About This Lesson
Use Asking for a quiet study room to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.
Dialogue
A
Est-ce qu'il y a une salle d'étude libre ?
ess-kuh eel yah oon sal duh-TEWD LEEBR Is a study room available?
B
Il y en a une de libre maintenant.
eel yee ah oon duh LEEBR mahnt-nahN One is open now.
A
Est-ce que je peux lire dans cette salle ?
ess-kuh zhuh puh LEER dahn set SAL Can I read in there?
B
Vous pouvez l'utiliser pour lire et fermer la porte.
voo poo-VAY lee-tee-lee-ZAY poor LEER ay fair-MAY lah PORT You can use it for reading and close the door.
A
Est-ce que la salle restera calme ?
ess-kuh lah SAL res-tuh-RAH KAHLM Will it stay quiet?
B
Les murs bloquent la plupart du bruit.
lay MEWR blohk lah ploo-PAR dew BRWEE The walls block most of the noise.
A
Cette salle me convient.
set SAL muh kohn-VYAN This room works for me.
B
S'il vous plaît, laissez-la propre pour les autres.
seel voo PLAY, lay-SAY lah PROPR poor lay-ZOH-truh Please leave it clean for other people.Word by Word
Est-ce
In “Est-ce qu'il y a une salle d'étude libre ?” and “Est-ce que je peux lire dans cette salle ?”, “Est-ce” begins a yes-or-no question. It is reusable as the opening of this question pattern.
qu'il
In “Est-ce qu'il y a une salle d'étude libre ?”, “qu'il” is “que” joined to “il” and introduces the clause after the question marker. Together with “y a”, it forms the expression used to ask whether something exists or is available.
y
In “Est-ce qu'il y a une salle d'étude libre ?” and “Il y en a une de libre maintenant”, “y” is part of the expression “il y a”, used to say that something exists or is available. Reuse it in the fixed pattern “il y a” before the thing being mentioned.
a
In “il y a”, “a” helps express that something exists or is available; here the question asks whether a free study room exists. This is the verb form used in the fixed expression “il y a”.
une
In “une salle d'étude libre”, “une” means “a” before the feminine noun “salle”; in “Il y en a une de libre maintenant”, it means “one” and refers to a feminine room. Reuse “une” with a feminine singular noun or when referring back to one feminine item.
salle
“Salle” means “room” in “une salle d'étude libre” and “Cette salle”. It is used for the study room being discussed, and it can combine with a description such as “salle d'étude”.
d'étude
In “une salle d'étude libre”, “d'étude” means “for study” or “of study” and specifies the room’s purpose. The expression “salle d'étude” is a reusable way to identify a room intended for studying.
libre
In “une salle d'étude libre” and “une de libre”, “libre” means available, with no one using the room. It can be placed after “salle” to describe availability, as in “salle ... libre”.
Il
In “Il y en a une de libre maintenant”, “Il” is part of the expression “il y a”, which presents the existence or availability of something. Reuse “il y a” when stating that something is present or available.
en
In “Il y en a une de libre maintenant”, “en” refers back to the available study rooms and helps express that there is one of them. It is used here in the pattern “il y en a une” to avoid repeating the noun.
de
In “une de libre”, “de” links “une” with “libre” and identifies the one as available. The reusable pattern here is “une de + description” when referring to one item from a group.
maintenant
“Maintenant” means “now” in “Il y en a une de libre maintenant”, emphasizing that the room is available at this moment. Use it to place an availability or action in the present time.
Est-ce que
“Est-ce que” is the complete question marker in “Est-ce que je peux lire dans cette salle ?” and turns the following clause into a yes-or-no question. “Est-ce” starts the question frame, while “que” links it to the clause that follows; reuse the whole expression before a yes-or-no question.
je
“Je” means “I” in “Est-ce que je peux lire dans cette salle ?” and identifies the person asking for permission. It is placed before the verb in this question pattern.
peux
“Peux” means “can” in “je peux lire” and expresses the speaker’s ability or permission to read. It is the form of “pouvoir” used with “je”, followed here by the infinitive “lire”; the reusable pattern is “je peux” plus an action.
lire
“Lire” means “to read” in “je peux lire dans cette salle”. It follows “peux” as the action the speaker wants to do, and “peux + lire” is a reusable ability or permission pattern.
dans
“Dans” means “in” or “inside” in “lire dans cette salle”, identifying the room where the reading will take place. Reuse “dans” before a place when describing an action occurring inside it.
cette
“Cette” means “this” before the feminine noun “salle” in “cette salle”. It points to the particular room being discussed, and it is reusable before a feminine singular noun.
Vous
“Vous” means “you” in “Vous pouvez l'utiliser...” and identifies the person receiving the instruction. It can address one person formally or more than one person, and it appears before the verb here.
pouvez
“Pouvez” means “can” or “are able to” in “Vous pouvez l'utiliser”. It is the form of “pouvoir” used with “vous” and is followed by the action “l'utiliser”; reuse the pattern “vous pouvez” plus an infinitive.
l'utiliser
“L'utiliser” means “use it” in “Vous pouvez l'utiliser pour lire”, with “l'” referring to the study room and “utiliser” naming the action. It follows “pouvez”, and the reusable pattern is “pouvoir + l'utiliser” when giving permission to use something already mentioned.
pour
In “l'utiliser pour lire”, “pour” introduces the purpose of using the room: reading. The pattern “pour + infinitive”, as in “pour lire”, is reusable for explaining why an action is done.
et
“Et” means “and” in “pour lire et fermer la porte” and connects the two actions. Reuse it to join two actions or pieces of information in the same instruction.
fermer
“Fermer” means “to close” in “fermer la porte”. It is an infinitive coordinated with “lire” and names the second action in the instruction; reuse it before an object such as “la porte”.
la
In “la porte”, “la” means “the” before the feminine singular noun “porte”. It identifies the specific door, and it is reusable before a feminine singular noun.
porte
“Porte” means “door” in “fermer la porte”. It is the object that should be closed, and the reusable phrase “fermer la porte” describes closing a door.
restera
“Restera” means “will remain” or “will stay” in “la salle restera calme”. It is the future form of “rester” used with “la salle”, and “rester + description” is reusable for saying that something will continue in a condition.
calme
“Calme” means “quiet” in “la salle restera calme” and describes the room’s expected condition. It can follow “rester” to say that a place will stay quiet.
Les
In “Les murs bloquent...”, “Les” means “the” before the plural noun “murs”. It identifies the particular walls being discussed and is reusable before a plural noun.
murs
“Murs” means “walls” in “Les murs bloquent la plupart du bruit”. The walls are described as preventing most of the noise from passing through, and the word can be used after a plural determiner such as “les”.
bloquent
“Bloquent” means “block” in “Les murs bloquent la plupart du bruit”. It is the form of “bloquer” used with the plural subject “Les murs”; the reusable pattern is a subject followed by “bloquer” and the thing being blocked.
plupart
In “la plupart du bruit”, “plupart” means “most” or “the greater part”, referring to the greater part of the noise. The reusable pattern is “la plupart de” followed by what is being measured or considered.
du
In “la plupart du bruit”, “du” means “of the” and connects “la plupart” to “bruit”. It is used here in the pattern “la plupart du” before the noun being described.
bruit
“Bruit” means “noise” in “la plupart du bruit”. It is the sound that the walls block, and it can follow “du” in the expression “du bruit” for noise being discussed as a substance or amount.
me
In “Cette salle me convient”, “me” identifies the person for whom the room is suitable, roughly “for me”. It appears before “convient” in the reusable pattern “X me convient” to say that something suits the speaker.
convient
“Convient” means “suits” or “works for” in “Cette salle me convient”. It is the form of “convenir” used with “Cette salle” and the pronoun “me”; reuse “X me convient” when saying that an option is suitable for you.
S'il vous plaît
“S'il vous plaît” is the complete polite expression meaning “please” in “S'il vous plaît, laissez-la propre...”. “S'il” contributes the opening “if it”, “vous” refers to the person being addressed formally or to several people, and “plaît” contributes “pleases”; together they form the polite request expression.
laissez-la
“Laissez-la” means “leave it” in “laissez-la propre”, referring to the study room. It combines the command form of “laisser” for “vous” with “la”, the object pronoun for the room; reuse it before a condition such as “propre” when giving this kind of instruction.
propre
“Propre” means “clean” in “laissez-la propre” and describes the condition in which the room should be left. It follows the object in this instruction to state the condition to maintain.
autres
In “pour les autres”, “autres” means “other people” or “others”, referring to people who will use the room later. The reusable expression “pour les autres” indicates consideration for other people.
Grammar Points
L'impératif + pronom objet : laissez-la
Laissez-la propre, s'il vous plaît.
lay-SAY lah PROPR, seel voo PLAYLeave it clean, please.
In a positive command, the object pronoun follows the verb and is joined with a hyphen: laissez-la.
Le futur simple à la 3e personne : restera
La salle d'étude restera calme.
lah SAL duh-TEWD res-tuh-RAH KAHLMThe study room will remain quiet.
Restera is the third-person singular future of rester, meaning “will remain.”
French Vocabulary
calme
adj
KAHLM
quiet; calm
cette
det
SET
this
dans
prep
DAHN
in; inside
fermer
verb
fair-MAY
to close
libre
adj
LEEBR
available; free
lire
verb
LEER
to read
maintenant
adv
mahnt-nahN
now
murs
noun
MEWR
walls
porte
noun
PORT
door
rester
verb
res-TAY
to stay; to remain
restera
salle d'étude
phrase
sal duh-TEWD
study room
utiliser
verb
ee-tee-lee-ZAY
to use
l'utiliser
Quiz
Word Order
Arrange the words in the correct order.
This room works for me.
Show Answer
Cette salle me convient.Spelling
Tap the letters to spell the word.
door
Show Answer
porteto close
Show Answer
fermernow
Show Answer
maintenantto read