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One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Pendant que je m’étonnais de tout cela, M. Hamel était monté dans sa chaire, et de la même voix douce et grave dont il m’avait reçu, il nous dit :
While I was wondering at all this, Monsieur Hamel had gone up to his desk, and in the same gentle, grave voice in which he had received me, he said to us:
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Pendant | pendant | during (prep.); pendant que — while |
| que | que | that, which, whom; than; how…! (conj./rel. pron.); ne… que — only |
| je | je | I (pron.) |
| m | me | me, to me, myself (pron.) |
| étonnais | étonner | to astonish, surprise (v.); s’étonner de — to wonder at, be surprised at |
| de | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| 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 |
| cela | cela | that, this (pron.) |
| 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) |
| était | être | to be (v.); c’est — it is; also forms the past of some verbs: elle est venue — she came |
| monté | monter | to go up, climb; to get into (a coach) (v.) |
| dans | dans | in, into (prep.) |
| sa | son | his, her, its (det.) — son, sa, ses; also le son, sound: à son de trompe; also bran (n., m.) — du son, rabbit bait |
| chaire | chaire | the master’s raised desk, rostrum; pulpit (n., f.); monter en chaire — to go up into the pulpit |
| et | et | and (conj.) |
| la | le | the (le, la, l’, les); him, her, it, them — as an object (art./pron.) |
| même | même | same; even (adj./adv.); tout de même — all the same; en même temps — at the same time; à même — straight from |
| voix | voix | voice (n., f.) |
| douce | doux | gentle, soft, sweet (adj.) |
| grave | grave | grave, serious, solemn (adj.) |
| dont | dont | of which, whose, of whom (rel. pron.) — la manière dont, the way in which |
| il | il | he; it (il, ils — they) (pron.); il y a — there is; il faut — one must |
| avait | avoir | to have (v.); il y a — there is, there are; avoir beau + inf. — to do in vain; avoir peur — to be afraid |
| reçu | recevoir | to receive (v.) |
| 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 |
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.