The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
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:
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sur | sur | on, upon (prep.) |
| la | le | the (le, la, l’, les); him, her, it, them — as an object (art./pron.) |
| toiture | toiture | roof, roofing (n., f.) |
| de | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| école | école | school (n., f.) |
| des | des | some, any; of the, from the (de + les) (art./contr.) |
| pigeons | pigeon | pigeon (n., m.) |
| roucoulaient | roucouler | to coo (v.) |
| tout | tout | quite, very (adv.) |
| bas | bas | low (adj.); en bas — below, down there; tout en bas — far below; tout bas — softly, in a low voice; là-bas — over there |
| et | et | and (conj.) |
| je | je | I (pron.) |
| me | me | me, to me, myself (pron.) |
| disais | dire | to say, tell (v.); on aurait dit — you would have said; se dire — to say to oneself |
| 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 |
| les | le | them (pron.) |
| écoutant | écouter | to listen, listen to (v.) |
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.