augmenter/baisser le volume
turn up/turn down the volume
J’ai augmenté le volume de ma chanson préférée.
I turned up the volume of my favorite song.
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la misère
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.
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Take our quiz and find out if you can avoid falling into the traps created by common false cognates.
un sourcil
an eyebrow
Les sourcils sont au-dessus des yeux.
The eyebrows are above the eyes.
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Our word is one of many parts of the body. For more words about body and health, click here.
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Vocabulary Section: Body and Health, Word of the Day
les nuages
(n.m.) clouds
Vocabulary Section: Weather and Geography, Word of the Day
jolie
pretty
Les fleurs dans le jardin sont très jolies.
The flowers in the garden are very pretty.
Vocabulary Section: Adjectives, Word of the Day
ébranler
to shake or undermine
L’arrivée de l’Internet a ébranlé la popularité de la télé.
The arrival of the Internet undermined the popularity of television.
Les nouvelles de la catastrophe l’ont ébranlé.
The news of the catastrophe shook him.
Vocabulary Section: Verbs, Word of the Day
le nettoyage
the cleaning
Hélène commence à penser à son nettoyage de printemps.
Hélène is starting to think of her spring cleaning.
Vocabulary Section: Around the House, Word of the Day
une commode
a chest of drawers
On trouve normalement une commode dans une chambre.
One normally finds a chest of drawers in a bedroom.
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Our word is one of many types of furniture, or les meubles. Learn words for more pieces of furniture here.
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saupoudrer
to sprinkle
Saupoudrez la salade avec du sel et du poivre.
Sprinkle the salad with salt and pepper.
passer à l’heure d’hiver
to change to Standard Time (set the clocks back)
On va passer à l’heure d’hiver en France en automne.
They’ll change to Standard Time in France in the fall.
Related phrase: l’heure d’été, Daylight Saving Time
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Our word is one of many about matters of time and the calendar that you can explore by clicking here.
Vocabulary Section: Time and Calendar, Word of the Day