About This Lesson
Use Reading medicine instructions to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.
Dialogue
A
J'ai récupéré ce médicament à la pharmacie.
zhay ray-kay-pay-RAY suh may-dee-kah-MAHN ah lah far-mah-SEE I picked up this medicine at the pharmacy.
B
Est-ce que le pharmacien t'a expliqué les instructions ?
ess-kuh luh far-mah-SYAN tah ex-plee-KAY layz an-STROOK-SYON Did the pharmacist explain the instructions?
A
L'étiquette dit de le prendre après les repas.
lay-tee-KET dee duh luh PRAHN-druh ah-PRAY lay ray-PAH The label says to take it after meals.
B
Alors, ne le prends pas avant le petit-déjeuner.
ah-LOR nuh luh PRAHN pah ah-VAHN luh puh-TEE day-zhuh-NAY Then do not take it before breakfast.
A
Je ne sais pas quelle dose prendre.
zhuh nuh SAY pah kel DOHZ PRAHN-druh I am not sure about the dose.
B
Appelle la pharmacie si l'étiquette n'est pas claire.
ah-PELL lah far-mah-SEE see lay-tee-KET nay pah KLAIR Call the pharmacy if the label is unclear.
A
C'est plus sûr que de deviner.
say ploo SOOR kuh duh duh-vee-NAY That is safer than guessing.
B
Le pharmacien peut te dire la bonne dose avant de le prendre.
luh far-mah-SYAN puh tuh DEER lah BUN DOHZ ah-VAHN duh luh PRAHN-druh The pharmacist can tell you the correct dose before you take it.Word by Word
J'ai
In "J'ai récupéré", J'ai means “I have” and helps express the completed action “I picked up.” It is the first-person form of avoir. A reusable pattern is J'ai + a past participle.
récupéré
In "J'ai récupéré ce médicament", récupéré means “picked up” or “retrieved.” It is the past participle used with J'ai. A useful pattern is J'ai récupéré + an object.
ce
In "ce médicament", ce means “this” and comes before the masculine singular noun médicament. A reusable pattern is ce + a masculine singular noun when pointing out a particular thing.
médicament
In "ce médicament", médicament means “medicine.” It refers here to the medicine collected at the pharmacy. The word commonly follows a determiner, as in ce médicament.
à
In "à la pharmacie", à marks the location and means “at.” A reusable pattern is à + a place, as in à la pharmacie.
la
In "la pharmacie", la means “the” before the feminine singular noun pharmacie. A reusable pattern is la + a feminine singular noun.
pharmacie
In "la pharmacie", pharmacie means “pharmacy,” the place where the medicine was collected. The same place appears in "Appelle la pharmacie", where it is the object of the advice to call.
Est-ce que
"Est-ce que" is a neutral question opener in "Est-ce que le pharmacien t'a expliqué les instructions ?". Est-ce contributes the question form, and que introduces the following clause; together they turn the following statement into a question. A reusable pattern is Est-ce que + subject + verb.
le
In "le pharmacien" and "Le pharmacien", le means “the” before the masculine singular noun pharmacien; the capital letter in "Le" is only because it starts the sentence. In "le prendre", le instead means “it” and refers to the medicine. The meaning therefore depends on whether le is before a noun or before the infinitive prendre.
pharmacien
In "le pharmacien", pharmacien means “pharmacist.” It refers to the professional who may explain the instructions or give the correct dose. The reusable phrase "Le pharmacien peut te dire" places this person as the subject of the sentence.
t'a
In "t'a expliqué", t'a combines t', a shortened form of te meaning “to you”, with a, meaning “has” in this completed action. Together, the form shows that the pharmacist has explained something to you. The pronoun comes before the auxiliary verb.
expliqué
In "t'a expliqué les instructions", expliqué means “explained.” It is the past participle used with t'a. Here, the pharmacist explains les instructions to the other person.
les
In "les instructions" and "les repas", les means “the” before a plural noun. A reusable pattern is les + a plural noun.
instructions
In "les instructions", instructions means “instructions,” specifically the directions for using the medicine. A useful pattern in this context is lire les instructions.
L'étiquette
In "L'étiquette dit de le prendre", L'étiquette means “the label.” L' is the shortened form of la before the vowel sound at the beginning of étiquette. The same noun appears as "l'étiquette" after si.
dit
In "L'étiquette dit de le prendre", dit means “says”; the label is presented as giving the instruction. It is a form of dire. A reusable pattern is a subject + dit de + infinitive.
de
In "dit de le prendre", de links dit to the action that the label instructs someone to do. Here it corresponds to “to” before the infinitive phrase le prendre. A reusable pattern is dire de + infinitive.
prendre
In "de le prendre", prendre means “to take,” referring to taking the medicine. The infinitive also appears in "avant de le prendre". A common medicine-related pattern is prendre + an object.
après
In "après les repas", après means “after.” It places taking the medicine after the meals. A reusable pattern is après + a time or event, as in après les repas.
repas
In "après les repas", repas means “meals.” The phrase gives the time for taking the medicine. "Après les repas" is a reusable expression for an action done after meals.
Alors
At the start of "Alors, ne le prends pas avant le petit-déjeuner", Alors means “then” or “so.” It connects the advice to the instruction just mentioned. A reusable pattern is Alors + advice or a decision.
ne
In "ne le prends pas", ne is the first part of the French negative construction ne ... pas. It helps make the command negative: “do not take it.” A reusable pattern is ne + verb or object pronoun + pas.
prends
In "ne le prends pas", prends means “take” in a command addressed to one person. It is a form of prendre used in the negative instruction about the medicine. The reusable command pattern here is ne le prends pas.
pas
In "ne le prends pas", pas is the second part of ne ... pas and completes the negation. Together, ne and pas mean that the person must not take the medicine. A reusable pattern is ne ... pas around the verb phrase.
avant
In "avant le petit-déjeuner", avant means “before” a noun phrase. In "avant de le prendre", it means “before” an action and is followed by de plus an infinitive. Reusable patterns are avant + noun and avant de + infinitive.
petit-déjeuner
In "le petit-déjeuner", petit-déjeuner means “breakfast.” The phrase gives the meal that must come before or after the medicine-taking instruction. It is used here after the article le.
Je
In "Je ne sais pas quelle dose prendre", Je means “I” and is the subject speaking about their own uncertainty. A reusable pattern is Je + verb, including the negative pattern Je ne sais pas.
sais
In "Je ne sais pas", sais means “know.” With ne ... pas, the whole phrase means “I do not know,” which explains the speaker’s uncertainty about the dose. It is a first-person form of savoir.
quelle
In "quelle dose", quelle means “which” or “what” and asks the speaker to identify the dose. Its form matches the feminine singular noun dose. A reusable pattern is quelle + a feminine singular noun.
dose
In "quelle dose prendre", dose means “dose,” the amount of medicine to take. The same word appears in "la bonne dose", meaning the correct dose. A useful pattern is quelle dose prendre when asking which amount to take.
Appelle
In "Appelle la pharmacie", Appelle means “call” as a direct instruction to one person. It is a form of appeler. A reusable pattern is Appelle + the person or place to be called.
si
In "si l'étiquette n'est pas claire", si means “if” and introduces the condition for the advice. A reusable pattern is si + a clause, followed by the resulting advice or action.
n'est
In "n'est pas claire", n'est combines ne, shortened to n' before a vowel, with est, “is.” Together with pas, it forms “is not.” A reusable pattern is n'est pas + an adjective.
claire
In "l'étiquette n'est pas claire", claire means “clear” and describes the label. The adjective appears after être in the expression n'est pas claire. Here, the negative phrase means that the instructions on the label are unclear.
C'est
In "C'est plus sûr que de deviner", C'est means “that is” or “it is” and refers to the suggested action of calling the pharmacy. C' is the shortened form of ce before est. A reusable pattern is C'est + an adjective.
plus
In "plus sûr que de deviner", plus means “more” and marks the comparison. Together with sûr, it gives “safer.” A reusable pattern is plus + adjective + que when comparing two options.
sûr
In "C'est plus sûr", sûr means “safe,” and with plus it means “safer.” The speaker says that checking with the pharmacy is safer than guessing. The reusable comparison is plus sûr que + an alternative.
que
In "plus sûr que de deviner", que introduces the alternative used for comparison and corresponds to “than.” It connects plus sûr with de deviner. A reusable pattern is comparative adjective + que + the compared option.
deviner
In "que de deviner", deviner means “to guess.” It names the alternative that is less safe than checking the dose. The form appears as de + infinitive after the comparison.
peut
In "Le pharmacien peut te dire", peut means “can” and expresses the pharmacist’s ability to provide the information. It is a form of pouvoir. A reusable pattern is pouvoir + infinitive.
te
In "peut te dire", te means “to you” and marks the person who will receive the information. It comes before the infinitive dire in this verb combination. A reusable pattern is a verb of telling or giving information + te.
dire
In "peut te dire la bonne dose", dire means “to tell.” The information being told follows it as la bonne dose. A useful pattern is dire something to someone, with the recipient represented here by te.
bonne
In "la bonne dose", bonne means “correct” or “right,” not simply “good.” It describes the dose that the pharmacist identifies as appropriate. Its form matches the feminine singular noun dose, and the reusable phrase is la bonne dose.
Grammar Points
avant de + infinitif
Avant de prendre le médicament.
ah-VAHN duh PRAHN-druh luh may-dee-kah-MAHNBefore taking the medicine.
Use avant de followed by an infinitive when the subject remains the same.
la bonne + nom féminin
la bonne dose
lah BUN DOHZthe correct dose
Bonne agrees with the feminine noun dose and comes before the noun in this expression.
French Vocabulary
avant
prep
ah-VAHN
before
dose
noun
DOHZ
dose
étiquette
noun
lay-tee-KET
label
expliqué
verb
ex-plee-KAY
explained
instructions
noun
an-STROOK-SYON
instructions
médicament
noun
may-dee-kah-MAHN
medicine
petit-déjeuner
noun
puh-TEE day-zhuh-NAY
breakfast
pharmacie
noun
far-mah-SEE
pharmacy
pharmacien
noun
far-mah-SYAN
pharmacist
prendre
verb
PRAHN-druh
to take
récupéré
verb
ray-kay-pay-RAY
picked up
repas
noun
ray-PAH
meals
Quiz
Word Order
Arrange the words in the correct order.
That is safer than guessing.
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C'est plus sûr que de deviner.Spelling
Tap the letters to spell the word.
medicine
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médicamentpharmacist
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pharmacienexplained
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expliquéto take