The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Il faudrait donc en rester là !
So it would have to stop there!
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
Et moi qui savais à peine écrire !
And I could barely write!
Je n’apprendrais donc jamais !
So I would never learn!
How I blamed myself now for the time I had wasted, the classes I had skipped to go looking for nests or sliding on the Saar!
My books, which only a little while ago I had found so dull, so heavy to carry — my grammar, my Bible history — now seemed to me old friends that it would grieve me deeply to leave.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Il | il | it (impersonal pron.) |
| faudrait | falloir | to be necessary (v., impers.); il faut — one must; il fallut — it was necessary; il fallait — one had to; il leur faut — they need |
| donc | donc | so, then, therefore; (emphatic) do…! (conj./adv.) |
| en | en | of it, from it, about it (pron.) |
| rester | rester | to stay, remain (v.) |
| là | là | there; then (adv.); en rester là — to stop there; ce fut là — that was |
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.