The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Un moment des hannetons entrèrent ; mais personne n’y fit attention, pas même les tout petits qui s’appliquaient à tracer leurs bâtons, avec un cœur, une conscience, comme si cela encore était du français…
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…
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
Il fallait voir comme chacun s’appliquait, et quel silence !
You should have seen how everyone worked at it, and what a silence!
On n’entendait rien que le grincement des plumes sur le papier.
Nothing could be heard but the scratching of pens on paper.
Sur la toiture de l’école, des pigeons roucoulaient tout bas, et je me disais en les écoutant :
On the roof of the school, pigeons were cooing softly, and I said to myself as I listened to them:
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Un | un | a, an; one (art./num.); l’un… l’autre — the one… the other; les unes… les autres — some… others |
| moment | moment | moment (n., m.); au même moment — at that very moment |
| des | des | some, any; of the, from the (de + les) (art./contr.) |
| hannetons | hanneton | cockchafer, may bug (n., m.) |
| entrèrent | entrer | to enter, go in, come in (v.); faire entrer — to get (something) in |
| mais | mais | but (conj.) |
| personne | personne | nobody, no one (pron.) |
| n | ne | not (neg. particle) — ne… pas, ne… point, ne… plus, ne… que (only); ne… rien — nothing; ne… guère — hardly |
| y | y | to it, to them, of it (pron.) |
| fit | 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 |
| attention | attention | attention (n., f.); faire attention à — to pay attention to |
| pas | pas | not (ne… pas) (adv.); step, pace (n., m.); pas même — not even |
| même | même | even (adv.) |
| les | le | the (le, la, l’, les); him, her, it, them — as an object (art./pron.) |
| tout | tout | quite, very (adv.) |
| petits | petit | small, little (adj.); la petite — the little one |
| qui | qui | who, which, that (rel./interr. pron.); à qui — to whom, whose; qui… qui — one… another |
| s | se | himself, herself, itself, themselves; each other (reflexive pron.); s’ also stands for si — if — in s’il, s’ils |
| appliquaient | appliquer | to apply (v.); s’appliquer — to work hard, take pains |
| à | à | to, at, in; with (prep.); c’est à… — it belongs to…; à boire — something to drink |
| tracer | tracer | to trace, draw (v.) |
| leurs | leur | their (det.); to them (pron.) |
| bâtons | bâton | stick (n., m.); in handwriting drill — a pothook, a straight stroke |
| avec | avec | with (prep.) |
| cœur | cœur | heart (n., m.); de bon cœur — heartily, with a will; avoir le cœur meurtri — to be sick at heart; le cœur gros — heavy-hearted |
| conscience | conscience | conscience; conscientiousness (n., f.) |
| comme | comme | like, as; how…! (conj./adv.); comme si — as if |
| si | si | if, whether (conj.); so (adv.) — si fort, so hard; yes (after a negative question); s’il vous plaît — please |
| cela | cela | that, this (pron.) |
| encore | encore | still, yet; again; even (adv.) — encore plus, even more |
| était | être | to be (v.); c’est — it is; also forms the past of some verbs: elle est venue — she came |
| du | du | some; of the, from the (de + le) (art./contr.); du reste — besides |
| français | français | French (adj.); French — the language (n., m.); un Français — a Frenchman |
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.