The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Pour ce jour-là, M. Hamel nous avait préparé des exemples tout neufs, sur lesquels était écrit en belle ronde : France, Alsace, France, Alsace.
For that day Monsieur Hamel had prepared brand-new copy slips for us, on which was written in a fine round hand: France, Alsace, France, Alsace.
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
La leçon finie, on passa à l’écriture.
The lesson over, we went on to writing.
They looked like little flags fluttering all around the classroom, hung from the rail of our desks.
Il fallait voir comme chacun s’appliquait, et quel silence !
You should have seen how everyone worked at it, and what a silence!
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Pour | pour | for; in order to (prep.); pour moi — as for me; pour sa sœur — as for her sister |
| ce | ce | this, that; these, those (dem. adj.); it, that (pron.) — c’est, it is; ce qui, ce que — what |
| jour-là | jour | day (n., m.) — tous les jours, every day; tout le jour — all day long; ce jour-là — that day |
| M | monsieur | Mr, Monsieur; sir, gentleman (n., m.; pl. messieurs); M. — short for Monsieur; monsieur le marquis — my lord Marquis |
| Hamel | Hamel | Monsieur Hamel, the village schoolmaster (proper name) |
| nous | nous | us, to us (pron.) |
| avait | avoir | to have (v.); il y a — there is, there are; avoir beau + inf. — to do in vain; avoir peur — to be afraid |
| préparé | préparer | to prepare (v.) |
| des | des | some, any; of the, from the (de + les) (art./contr.) |
| exemples | exemple | example (n., m.); par exemple — for example; in school — a copy slip, handwriting model |
| tout | tout | quite, very (adv.) |
| neufs | neuf | new, brand-new (adj.; f. neuve) |
| sur | sur | on, upon (prep.) |
| lesquels | lequel | which (lequel, laquelle…) (rel. pron.); sur lesquels — on which |
| était | être | to be (v.); c’est — it is; also forms the past of some verbs: elle est venue — she came |
| écrit | écrire | to write (v.) |
| 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 |
| belle | beau | beautiful, handsome; fine (adj.) — bel before a vowel; un beau matin — one fine morning; à belles dents — with gusto |
| ronde | ronde | round hand — an upright rounded script (n., f.) |
| France | France | France (place name) |
| Alsace | Alsace | Alsace, the French province annexed by Germany in 1871 (place name) |
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.