French Word of the Day

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Friday, May 31, 2013

le fils, le petit-fils / la fille, la petite-fille

the son, the grandson / the daughter, the granddaughter

Paul est le fils de Jean et le petit-fils de Marc.
Paul is Jean’s son and Marc’s grandson.

Claudia est la fille de Nathalie et la petite-fille de Denise.
Claudia is Nathalie’s daughter and Denise’s granddaughter.

ALSO
le grand-père = the grandfather
la grand-mère = the grandmother
les grands-parents (m.pl.) = the grandparents

TODAY
We’re exploring the French words for family members. To learn words for more relatives, click here.

QUIZ LINK
Take our quiz on family members to find out how many you know.

Vocabulary Section: Family, Word of the Day
Thursday, May 30, 2013

un écureuil

a squirrel

Les écureuils peuvent sauter de branche en branche.
 Squirrels can jump from limb to limb.

TODAY
Our word is one of many examples of French words for animals and pets.

QUIZ LINK
Find out how many words you know about animals by taking our Animals Quiz.

Vocabulary Section: Animals and Pets, Word of the Day
Wednesday, May 29, 2013

une patinoire

an ice rink

Le hockey sur glace se déroule sur une patinoire.
Ice hockey is played on an ice rink.

QUIZ LINK
Test yourself on today’s word and others like it here.

Vocabulary Section: Recreation and Outdoors, Word of the Day
Tuesday, May 28, 2013

On met les voiles?

Shall we leave?
(literal translation: to put up the sails)

Il se fait tard. On met les voiles?
 It’s getting late. Shall we leave?

Vocabulary Section: Best of French Fanatic, Word of the Day
Monday, May 27, 2013

un témoin

a witness

Il a été témoin d’un vol sur le métro.
He was witness to a robbery on the subway.

TODAY
Our word is among those we’ve posted about society.

QUIZ LINK
Try our quizzes on Police and Crime and Courts and Law to test yourself on similarly themed words.

Vocabulary Section: Society, Word of the Day
Sunday, May 26, 2013

une boisson fraîche

a cold drink

une boisson chaude: a hot drink

Vocabulary Section: Food and Drink, Word of the Day
Friday, May 24, 2013

dormir

to sleep

Ce matin, j’ai dormi jusqu’à huit heures.
This morning, I slept until 8 o’ clock.

TODAY
Discover more verbs like today’s word here.

Vocabulary Section: Time and Calendar, Verbs, Word of the Day
Thursday, May 23, 2013

une étiquette

a label or tag

TODAY
Our word is one of many about shopping and fashion that you can discover on our site.

Vocabulary Section: Shopping and Fashion, Word of the Day
Wednesday, May 22, 2013

un boulot

a job, work (informal)

Comment va le boulot?
How’s the job going?

TODAY
Our word is inspired by life in the city, la vie en ville. For more words about the workplace, click here.

QUIZ LINK
Test yourself on today’s word and others about city life here.

Vocabulary Section: Business and Industry, Word of the Day
Tuesday, May 21, 2013

ne…rien

nothing, anything

Used with the present tense:
J’ai mal à l’estomac. Je ne mange rien.
I have a stomach ache. I’m not eating anything.

Used with the passé composé:
Je te jure, je n‘ai rien dit.
I swear to you, I said nothing.

Used as the subject of a sentence:
Rien n‘était prêt à manger.
Nothing was ready to eat.

THE GRAMMAR
Within a sentence, ne…rien surrounds the verb just like ne…pas and ne…plus. Unlike those examples, however, it also can be used as the subject of a sentence. Additionally, it can be used as a one-word reply to a question:

  • Vous n’avez rien mangé? (You didn’t eat anything?)
  • Rien! (Nothing)

TODAY
Our example is one of several negative expressions in French. To see more common examples, click here.

QUIZ LINK
Test yourself on today’s phrase and others about negation in French here.

Vocabulary Section: Negatives, Word of the Day
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