The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Maintenant ces gens-là sont en droit de nous dire : Comment !
Now those people have the right to say to us: What!
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
Et puis tu vois ce qui arrive…
And then you see what happens…
Ah ! ç’a été le grand malheur de notre Alsace de toujours remettre son instruction à demain.
Ah! it has been the great misfortune of our Alsace always to put off its learning till tomorrow.
Vous prétendiez être Français, et vous ne savez ni parler ni écrire votre langue !…
You claimed to be French, and you can neither speak nor write your own language!…
Dans tout ça, mon pauvre Franz, ce n’est pas encore toi le plus coupable.
In all this, my poor Franz, it is still not you who is most to blame.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenant | maintenant | now (adv.) |
| ces | ce | this, that; these, those (dem. adj.); it, that (pron.) — c’est, it is; ce qui, ce que — what |
| gens-là | gens | people, folk (n., pl.); bonnes gens — good people |
| sont | être | to be (v.); c’est — it is; also forms the past of some verbs: elle est venue — she came |
| en | en | in, into; while (+ -ing) (prep.); of it, of them, some (pron.); en train de — in the middle of; s’en aller — to go away |
| droit | droit | right, entitlement (n., m.) |
| de | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| nous | nous | us, to us (pron.) |
| dire | dire | to say, tell (v.); on aurait dit — you would have said; se dire — to say to oneself |
| Comment | comment | how; what! (adv.) |
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.