The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
« Je ne te gronderai pas, mon petit Franz, tu dois être assez puni…
“I shan’t scold you, my little Franz; you must be punished enough…
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
That’s how it is.
Tous les jours on se dit : Bah ! j’ai bien le temps.
Every day we tell ourselves: Bah! I’ve plenty of time.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Je | je | I (pron.) |
| ne | ne | not (neg. particle) — ne… pas, ne… point, ne… plus, ne… que (only); ne… rien — nothing; ne… guère — hardly |
| te | te | you, to you; yourself (pron.) |
| gronderai | gronder | to scold; to grumble (v.) |
| pas | pas | not (ne… pas) (adv.); step, pace (n., m.); pas même — not even |
| mon | mon | my (mon, ma, mes) (poss. adj.) |
| petit | petit | small, little (adj.); la petite — the little one |
| Franz | Franz | Franz, the boy who tells the story (proper name) |
| tu | tu | you — familiar (pron.) |
| dois | devoir | must, to have to; to owe (v.); le devoir — duty (n., m.); rendre ses devoirs — to pay one’s respects; on doit être bien — it must be lovely |
| être | être | to be (v.); c’est — it is; also forms the past of some verbs: elle est venue — she came |
| assez | assez | enough; rather, quite (adv.) |
| puni | punir | to punish (v.) |
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.