — le ménage, or housework.

sandwich bread

Le pain de mie est le plus comme le pain américain et se trouve aux supermarchés. Ce pain est vendu prédécoupé en tranches.
Sandwich bread is the most like American bread and is found in supermarkets. This bread is sold pre-sliced.

EN SAVOIR PLUS! Learn More
The word mie refers to the soft interior of the bread. Read a bit more about pain de mie in French on Wikipedia.

THIS WEEK
Our topic is the breads of France — les pains de France. Bread plays such an important role in French cuisine and indeed the life of the French that it’s essential to learn to ask for the loaf you want. This week, we’re taking a look at some of the various loaves you’ll discover in the boulangeries of France, as well as a few words essential to understanding a French bread recipe.

a rioter

La police ont interpellé les casseurs qui ont brisé les vitrines.
The police arrested the rioters who shattered the windows.

How the weather?

Quel temps fait-il aujourd’hui?
How’s the weather today?

There are a lot ways to respond to this question. Here are some of them:

Il fait beau: It’s nice.
Il fait mauvais: It’s bad.
Il fait du soleil: It’s sunny.
Il fait chaud: It’s hot.
Il fait froid: It’s cold.
Il fait frais: It’s cool.
Il fait du brouillard: It’s foggy.
Il fait du vent: It’s windy.
C’est nuageux: It’s cloudy.
Il pleut: It’s raining.
Il neige: It’s snowing.

Today’s post is one in our series of occasional beginning vocabulary topics to help new students of French. We will be interspersing these with our regular, more advanced vocabulary. To see more words, please visit our site www.frenchfanatic.com to browse the archives.