The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Ce matin-là, j’étais très en retard pour aller à l’école, et j’avais grand-peur d’être grondé, d’autant que M. Hamel nous avait dit qu’il nous interrogerait sur les participes, et je n’en savais pas le premier mot.
That morning I was very late for school, and I was terribly afraid of a scolding, all the more because Monsieur Hamel had told us he would question us on participles, and I did not know the first word of them.
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
Un moment l’idée me vint de manquer la classe et de prendre ma course à travers champs.
For a moment the idea came to me of skipping school and making off across the fields.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ce | ce | this, that; these, those (dem. adj.); it, that (pron.) — c’est, it is; ce qui, ce que — what |
| matin-là | matin | morning (n., m.) |
| j | je | I (pron.) |
| étais | être | to be (v.); c’est — it is; also forms the past of some verbs: elle est venue — she came |
| très | très | very (adv.) |
| en | en | in, into; while (+ -ing) (prep.); of it, of them, some (pron.); en train de — in the middle of; s’en aller — to go away |
| retard | retard | delay (n., m.); en retard — late |
| pour | pour | for; in order to (prep.); pour moi — as for me; pour sa sœur — as for her sister |
| aller | aller | to go (v.); s’en aller — to go away, leave; aller + inf. — to go and…, be going to…; y aller de bon cœur — to throw oneself into it |
| à | à | to, at, in; with (prep.); c’est à… — it belongs to…; à boire — something to drink |
| l | le | the (le, la, l’, les); him, her, it, them — as an object (art./pron.) |
| école | école | school (n., f.) |
| et | et | and (conj.) |
| avais | avoir | to have (v.); il y a — there is, there are; avoir beau + inf. — to do in vain; avoir peur — to be afraid |
| grand-peur | grand-peur | great fear (n., f.) — avoir grand-peur, to be very afraid |
| d | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| grondé | gronder | to scold; to grumble (v.) |
| autant | autant | as much, so much (adv.); d’autant que — all the more because |
| que | que | that, which, whom; than; how…! (conj./rel. pron.); ne… que — only |
| M | monsieur | Mr, Monsieur; sir, gentleman (n., m.; pl. messieurs); M. — short for Monsieur; monsieur le marquis — my lord Marquis |
| Hamel | Hamel | Monsieur Hamel, the village schoolmaster (proper name) |
| nous | nous | us, to us (pron.) |
| dit | dire | to say, tell (v.); on aurait dit — you would have said; se dire — to say to oneself |
| il | il | he; it (il, ils — they) (pron.); il y a — there is; il faut — one must |
| interrogerait | interroger | to question, test orally (v.) |
| sur | sur | on, upon (prep.) |
| participes | participe | participle (n., m.) |
| n | ne | not (neg. particle) — ne… pas, ne… point, ne… plus, ne… que (only); ne… rien — nothing; ne… guère — hardly |
| en | en | of it, of them, some (pron.) |
| savais | savoir | to know; to know how to (v.); je ne saurais — I could not; le savoir — knowledge (n., m.) |
| pas | pas | not (ne… pas) (adv.); step, pace (n., m.); pas même — not even |
| premier | premier | first; former (adj.); la première — the opening night of a play; tête première — headlong |
| mot | mot | word (n., m.) |
Read «La Dernière Classe» in the room Every word glossed where it stands, the English a tap away. The whole tale is free and asks for no account.