Using a notebook in class | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. J'ai oublié d'apporter mon cahier.

   I forgot to bring my notebook.

   oublié

   forgot

   d'apporter

   to bring

   mon

   my

   cahier

   notebook

   More detail

   oublié is the past participle of oublier (“to forget”). Here it appears with ai in j’ai oublié, the passé composé: ai marks first-person singular, and oublié expresses the completed event. The spelling oublié keeps its accent in this form. Example: J’ai oublié son nom. — “I forgot his/her name.” d’apporter combines de with the infinitive apporter (“to bring”). French commonly uses oublier de + infinitive when someone forgets to do an action: oublier de faire quelque chose. The d’ is the elided form of de before a vowel. Example: Elle a oublié de fermer la porte. — “She forgot to close the door.” mon means “my” before the singular noun it determines. It is the masculine singular possessive form; the form agrees with cahier, not with the person who owns it. Before a feminine singular noun beginning with a vowel sound, French also uses mon, as in mon amie (“my friend”). cahier is a masculine singular noun for a notebook, commonly one used for writing or schoolwork. Its plural is cahiers. Together, j’ai oublié states that the speaker forgot, d’apporter identifies the action that was forgotten, and mon cahier identifies the object involved. The complete meaning is: “I forgot to bring my notebook.”

2. Tu peux utiliser cette feuille.

   You can use this paper.

   Tu peux

   you can

   utiliser

   use

   cette

   this

   feuille

   sheet; paper

   More detail

   Tu peux means “you can.” peux is the second-person singular present form of pouvoir (“can; to be able to”): je peux, tu peux, il/elle peut. Here tu addresses one person, and peux expresses ability or permission in this sentence. The following verb stays in the infinitive after pouvoir. Example: Tu peux entrer. — “You can come in.” utiliser means “to use.” It is the infinitive form, selected here after peux: tu peux utiliser... means “you can use...”. The infinitive does not itself show the subject here; tu and the form peux identify who can use something. Example: Je peux utiliser ton stylo. — “I can use your pen.” cette means “this” before a feminine singular noun. It agrees with feuille, not with the person addressed. French demonstratives include ce before a masculine singular noun, cette before a feminine singular noun, and ces with plural nouns. In this utterance, cette feuille identifies the paper being offered for use. Example: cette table — “this table.” feuille is a feminine noun meaning “sheet” or, in this context, “paper.” Its basic sense is a single sheet or leaf-like piece; the fixed translation selects “paper.” The feminine gender is relevant to the form cette, while the noun itself is singular here. Example: une feuille blanche — “a white sheet of paper.” Together, Tu peux utiliser cette feuille says “You can use this paper.” The structure is subject + pouvoir + infinitive + demonstrative + noun: Tu + peux utiliser + cette feuille. The surrounding context supports the practical reading that the listener may use the paper to write the new words.

3. Merci. Je veux écrire les nouveaux mots.

   Thank you. I want to write the new words.

   Merci

   Thank you

   Je veux

   I want

   écrire

   to write

   nouveaux

   new

   mots

   words

   More detail

   Merci is a reusable way to say “Thank you.” It can stand alone, as it does here. For an action, French commonly uses merci de + an infinitive: Merci de m'aider. — “Thank you for helping me.” Je veux uses je, “I,” with the first-person singular present form veux of vouloir, “to want.” The useful pattern is je veux + an infinitive: Je veux apprendre. — “I want to learn.” The form veux belongs to vouloir; it is not a form of the following verb. écrire is the infinitive “to write.” After je veux, it remains in the infinitive rather than becoming a finite verb: Je veux lire. — “I want to read.” Its first-person present form is j'écris, as in J'écris une phrase. — “I am writing a sentence.” nouveaux means “new” here. It is the masculine plural form of the adjective nouveau, used with the masculine plural noun mots. The main forms are nouveau (masculine singular), nouveaux (masculine plural), nouvelle (feminine singular), and nouvelles (feminine plural). In French, this adjective commonly appears before the noun: de nouveaux livres — “new books.” mots means “words.” It is the plural of mot, “word”; the final s is not pronounced. The definite plural article les before it gives les mots, “the words.” Together, Je veux écrire les nouveaux mots means “I want to write the new words.” Je identifies the speaker, veux expresses that speaker’s desire, and écrire names the desired action. les nouveaux mots is the object of écrire: les marks a definite plural group, while nouveaux agrees with the masculine plural noun mots.

4. Bonne idée. Je vais les écrire aussi.

   Good idea. I will write them too.

   Bonne

   good

   idée

   idea

   Je vais

   I will / I’m going to

   les

   them

   écrire

   write

   aussi

   too

   More detail

   Bonne means “good” here and is the feminine singular form of bon, agreeing with idée. Compare bon with a masculine singular noun and bonne with a feminine singular noun: un bon mot = “a good word,” une bonne idée = “a good idea.” idée is a feminine noun meaning “idea.” Its plural is idées: de bonnes idées = “good ideas.” The adjective changes to agree with the noun, while the noun itself carries the plural ending. Je vais is the first-person singular present form of aller, “to go,” used here with an infinitive to form the near future: je vais + infinitive = “I am going to …” or, as in this translation, “I will …”. The subject je identifies the speaker. Je vais apprendre means “I am going to learn.” This is different from j’irai, the simple future form of aller. les is a plural direct-object pronoun meaning “them” here. The supplied translation and context identify the referent as the new words. French uses les for plural direct objects regardless of grammatical gender: Je les lis = “I read them.” écrire is the infinitive “to write.” After je vais, it remains in the infinitive: je vais écrire = “I am going to write.” Its present first-person singular form is j’écris, as in J’écris les mots = “I write the words.” aussi means “too” or “also.” It adds this action to something already relevant in the context: Je vais les écrire aussi = “I will write them too.” Together, Je vais + les écrire forms “I will write them,” with the object pronoun les placed before the infinitive écrire. The opening Bonne idée means “Good idea,” and aussi adds “too,” producing the complete meaning: “Good idea. I will write them too.”

5. On peut les vérifier après le cours ?

   Can we check them after class?

   On peut

   we can

   les

   them

   vérifier

   check; verify

   après

   after

   cours

   class; course

   More detail

   On peut means “we can” here. on is a third-person singular subject form that commonly means “we” in informal French; the following verb therefore appears in the third-person singular. peut is the present form of pouvoir (“can, be able to”) used with on. The pattern On peut + infinitive ? is a reusable way to ask whether “we” can do something. les is a plural direct-object pronoun meaning “them.” It refers here to the items mentioned in the fixed context and translation, not to a newly specified noun in this sentence. French places this object pronoun before the infinitive: On peut les vérifier. vérifier is the infinitive “to check” or “to verify.” After pouvoir, French uses the infinitive: peut vérifier means “can check,” while vérifier itself does not mark the subject here. Example: Je peux vérifier. — “I can check.” après means “after” and introduces the later time. With a noun, it forms the pattern après + noun phrase, as in après le cours. cours is a masculine singular noun meaning “class” in this sentence. The same noun can also mean “course” in another context; the fixed translation selects “class” here. Its plural is cours, with the same written form: un cours / des cours. Together, On peut les vérifier asks whether the speaker and listener can check the items, and après le cours places that activity after class. The whole utterance is therefore: “Can we check them after class?” The question mark and intonation make the complete statement a question.

6. On peut les lire ensemble.

   We can read them together.

   On peut

   we can

   les

   them

   lire

   read

   ensemble

   together

   More detail

   On peut means “we can” here. On is the subject pronoun used by the fixed translation for “we”; in other contexts it can have other impersonal or general meanings, but this sentence presents the speaker and others as the people able to act. Peut is the third-person singular present form of pouvoir (“to be able to”); with an infinitive, pouvoir + infinitive expresses ability or permission: On peut commencer = “We can start.” Les is a plural direct-object pronoun meaning “them” here. It appears before the infinitive, as French object pronouns normally do in this construction. Its exact referent is not identified by the sentence, so the supported meaning is simply “them.” Compare singular le or la with plural les. Lire is the infinitive “to read.” After the modal peut, the infinitive stays unchanged: peut lire = “can read.” Its present-tense forms include je lis, il/elle lit, and ils/elles lisent; the infinitive itself is used after another verb such as pouvoir. Example: Nous pouvons lire ce texte. — “We can read this text.” Ensemble means “together,” showing that the reading happens jointly. It is an adverb and does not change to agree with a person or noun. Example: Ils travaillent ensemble. — “They work together.” Together, On peut + les + lire + ensemble produces “We can read them together”: the speaker and others are able to read the unspecified plural objects jointly. This is a neutral, reusable pattern: On peut + object pronoun + infinitive + ensemble.