The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Comme je m’en voulais maintenant du temps perdu, des classes manquées à courir les nids ou à faire des glissades sur la Saar !
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!
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
Je n’apprendrais donc jamais !
So I would never learn!
Il faudrait donc en rester là !
So it would have to stop there!
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.
It was the same with Monsieur Hamel.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Comme | comme | how (adv.) |
| je | je | I (pron.) |
| m | me | me, to me, myself (pron.) |
| en | en | of it, from it, about it (pron.) |
| voulais | vouloir | to want (v.); que voulez-vous? — what would you have?; en vouloir — to be willing to have (someone) |
| maintenant | maintenant | now (adv.) |
| du | du | of the, from the (de + le) (contr.) |
| temps | temps | time; weather (n., m.); de temps en temps — from time to time; dans le temps que — while; en même temps — at the same time |
| perdu | perdre | to lose (v.); se sentir perdu — to feel lost, done for |
| des | des | of the, from the (de + les) (contr.) |
| classes | classe | class, lesson; classroom (n., f.); faire la classe — to teach |
| manquées | manquer | to miss, lack; to fail (v.); ne pas manquer de — not to fail to; ne manquez pas de — be sure to; l’herbe te manque — you are short of grass |
| à | à | to, at, in; with (prep.); c’est à… — it belongs to…; à boire — something to drink |
| courir | courir | to run (v.); courir après — to chase; courir les nids — to go nesting, hunt for nests; en courant — at a run |
| les | le | the (le, la, l’, les); him, her, it, them — as an object (art./pron.) |
| nids | nid | nest (n., m.) |
| ou | ou | or (conj.); ou… ou — either… or |
| faire | faire | to do, make (v.); faire + inf. — to have (something) done; il se fit — there came; faire le mort — to play dead; se faire à — to get used to |
| des | des | some, any; of the, from the (de + les) (art./contr.) |
| glissades | glissade | slide, sliding (n., f.); faire des glissades — to go sliding |
| sur | sur | on, upon (prep.) |
| Saar | Saar | the Saar (French Sarre), a river of Lorraine (place name) |
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.