The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Puis il prit une grammaire et nous lut notre leçon.
Then he took a grammar and read us our lesson.
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
Then, from one thing to another, Monsieur Hamel began to talk to us about the French language, saying that it was the most beautiful language in the world, the clearest, the most solid: that we must keep it among ourselves and never forget it, because when a people falls into slavery, so long as it holds fast to its language, it is as if it held the key to its prison…
J’étais étonné de voir comme je comprenais.
I was astonished to see how well I understood.
Tout ce qu’il disait me semblait facile, facile.
Everything he said seemed easy to me, easy.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Puis | puis | then, next (adv.); et puis — and then, and besides; also old je puis — I can (from pouvoir) |
| il | il | he; it (il, ils — they) (pron.); il y a — there is; il faut — one must |
| prit | prendre | to take; to catch (v.); prendre les devants — to go on ahead; prendre un homme — to take a man as husband; s’y prendre — to go about it |
| une | un | a, an; one (art./num.); l’un… l’autre — the one… the other; les unes… les autres — some… others |
| grammaire | grammaire | grammar; grammar book (n., f.) |
| et | et | and (conj.) |
| nous | nous | us, to us (pron.) |
| lut | lire | to read (v.) |
| notre | notre | our (notre, nos) (poss. adj.) |
| leçon | leçon | lesson (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.