French Word of the Day

to borrow

Le pays a emprunté milliards de dollars.
The country has borrowed billions of dollars.

to be falling

Malheureusement, le nombre d’offres d’emplois est en baisse.
Unfortunately,  the number of job offers is falling.

to defraud, to swindle

Il est accusé d’escroquer les clients.
He is accused of defrauding customers.

n.m. slang

Les jeunes inventent souvent leur propre argot.
Young people often invent their own slang.

poverty or misery

Les gens qui n’ont pas d’argent vivent dans la misère.
People who have no money live in poverty.

AVOID THE TEMPTING FAUX PAS!
While la misère can mean misery, its more common meaning is poverty — which a friend of our site pointed out is indeed pretty miserable.

TODAY
Our example illustrates an especially useful topic. While French and English have many cognates — words that are derived from the same root word and consequently look and sound a lot alike — these words sometimes have similar meanings but other times do not. When they don’t, they are called false cognates and can provide plenty of pitfalls for language learners. Today’s word is one such example.

QUIZ LINK
Take our quiz and find out if you can avoid falling into the traps created by common false cognates.

peace

Pour Noël, nous vous souhaitons la paix et le bonheur.
For Christmas, we wish you peace and happiness.

And also, maybe just a bit of fun from this Vidéo:

If you received this video by e-mail and have difficulty viewing it, please visit our site at www.frenchfanatic.com.

TODAY’S WORD BROUGHT TO YOU BY YABLA.

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the truth

Dites-moi la vérité.
Tell me the truth.

city life, life in the city

Préférez-vous la vie en ville ou à la campagne?
Do you prefer life in the city or in the country?

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

global warming

Il y avait des manifestations contre le réchauffement climatique samedi.
There were demonstrations against global warming Saturday.

You can read about the events from Copenhagen here in Le Monde.

Vidéo. See the events from les manifestations, demonstrations, below.

If you received this video by e-mail and are having difficulty viewing it, please visit our site at www.frenchfanatic.com.

We’re taking a short break from our discussion of holiday vocabulary for a few days to look at vocabulary around some of the news of the world. We’ll return to words of the season soon.

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emergency relief

Les équipes de secours d’urgence restent en Haïti.
Emergency relief teams remain in Haiti.

THIS WEEK
Our vocabulary topic is emergency relief. While reading about the events in Haiti over the past few weeks, we’ve come across many words and phrases that may not come up a lot in day-to-day conversational French but nonetheless could be very important for communicating in a crisis. This week, we will explore some of those words. Of course, many of the words you’ll see, thankfully, will be able to be used in situations of far lesser magnitude.

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TODAY’S WORD BROUGHT TO YOU BY YABLA.

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support

Le gouvernement n’a pas le soutien du peuple.
The government doesn’t have the support of the people.

the injured (people)

Les médecins ont aidé les blessés d’abord.
The doctors helped the injured first.

ALSO
le blessé = an injured man
la blessée = an injured woman
les blessées = injured women

THIS WEEK
Our vocabulary topic is emergency relief at a disaster scene.

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

TODAY’S WORD BROUGHT TO YOU BY YABLA.

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a checking account

Nadia a ouvert un nouveau compte chèques à la banque près de sa maison.
Nadia opened a new checking account at the bank near her house.

a curfew

Le gouvernement a levé le couvre-feu.
The government lifted the curfew.

a boy

Le garçon arrive en classe à 9h.
The boy arrives for class at 9 o’clock.

Today’s word is one of many basic vocabulary words on our site to help students who are studying French for the first time. Craving more words? Visit our site www.frenchfanatic.com and browse the archives.

Need help with verbs? Check out our Quick Verb Guide.

a neighborhood

Il y a beaucoup de bons restaurants dans notre quartier.
There are a lot of good restaurants in our neighborhood.

NEED HELP WITH FRENCH VERBS?
Check out our  Quick Verb Guide!

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.

a pedestrian

Des voitures doivent s’arrêter pour des piétons.
Cars must stop for pedestrians.

THIS WEEK
With spring sprouting, it seems like a good time to go for a walk. We’ll cover French words for some of the things you might do and see à pied (on foot).

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.
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The fun way to learn French



an (unpaid) volunteer

Les bénévoles ont distribué de la nourriture et l’eau.
The volunteers distributed food and water.

THIS WEEK
Our vocabulary topic is emergency relief at a disaster scene.

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

TODAY’S WORD BROUGHT TO YOU BY YABLA.

Yabla French Video Immersion.
The fun way to learn French



a girl or a daughter

La fille joue de la guitare.
The girl plays the guitar.

Sa fille a 10 ans.
His daughter is 10 years old.

TODAY
Our French vocabulary word is one of many members of the family. After you learn to say girl and daughter in French, follow the links below to discover the French vocabulary words for more of your relatives.

• Aunt, Uncle, Niece, Nephew
• Boy
• Brother
• Husband, Wife
• Immediate Family
• In-Laws
• Mother, Father
• Son, Grandson, Daughter, Granddaughter
• Sister, Brother
• Twins

Need help with verbs? Check out our Quick Verb Guide.

a strike

Le nombre de trains RER qui circulaient a été réduit à cause d’une grève.
The number of RER trains in circulation was reduced due to a strike.

The RER is a highly traveled train line in the Paris region that carries commuters both within the city and to the outlying suburbs. This weekend, service was reduced due to a strike — a fairly common event in France’s public sector.

We’re currently exploring vocabulary related to events in the news. We’ll resume more holiday-related vocabulary in a few days.

TODAY’S WORD BROUGHT TO YOU BY YABLA.

Yabla French Video Immersion.
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