The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Seulement les bancs, les pupitres s’étaient polis, frottés par l’usage ; les noyers de la cour avaient grandi, et le houblon qu’il avait planté lui-même enguirlandait maintenant les fenêtres jusqu’au toit.
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.
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
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…
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.
What heartbreak it must have been for the poor man to leave all these things, and to hear his sister going to and fro in the room above, closing their trunks! for they were to leave the next day, to go away from the country for ever.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Seulement | seulement | only; but (adv.) |
| les | le | the (le, la, l’, les); him, her, it, them — as an object (art./pron.) |
| bancs | banc | bench (n., m.) |
| pupitres | pupitre | school desk (n., m.) |
| s | se | himself, herself, itself, themselves; each other (reflexive pron.); s’ also stands for si — if — in s’il, s’ils |
| étaient | être | to be (v.); c’est — it is; also forms the past of some verbs: elle est venue — she came |
| polis | polir | to polish (v.); se polir — to become smooth |
| frottés | frotter | to rub; to scrub, polish (v.) |
| par | par | by, through, along (prep.); par delà — beyond; par exemple — for example; rang par rang — row by row |
| usage | usage | use, wear (n., m.) |
| noyers | noyer | walnut tree (n., m.) |
| de | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| cour | cour | yard, courtyard, playground; the (royal) court (n., f.) |
| avaient | avoir | to have (v.); il y a — there is, there are; avoir beau + inf. — to do in vain; avoir peur — to be afraid |
| grandi | grandir | to grow, grow up, grow tall (v.) |
| et | et | and (conj.) |
| houblon | houblon | hops, hop vine (n., m.) |
| qu | que | that, which, whom; than; how…! (conj./rel. pron.); ne… que — only |
| il | il | he; it (il, ils — they) (pron.); il y a — there is; il faut — one must |
| planté | planter | to plant (v.) |
| lui-même | lui-même | himself (emphatic pron.) |
| enguirlandait | enguirlander | to garland, wreathe (v.) |
| maintenant | maintenant | now (adv.) |
| fenêtres | fenêtre | window (n., f.) |
| jusqu | jusque | as far as, until, up to (prep.); jusqu’à — right up to; jusqu’au bout — to the very end; jusqu’où — how far |
| au | au | to the, at the, in the (à + le) (contr.); au secours ! — help! |
| toit | toit | roof (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.