About This Lesson
Use Learning a New Word to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.
Dialogue
A
Que veut dire ce mot ?
kuh vuh DEER suh MOH What does this word mean?
B
Cela veut dire une petite pièce.
suh-LAH vuh DEER oon puh-TEET PYESS It means a small room.
A
Peux-tu le prononcer lentement ?
PUH-tyoo luh proh-nohn-SAY lon-tuh-MAHN Can you pronounce it slowly?
B
Je vais le découper en plusieurs parties.
zhuh veh luh day-koo-PAY ahn ploo-ZYUR par-TEE I'll break it into parts.
A
Peux-tu me donner un exemple ?
PUH-tyoo muh doh-NAY uhn eg-ZAHNPL Can you give me an example?
B
Cette pièce est propre et lumineuse.
set PYESS eh PROHP ay loo-mee-NUHZ This room is clean and bright.
A
Je veux m'entraîner à l'utiliser.
zhuh vuh mahn-tray-NAY ah loo-tee-lee-ZAY I want to practice using it.
B
Essaie de l'utiliser dans une phrase courte.
eh-SAY duh loo-tee-lee-ZAY dahnz oon FRAHZ koort Try it in a short sentence.Word by Word
Que
In “Que veut dire ce mot ?”, “Que” asks what something means. A useful pattern is “Que veut dire … ?” when asking for the meaning of a word or expression.
veut
In “Que veut dire ce mot ?”, “veut” works with “dire” to ask what the word means; it does not mean “means” by itself here. The reusable expression is “veut dire” for expressing or asking about meaning.
dire
In “Que veut dire ce mot ?” and “Cela veut dire une petite pièce.”, “dire” contributes the meaning “to mean” in the expression “veut dire”. Use “veut dire” before the thing whose meaning is being explained.
ce
In “ce mot”, “ce” points to a specific word: “this word”. It comes before the masculine singular noun “mot” in this expression.
mot
Here, “mot” means “word”, the item whose meaning is being discussed. A common pattern is “un mot” or “ce mot” when talking about vocabulary.
Cela
In “Cela veut dire une petite pièce.”, “Cela” refers to the word or expression just discussed and means “it” or “that”. It is used as the subject of the explanation of meaning.
une
In “une petite pièce”, “une” means “a” and introduces the singular noun “pièce”. It is used before a feminine singular noun in this phrase.
petite
In “une petite pièce”, “petite” means “small” and describes “pièce”. Its form matches the feminine noun “pièce”; use the adjective after the article and before the noun here.
pièce
In “une petite pièce”, “pièce” means “room”. This phrase can describe a room by combining it with a size adjective, such as “une petite pièce”.
Peux
In “Peux-tu le prononcer lentement ?”, “Peux” expresses ability or possibility: “can you”. The reusable question pattern is “Peux-tu … ?” when asking an informal singular person to do something.
tu
In “Peux-tu”, “tu” means “you” when speaking to one person informally. It follows “Peux” in this question pattern.
le
In “le prononcer”, “le” means “it” and refers to the word being discussed. It is placed before the infinitive “prononcer” as the object of that action.
prononcer
In “le prononcer”, “prononcer” means “to pronounce”. After “Peux-tu”, the infinitive names the action the other person is being asked to do.
lentement
In “le prononcer lentement”, “lentement” means “slowly” and describes how the word should be pronounced. It can be placed after an action to describe the manner of doing it.
Je
In “Je vais le découper” and “Je veux m'entraîner”, “Je” means “I” and identifies the speaker as the person doing or wanting the action. It is placed before the verb.
vais
In “Je vais le découper”, “vais” helps express what the speaker is going to do. The reusable pattern is “Je vais” followed by an action, as in “Je vais le découper.”
découper
In “Je vais le découper en plusieurs parties”, “découper” means to break or divide something into parts. Use it with the thing being divided and “en” before the resulting parts.
en
In “en plusieurs parties”, “en” introduces the parts into which something is divided. The reusable pattern is “découper … en … parties” when explaining how something is separated.
plusieurs
In “plusieurs parties”, “plusieurs” means “several” and indicates more than one part. It comes before the plural noun “parties”.
parties
In “en plusieurs parties”, “parties” means “parts”. The plural form is used because the expression refers to several divisions of the word.
me
In “Peux-tu me donner un exemple ?”, “me” means “me” and identifies the person who will receive the example. It is placed before “donner” in this request pattern.
donner
In “me donner un exemple”, “donner” means “to give”. The pattern “donner quelque chose à quelqu'un” expresses giving something to someone; here, “me” identifies the recipient.
un
In “un exemple”, “un” means “an” or “one” and introduces the singular noun “exemple”. It is used before this masculine singular noun.
exemple
In “un exemple”, “exemple” means “example”, something that shows how a word can be used. A useful request pattern is “donner un exemple” when asking for one.
Cette
In “Cette pièce”, “Cette” means “this” and points to the specific room being described. Its form is used before the feminine singular noun “pièce”.
est
In “Cette pièce est propre et lumineuse”, “est” links the room with the descriptions that follow: “clean” and “bright”. It is used between the subject and an adjective description in this sentence.
propre
In “Cette pièce est propre”, “propre” means “clean” and describes the room. It follows “est” when giving a description of something.
et
In “propre et lumineuse”, “et” means “and” and joins the two descriptions of the room. Use it to connect words or phrases of the same role.
lumineuse
In “Cette pièce est propre et lumineuse”, “lumineuse” means “bright” or “well-lit” and describes “pièce”. Its form matches the feminine noun “pièce”.
veux
In “Je veux m'entraîner à l'utiliser”, “veux” expresses the speaker's desire or intention: “I want”. A useful pattern is “Je veux” followed by an action.
m'entraîner
In “Je veux m'entraîner à l'utiliser”, “m'entraîner” means “to practice” in relation to the speaker. The pattern “s'entraîner à” introduces the activity being practiced.
à
In “m'entraîner à l'utiliser”, “à” introduces the action that is being practiced. The reusable pattern is “s'entraîner à” followed by an action.
l'utiliser
In “m'entraîner à l'utiliser”, “l'utiliser” means “to use it”, referring to the word being learned. The form combines the object pronoun “l'” with the infinitive “utiliser”.
Essaie
In “Essaie de l'utiliser”, “Essaie” tells one informal person to try something. It is useful for giving a friendly suggestion or instruction, followed here by “de l'utiliser”.
de
In “Essaie de l'utiliser”, “de” introduces the action that someone should try. A reusable pattern is “Essaie de” followed by an infinitive.
dans
In “dans une phrase courte”, “dans” means “in” and places the use of the word inside a sentence. Use it before the setting or container where an action takes place.
phrase
In “une phrase courte”, “phrase” means “sentence”. It refers to the short sentence in which the learner should use the word.
courte
In “une phrase courte”, “courte” means “short” and describes “phrase”. Its form matches the feminine noun “phrase”.
Grammar Points
peux-tu + infinitif
Peux-tu prononcer lentement ?
PUH-tyoo proh-nohn-SAY lon-tuh-MAHNCan you pronounce slowly?
After peux-tu, the next verb stays in the infinitive: prononcer.
nom féminin + adjectif accordé
petite pièce lumineuse
puh-TEET PYESS loo-mee-NUHZsmall bright room
Adjectives agree with the feminine noun pièce: petite and lumineuse.
French Vocabulary
découper
verb
day-koo-PAY
to break up; to cut into pieces
le découper en plusieurs parties
donner
verb
doh-NAY
to give
me donner un exemple
exemple
noun
eg-ZAHNPL
example
un exemple
lentement
adv
lon-tuh-MAHN
slowly
le prononcer lentement
mot
noun
MOH
word
ce mot
parties
noun
par-TEE
parts
plusieurs parties
petite
adj
puh-TEET
small
une petite pièce
peux-tu
phrase
PUH-tyoo
can you
Peux-tu le prononcer lentement ?
pièce
noun
PYESS
room
une petite pièce
plusieurs
det
ploo-ZYUR
several
plusieurs parties
prononcer
verb
proh-nohn-SAY
to pronounce
le prononcer
veut dire
phrase
vuh DEER
means; means to say
Que veut dire ce mot ?
Quiz
Word Order
Arrange the words in the correct order.
What does this word mean?
Show Answer
Que veut dire ce mot ?It means a small room.
Show Answer
Cela veut dire une petite pièce.Can you pronounce it slowly?
Show Answer
Peux-tu le prononcer lentement ?Spelling
Tap the letters to spell the word.
to pronounce
Show Answer
prononcerseveral
Show Answer
plusieursslowly
Show Answer
lentementroom