The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
De temps en temps, quand je levais les yeux de dessus ma page, je voyais M. Hamel immobile dans sa chaire et fixant les objets autour de lui, comme s’il avait voulu emporter dans son regard toute sa petite maison d’école…
From time to time, when I raised my eyes from my page, I saw Monsieur Hamel motionless at his desk, gazing at the things around him, as if he wanted to carry away in his eyes the whole of his little schoolhouse…
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
Think of it! For forty years he had been there, in the same place, with his yard in front of him and his classroom just the same.
Only the benches and the desks had grown smooth, rubbed by use; the walnut trees in the yard had grown tall, and the hops he had planted himself now garlanded the windows up to the roof.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| De | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| temps | temps | time; weather (n., m.); de temps en temps — from time to time; dans le temps que — while; en même temps — at the same time |
| 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 |
| quand | quand | when (conj.) |
| je | je | I (pron.) |
| levais | lever | to raise, lift (v.); se lever — to get up, rise |
| les | le | the (le, la, l’, les); him, her, it, them — as an object (art./pron.) |
| yeux | œil | eye (n., m.); pl. les yeux |
| dessus | dessus | on it, on top (adv.); se jeter dessus — to pounce on it; de dessus — from off |
| ma | mon | my (mon, ma, mes) (poss. adj.) |
| page | page | page (n., f.); le page — a page boy (n., m.) |
| voyais | voir | to see (v.); se voir — to see oneself; voyons — let’s see; voyez-vous — you see |
| 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) |
| immobile | immobile | motionless, still (adj.) |
| dans | dans | in, into (prep.) |
| sa | son | his, her, its (det.) — son, sa, ses; also le son, sound: à son de trompe; also bran (n., m.) — du son, rabbit bait |
| chaire | chaire | the master’s raised desk, rostrum; pulpit (n., f.); monter en chaire — to go up into the pulpit |
| et | et | and (conj.) |
| fixant | fixer | to fix; to stare at (v.) |
| objets | objet | object, thing (n., m.) |
| autour | autour | around (adv.); autour de — around |
| lui | lui | him; to him, to her (pron.) |
| comme | comme | like, as; how…! (conj./adv.); comme si — as if |
| s | si | if (conj.) |
| il | il | he; it (il, ils — they) (pron.); il y a — there is; il faut — one must |
| avait | avoir | to have (v.); il y a — there is, there are; avoir beau + inf. — to do in vain; avoir peur — to be afraid |
| voulu | vouloir | to want (v.); que voulez-vous? — what would you have?; en vouloir — to be willing to have (someone) |
| emporter | emporter | to carry off, take away (v.) |
| regard | regard | look, gaze (n., m.) |
| toute | 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 |
| petite | petit | small, little (adj.); la petite — the little one |
| maison | maison | house, household (n., f.); maison d’école — schoolhouse |
| école | école | school (n., f.) |
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.