The French reading room
One sentence of «La Dernière Classe»
Jamais il ne m’avait paru si grand.
Never had he seemed so tall to me.
Where it stands
The sentences either side of it, each with its own page.
At the same moment the trumpets of the Prussians coming back from drill burst out under our windows…
M. Hamel se leva tout pâle, dans sa chaire.
Monsieur Hamel stood up at his desk, quite pale.
Every word in it
| As printed | Dictionary form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Jamais | jamais | never; ever (adv.); ne… jamais — never |
| il | il | he; it (il, ils — they) (pron.); il y a — there is; il faut — one must |
| ne | ne | not (neg. particle) — ne… pas, ne… point, ne… plus, ne… que (only); ne… rien — nothing; ne… guère — hardly |
| m | me | me, to me, myself (pron.) |
| avait | avoir | to have (v.); il y a — there is, there are; avoir beau + inf. — to do in vain; avoir peur — to be afraid |
| paru | paraître | to seem, appear (v.); paraît-il — it seems; il paraît que — it seems that |
| si | si | so, such (adv.) |
| grand | grand | big, tall, great (adj.); grand’mère — grandmother; grand seigneur — great lord; grand ouvert — wide open |
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.