The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Mes livres que tout à l’heure encore je trouvais si ennuyeux, si lourds à porter, ma grammaire, mon histoire sainte, me semblaient à présent de vieux amis qui me feraient beaucoup de peine à quitter.
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.
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
Il faudrait donc en rester là !
So it would have to stop there!
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!
It was the same with Monsieur Hamel.
The thought that he was going away, that I would never see him again, made me forget the punishments, the raps of the ruler.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Mes | mon | my (mon, ma, mes) (poss. adj.) |
| livres | livre | book (n., m.) |
| que | que | that, which, whom; than; how…! (conj./rel. pron.); ne… que — only |
| 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 |
| 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.) |
| heure | heure | hour (n., f.); tout à l’heure — at once (old), in a moment |
| encore | encore | still, yet; again; even (adv.) — encore plus, even more |
| je | je | I (pron.) |
| trouvais | trouver | to find (v.); aller trouver — to go and see; se trouver — to be found, to be; il se trouva que — it turned out that |
| si | si | so, such (adv.) |
| ennuyeux | ennuyeux | boring, tedious (adj.) |
| lourds | lourd | heavy (adj.) |
| porter | porter | to carry, take, bring (v.); se porter — to be (in health) |
| grammaire | grammaire | grammar; grammar book (n., f.) |
| histoire | histoire | story; history (n., f.); pas d’histoires! — no stories, no fuss!; histoire sainte — Bible history |
| sainte | saint | holy; saint (adj./n., m.); saint Pierre — Saint Peter; sainte croix! — holy cross!; histoire sainte — Bible history |
| me | me | me, to me, myself (pron.) |
| semblaient | sembler | to seem (v.) |
| présent | présent | present (n., m.); à présent — now |
| de | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| vieux | vieux | old (adj.) — vieille, vieil; les vieux — the old folk (n., m.); la vieille — the old one |
| amis | ami | friend (n., m.; f. amie) |
| qui | qui | who, which, that (rel./interr. pron.); à qui — to whom, whose; qui… qui — one… another |
| feraient | 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 |
| beaucoup | beaucoup | a lot, much, many (adv.) |
| peine | peine | sorrow, grief (n., f.) |
| quitter | quitter | to leave (v.); se quitter — to part |
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.