The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Il fallait voir comme chacun s’appliquait, et quel silence !
You should have seen how everyone worked at it, and what a silence!
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
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.
They looked like little flags fluttering all around the classroom, hung from the rail of our desks.
On n’entendait rien que le grincement des plumes sur le papier.
Nothing could be heard but the scratching of pens on paper.
At one point some cockchafers flew in; but nobody paid them any attention, not even the very little ones, who were working hard at tracing their pothooks, with such heart, such conscience, as if even that were French…
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Il | il | it (impersonal pron.) |
| fallait | falloir | to be necessary (v., impers.); il faut — one must; il fallut — it was necessary; il fallait — one had to; il leur faut — they need |
| voir | voir | to see (v.); se voir — to see oneself; voyons — let’s see; voyez-vous — you see |
| comme | comme | how (adv.) |
| chacun | chacun | each one, everyone (pron.) |
| s | se | himself, herself, itself, themselves; each other (reflexive pron.); s’ also stands for si — if — in s’il, s’ils |
| appliquait | appliquer | to apply (v.); s’appliquer — to work hard, take pains |
| et | et | and (conj.) |
| quel | quel | what, which (quel, quelle, quels, quelles) (det.); quel spectacle! — what a sight! |
| silence | silence | silence (n., m.) |
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.