The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Cela semblait dire qu’ils regrettaient de ne pas y être venus plus souvent, à cette école.
It seemed to say that they were sorry they had not come more often, to this school.
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
It was in honour of this last class that he had put on his fine Sunday clothes, and now I understood why those old men of the village had come to sit at the back of the room.
It was also a way of thanking our master for his forty years of good service, and of paying their respects to the country that was passing away…
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Cela | cela | that, this (pron.) |
| semblait | sembler | to seem (v.) |
| dire | dire | to say, tell (v.); on aurait dit — you would have said; se dire — to say to oneself |
| qu | que | that, which, whom; than; how…! (conj./rel. pron.); ne… que — only |
| ils | il | he; it (il, ils — they) (pron.); il y a — there is; il faut — one must |
| regrettaient | regretter | to regret, be sorry (v.) |
| de | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| ne | ne | not (neg. particle) — ne… pas, ne… point, ne… plus, ne… que (only); ne… rien — nothing; ne… guère — hardly |
| pas | pas | not (ne… pas) (adv.); step, pace (n., m.); pas même — not even |
| y | y | there; in it, to it (pron./adv.); il y a — there is |
| être | être | to be (v.); c’est — it is; also forms the past of some verbs: elle est venue — she came |
| venus | venir | to come (v.); venir de + inf. — to have just done; il vint à elle — there came up to her; venir à passer — to happen to pass |
| plus | plus | more; most (adv.) — ne… plus, no longer; le plus, the most; plus de — more than (plus de trois jours); with no verb, no more (plus de corde !); plus tôt — sooner |
| souvent | souvent | often (adv.) |
| à | à | to, at, in; with (prep.); c’est à… — it belongs to…; à boire — something to drink |
| cette | ce | this, that; these, those (dem. adj.); it, that (pron.) — c’est, it is; ce qui, ce que — what |
| école | école | school (n., f.) |
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.