The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Quel crève-cœur ça devait être pour ce pauvre homme de quitter toutes ces choses, et d’entendre sa sœur qui allait, venait, dans la chambre au-dessus, en train de fermer leurs malles ! car ils devaient partir le lendemain, s’en aller du pays pour toujours.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Quel | quel | what, which (quel, quelle, quels, quelles) (det.); quel spectacle! — what a sight! |
| crève-cœur | crève-cœur | heartbreak (n., m.) |
| ça | ça | that, it (pron., informal form of cela); ça ne fait rien — it doesn’t matter |
| devait | devoir | must, to have to; to owe (v.); le devoir — duty (n., m.); rendre ses devoirs — to pay one’s respects; on doit être bien — it must be lovely |
| être | être | to be (v.); c’est — it is; also forms the past of some verbs: elle est venue — she came |
| pour | pour | for; in order to (prep.); pour moi — as for me; pour sa sœur — as for her sister |
| ce | ce | this, that; these, those (dem. adj.); it, that (pron.) — c’est, it is; ce qui, ce que — what |
| pauvre | pauvre | poor (adj.) |
| homme | homme | man (n., m.); saint homme — holy man |
| de | de | of, from; some, any (prep./partitive art.) — du pain, de l’eau; pas de — no, not any; de… en… — from… to… |
| quitter | quitter | to leave (v.); se quitter — to part |
| toutes | 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 |
| choses | chose | thing (n., f.) — autre chose, something else; la chose — the matter |
| et | et | and (conj.) |
| entendre | entendre | to hear (v.) |
| 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 |
| sœur | sœur | sister (n., f.) |
| qui | qui | who, which, that (rel./interr. pron.); à qui — to whom, whose; qui… qui — one… another |
| allait | aller | to go (v.); s’en aller — to go away, leave; aller + inf. — to go and…, be going to…; y aller de bon cœur — to throw oneself into it |
| venait | venir | to come (v.); venir de + inf. — to have just done; il vint à elle — there came up to her; venir à passer — to happen to pass |
| dans | dans | in, into (prep.) |
| la | le | the (le, la, l’, les); him, her, it, them — as an object (art./pron.) |
| chambre | chambre | bedroom, room (n., f.) |
| au-dessus | au-dessus | above, overhead (adv.); au-dessus de — above |
| 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 |
| train | train | course, process (en train de) (n., m.) |
| fermer | fermer | to close, shut (v.) |
| leurs | leur | their (det.); to them (pron.) |
| malles | malle | trunk (n., f.) |
| car | car | for, because (conj.) |
| ils | il | he; it (il, ils — they) (pron.); il y a — there is; il faut — one must |
| partir | partir | to leave, set off (v.) — also la part, share: faire part de, to share with; à partir de — from (that point on); le parti — side: être du parti de, to side with |
| lendemain | lendemain | the next day, the day after (n., m.) |
| s | se | himself, herself, itself, themselves; each other (reflexive pron.); s’ also stands for si — if — in s’il, s’ils |
| en | en | away, from there (s’en aller) (pron.) |
| du | du | of the, from the (de + le) (contr.) |
| pays | pays | country; region, neighbourhood (n., m.) |
| toujours | toujours | always; still (adv.) |
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.