French Word of the Day

French Fanatic

Learn French vocabulary with one new French word a day
Tuesday, November 30, 2010

coudre

to sew

Jacques a cousu l’ourlet de sa chemise avec du fil blanc.
Jacques sewed the hem of his shirt with white thread.

REMARQUEZ!
We used the passé composé to demonstrate today’s verb because we thought its past participle, cousu, is rather unexpected. You can see the verb’s entire conjugation here.

THIS WEEK
We’re building our reservoir of useful verbs by looking at a few that don’t necessarily come up a lot but are nonetheless handy.

VOILÀ! LE NOUVEAU QUIZ
Members of our Voilà service can go straight to this week’s quiz by clicking here.

THIS HOLIDAY, GIVE YOURSELF THE GIFT OF FRENCH FANATIC!
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Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Verbs,Word of the Day


Thursday, September 26, 2013

la flanelle

flannel

Vous pouvez porter la flanelle en automne pour vous garder au chaud.
You can wear flannel in the fall to keep warm.

TODAY
Our word is one of many types of clothing.

MORE FRENCH CLOTHING WORDS
After you’ve learned to say flannel in French, follow the links below to discover more French vocabulary words for types of clothing and accessories:

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Seasons,Word of the Day
Thursday, December 6, 2012

la semelle

the sole

Les semelles de chaussures sont souvent fabriquées de caoutchouc.
The souls of shoes are often made of rubber.

TODAY
We were inspired by an event held by Handicap International featuring pyramids of shoes piled up to protest the use of mines. Check out this pyramid of shoes in Paris. We couldn’t help but think of all those shoes and how to talk about them.

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Shoes,Word of the Day
Saturday, January 9, 2010

le caleçon long

long johns, long underwear

Quand il fait très froid, le caleçon long vous aide à rester au chaud.
When it’s very cold, long underwear helps you stay warm.

THIS WEEK
Our vocabulary topic is winter clothing and dress. To see other words we’ve posted on this topic this week, visit our Web site at www.frenchfanatic.com.

GET MORE WORDS ON TWITTER!
Follow us on Twitter for bonus words and thoughts on all things French.

TODAY’S WORD BROUGHT TO YOU BY YABLA.

Yabla French Video Immersion.
The fun way to learn French

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Word of the Day
Monday, September 26, 2011

les baskets

n.m.pl., sneakers, tennis shoes (US); trainers (UK)

N’oublie pas tes baskets si tu vas jouer au football cet après-midi.
Don’t forget your sneakers if you’re going to play soccer this afternoon.

ALSO
Les chaussures de tennis is another common way of saying this.

THIS WEEK
We were inspired by an event held by Handicap International featuring pyramids of shoes piled up to protest the use of mines. Check out this pyramid of shoes in Paris. We couldn’t help but think of all those shoes and how to talk about them.

FOR OUR VOILÀ! MEMBERS
Review last week’s words by taking our weekly quiz.
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Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Shoes,Word of the Day
Tuesday, September 27, 2011

les bottes

n.f.pl., boots

Madeleine a trouvé de nouvelles bottes qui étaient en solde!
Madeleine found new boots that were on sale!

THIS WEEK
We were inspired by an event held by Handicap International featuring pyramids of shoes piled up to protest the use of mines. Check out this pyramid of shoes in Paris. We couldn’t help but think of all those shoes and how to talk about them.

FOR OUR VOILÀ! MEMBERS
Review last week’s words by taking our weekly quiz.
SUBSCRIBE TO VOILÀ! Only 3.95 a month, secure via PayPal!

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Shoes,Word of the Day
Friday, September 30, 2011

les lacets de chaussure

n.m.pl., shoe laces

Les enfants doivent apprendre à lier leurs lacets de chaussures.
Children have to learn to tie their shoe laces.

THIS WEEK
We were inspired by an event held by Handicap International featuring pyramids of shoes piled up to protest the use of mines. Check out this pyramid of shoes in Paris. We couldn’t help but think of all those shoes and how to talk about them.

FOR OUR VOILÀ! MEMBERS
Review last week’s words by taking our weekly quiz.
SUBSCRIBE TO VOILÀ! Only 3.95 a month, secure via PayPal!

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Shoes,Word of the Day
Monday, May 24, 2010

les lunettes de soleil

n.f.pl., sunglasses

Sophie porte toujours les lunettes de soleil en été.
Sophie always wears sunglasses in the summer.

THIS WEEK
With the school year over or winding down for many of us and thoughts turning to summer vacations, we thought this would be a great week to look at some words for life in the sun — or
la vie dans le soleil.

TRACK YOUR LEARNING WITH OUR QUIZ!
How well did you learn last week’s words? Take our Weekly Quiz to find out!

TODAY’S WORD BROUGHT TO YOU BY YABLA.
Yabla French Video Immersion.
The fun way to learn French

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Word of the Day
Wednesday, September 28, 2011

les pantoufles

n.f.pl., slippers

Vous porteriez vos pantoufles à l’intérieur chez vous.
You would wear your slippers inside at home.

THIS WEEK
We were inspired by an event held by Handicap International featuring pyramids of shoes piled up to protest the use of mines. Check out this pyramid of shoes in Paris. We couldn’t help but think of all those shoes and how to talk about them.

FOR OUR VOILÀ! MEMBERS
Review last week’s words by taking our weekly quiz.
SUBSCRIBE TO VOILÀ! Only 3.95 a month, secure via PayPal!

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Shoes,Word of the Day
Saturday, October 1, 2011

les talons hauts

n.m.pl., high heels

Ses talons hauts sont très chics, mais ils lui provoquent des douleurs aux pieds.
Her high heels are very fashionable, but they cause her feet to ache.

THIS WEEK
We were inspired by an event held by Handicap International featuring pyramids of shoes piled up to protest the use of mines. Check out this pyramid of shoes in Paris. We couldn’t help but think of all those shoes and how to talk about them.

FOR OUR VOILÀ! MEMBERS
Review last week’s words by taking our weekly quiz.
SUBSCRIBE TO VOILÀ! Only 3.95 a month, secure via PayPal!

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Shoes,Word of the Day
Sunday, October 2, 2011

les tongs

n.m.pl., flip-flops, soft open-toe sandals

Elle porte ses tongs pendant ses vacances à la plage.
She wears her flip-flops during her vacation at the beach.

THIS WEEK
We were inspired by an event held by Handicap International featuring pyramids of shoes piled up to protest the use of mines. Check out this pyramid of shoes in Paris. We couldn’t help but think of all those shoes and how to talk about them.

FOR OUR VOILÀ! MEMBERS
Review last week’s words by taking our weekly quiz.
SUBSCRIBE TO VOILÀ! Only 3.95 a month, secure via PayPal!

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Shoes,Word of the Day
Sunday, June 23, 2013

raccommoder

to mend

Elle préfère raccommoder les vêtements au lieu d’acheter de nouveaux.
She prefers mending the clothes instead of buying new ones.

LEARN MORE
For a complete conjugation of raccommoder, visit conjugation-fr.com.

THIS WEEK
Let’s build our reservoir of useful verbs by looking at a few that don’t necessarily come up a lot but nonetheless come in handy.

VOILÀ! LE NOUVEAU QUIZ
Members of our Voilà service can go straight to this week’s quiz by clicking here.

THIS HOLIDAY, GIVE YOURSELF THE GIFT OF FRENCH FANATIC!
Join Voilà for only 3.95 per month to access online practice quizzes and more.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Verbs,Word of the Day
Sunday, June 30, 2013

s’emmitoufler

to bundle up (oneself)

Elle s’est emmitouflée dans un manteau d’hiver.
She bundled herself up in a winter coat.

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Word of the Day
Wednesday, October 10, 2012

un gant/une moufle

a glove/a mitten

Les adultes portent souvent des gants; les enfants portent des moufles.
Adults often wear gloves; children wear mittens.

Also: Another word for mittens is mitaines (n.f.).

TODAY
Our vocabulary topic is fall and winter clothing and dress.

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Word of the Day
Sunday, January 10, 2010

un manteau

a coat

Enfin, le manteau est tout simplement le vêtement le plus important pour l’hiver.
Finally, the coat is simply the most important garment for winter.

Also: un imperméable (a raincoat).

THIS WEEK
Our vocabulary topic is winter clothing and dress. To see other words we’ve posted on this topic this week, visit our Web site at www.frenchfanatic.com.

GET MORE WORDS ON TWITTER!
Follow us on Twitter for bonus words and thoughts on all things French.

TODAY’S WORD BROUGHT TO YOU BY YABLA.

Yabla French Video Immersion.
The fun way to learn French

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Word of the Day
Saturday, November 14, 2009

un pull-over

a sweater

Si tu as froid, tu peux mettre un pull-over.
If you’re cold, you can put on a sweater.

This week, we are exploring words and phrases related to autumn. To see more words and phrases about autumn, visit www.frenchfanatic.com.

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Word of the Day
Thursday, September 2, 2010

un short

shorts

Gérard porte un short pour jouer au tennis.
Gérard wears shorts to play tennis.

THIS WEEK
Note how the French use the singular un short instead of the plural form of the word as we do with shorts in English. It’s one example of singular and plural differences between the two languages that we’re looking at this week.

BACK-TO-SCHOOL VERB PRACTICE!
Teachers, tell your students about our 4 new verb practice exercises — 100 questions total! — that we’ve added to our Voilà! members area. The online practice sessions make it easy to gain proficiency in -er, -ir, -re and the most common irregular verbs. For a sneak peek of Voilà!, click here.
NOT A MEMBER YET? SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

THE LATEST QUIZ IS READY FOR OUR VOILÀ! SUBSCRIBERS
Members of our Voilà service can go straight to this week’s quiz by clicking here.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

une botte

a boot

Les gens portent souvent des bottes en hiver.
People often wear boots in winter.

TIP: While botte is the general word for a boot, a workboot might be referred to as un brodequin.

THIS WEEK
Our vocabulary topic is winter clothing and dress. To see other words we’ve posted on this topic this week, visit our Web site at www.frenchfanatic.com.

GET MORE WORDS ON TWITTER!
Follow us on Twitter for bonus words and thoughts on all things French.

TODAY’S WORD BROUGHT TO YOU BY YABLA.

Yabla French Video Immersion.
The fun way to learn French

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Word of the Day
Wednesday, January 6, 2010

une doudoune

a padded jacket/parka

Les doudounes vous tiennent chaud — et elles sont la tendance.
The padded jackets keep you warm — and they’re the trend.

THIS WEEK
Our vocabulary topic is winter clothing and dress. To see other words we’ve posted on this topic this week, visit our Web site at www.frenchfanatic.com.

GET MORE WORDS ON TWITTER!
Follow us on Twitter for bonus words and thoughts on all things French.

TODAY’S WORD BROUGHT TO YOU BY YABLA.

Yabla French Video Immersion.
The fun way to learn French

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Word of the Day
Tuesday, January 5, 2010

une écharpe, un cache-nez

a scarf

Il fait froid. Vous devriez porter une écharpe.
It’s cold. You should wear a scarf.

GET MORE WORDS ON TWITTER!
Follow us on Twitter for bonus words and thoughts on all things French.

TODAY’S WORD BROUGHT TO YOU BY YABLA.

Yabla French Video Immersion.
The fun way to learn French

Vocabulary Section: Clothing,Word of the Day