The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
On aurait dit qu’avant de s’en aller le pauvre homme voulait nous donner tout son savoir, nous le faire entrer dans la tête d’un seul coup.
You would have said that before going away the poor man wanted to give us everything he knew, to get it into our heads at a single stroke.
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
Tout ce qu’il disait me semblait facile, facile.
Everything he said seemed easy to me, easy.
I believe, too, that I had never listened so well, and that he, for his part, had never put so much patience into his explanations.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| On | on | one, people, they, someone (pron.) |
| aurait | avoir | to have (v.); il y a — there is, there are; avoir beau + inf. — to do in vain; avoir peur — to be afraid |
| dit | 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 |
| avant | avant | before (prep./adv.); en avant — forward, in front; avant de + inf. — before doing |
| de | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| s | se | himself, herself, itself, themselves; each other (reflexive pron.); s’ also stands for si — if — in s’il, s’ils |
| en | en | away, from there (s’en aller) (pron.) |
| aller | aller | to go (v.); s’en aller — to go away, leave; aller + inf. — to go and…, be going to…; y aller de bon cœur — to throw oneself into it |
| le | le | the (le, la, l’, les); him, her, it, them — as an object (art./pron.) |
| pauvre | pauvre | poor (adj.) |
| homme | homme | man (n., m.); saint homme — holy man |
| voulait | vouloir | to want (v.); que voulez-vous? — what would you have?; en vouloir — to be willing to have (someone) |
| nous | nous | us, to us (pron.) |
| donner | donner | to give (v.) — donner un bal, to give a ball; donner des coups de corne — to butt |
| 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 |
| son | son | his, her, its (det.) — son, sa, ses; also le son, sound: à son de trompe; also bran (n., m.) — du son, rabbit bait |
| savoir | savoir | knowledge, learning (n., m.) |
| le | le | him, it (pron.) |
| faire | 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 |
| entrer | entrer | to enter, go in, come in (v.); faire entrer — to get (something) in |
| dans | dans | in, into (prep.) |
| tête | tête | head (n., f.); tête première — headlong |
| un | un | a, an; one (art./num.); l’un… l’autre — the one… the other; les unes… les autres — some… others |
| seul | seul | single, only (adj.) |
| coup | coup | blow, stroke (n., m.); tout à coup — suddenly; du coup — at that; coup de dents — bite; coup de sang — fit of apoplexy; à coup sûr — surely |
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.