The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Je comptais sur tout ce train pour gagner mon banc sans être vu ; mais, justement, ce jour-là, tout était tranquille, comme un matin de dimanche.
I was counting on all that commotion to reach my bench without being seen; but that day, as it happened, everything was still, like a Sunday morning.
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
Through the open window I could see my classmates already in their places, and Monsieur Hamel walking up and down with the terrible iron ruler under his arm.
Il fallut ouvrir la porte et entrer au milieu de ce grand calme.
I had to open the door and go in, in the midst of that great calm.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Je | je | I (pron.) |
| comptais | compter | to count (v.); compter sur — to count on |
| sur | sur | on, upon (prep.) |
| tout | tout | all, every; quite, very (adj./adv.); tout à coup — suddenly; tout de suite — at once; tout à fait — entirely; tout à l’heure — right away |
| ce | ce | this, that; these, those (dem. adj.); it, that (pron.) — c’est, it is; ce qui, ce que — what |
| train | train | noise, commotion (n., m.); en train de — in the middle of doing; train de derrière — hindquarters; être en train de — to be busy doing |
| pour | pour | for; in order to (prep.); pour moi — as for me; pour sa sœur — as for her sister |
| gagner | gagner | to reach, get to (v.) |
| mon | mon | my (mon, ma, mes) (poss. adj.) |
| banc | banc | bench (n., m.) |
| sans | sans | without (prep.); sans cesse — ceaselessly |
| être | être | to be (v.); c’est — it is; also forms the past of some verbs: elle est venue — she came |
| vu | voir | to see (v.); se voir — to see oneself; voyons — let’s see; voyez-vous — you see |
| mais | mais | but (conj.) |
| justement | justement | precisely, exactly; just (adv.) |
| jour-là | jour | day (n., m.) — tous les jours, every day; tout le jour — all day long; ce jour-là — that day |
| tranquille | tranquille | quiet, calm, still (adj.) |
| comme | comme | like, as; how…! (conj./adv.); comme si — as if |
| un | un | a, an; one (art./num.); l’un… l’autre — the one… the other; les unes… les autres — some… others |
| matin | matin | morning (n., m.) |
| de | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| dimanche | dimanche | Sunday (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.