Using example sentences to learn new vocabulary | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Je retiens les nouveaux mots pendant mes révisions.

   I remember new words during study time.

   retiens

   remember; retain

   nouveaux

   new

   mots

   words

   pendant

   during

   révisions

   study sessions; review

   More detail

   retiens is the first-person singular present form of retenir. Here it means “remember” or “retain”: the speaker manages to keep the words in memory. The pattern je retiens + object is reusable for something the speaker remembers or retains. For example: Je retiens cette règle. — “I remember this rule.” nouveaux means “new” here and describes mots. Its base form is the adjective nouveau; nouveaux is the masculine plural form used with the masculine plural noun mots. Other forms include nouvelle for feminine singular and nouvelles for feminine plural. Example: de nouvelles idées — “new ideas.” mots is the plural of the noun mot, meaning “word.” The singular–plural pair is un mot / des mots. Example: J’apprends un mot. — “I am learning a word.” pendant is a preposition meaning “during” when it introduces the period in which something happens. It is followed here by mes révisions, so the remembering happens during the speaker’s study or review sessions. Example: Je lis pendant la pause. — “I read during the break.” révisions is the plural of the noun révision. In this context, it refers to study or review sessions, not to a correction of a document. The singular–plural pair is une révision / des révisions. With mes, the phrase mes révisions means “my study sessions” or “my review time.” Together, Je retiens gives “I remember,” les nouveaux mots gives “the new words,” and pendant mes révisions gives “during my study time.” The complete utterance therefore means: “I remember new words during study time.”

2. Mais je les oublie quand j'essaie de parler.

   But I forget them when I try to speak.

   Mais

   But

   les

   them

   oublie

   forget

   quand

   when

   j'essaie

   I try

   parler

   speak

   More detail

   Mais introduces a contrast with what came before. Here it contrasts remembering or retaining words with forgetting them. Example: Je veux venir, mais je travaille. — “I want to come, but I am working.” les is a plural direct-object pronoun. In this utterance, it means “them,” referring to the words supported by the surrounding context. French uses le for a masculine singular direct object, la for a feminine singular direct object, and les for a plural direct object; these pronouns come before the conjugated verb. Example: Je les lis. — “I read them.” oublie is the present-tense form of oublier (“to forget”) used with je; j'oublie means “I forget” or, depending on context, “I am forgetting.” The final -e belongs to the verb form, not to les. Other present forms include tu oublies and il/elle oublie. Example: J'oublie souvent ce mot. — “I often forget this word.” quand introduces a time clause: “when.” It connects the forgetting with the situation described in the following clause. Example: Je souris quand je comprends. — “I smile when I understand.” j'essaie is the first-person singular present form of essayer (“to try”); the apostrophe replaces the final vowel of je before the vowel sound in essaie. In j'essaie de parler, essayer de is the reusable pattern “to try to” followed by an infinitive. J'essaye is also used as a spelling variant of j'essaie in contemporary French. Example: J'essaie de comprendre. — “I try to understand.” parler is the infinitive “to speak” or “to talk.” After essayer de, French keeps the next verb in the infinitive: essayer de parler. The word de is the connector required in this construction, even though it is not one of the selected phrase entries. Example: Elle essaie de parler français. — “She tries to speak French.” Together, Mais je les oublie means “But I forget them.” The temporal clause quand j'essaie de parler means “when I try to speak,” so the complete utterance is: “But I forget them when I try to speak.”

3. Les mots ne sont peut-être pas liés à des situations où tu les utiliserais vraiment.

   The words may not be connected to situations where you would actually use them.

   mots

   words

   ne … pas

   not

   sont … liés à

   are connected to

   peut-être

   maybe

   situations

   situations

   où

   where

   tu

   you

   les

   them

   utiliserais

   would use

   vraiment

   actually

   More detail

   mots means “words” here. It is the plural of mot; the final -s marks plural in writing, although it is not normally pronounced. In this sentence, it is the subject of sont liés. ne ... pas is the standard French negation pattern around a conjugated verb: ne sont pas means “are not.” Here ne comes before sont and pas after it. In informal speech, ne is often omitted, but it is present in the fixed sentence. sont liés à means “are connected to.” sont is the present-tense form of être for a plural subject. liés is the past participle of lier (“to connect”); it agrees here with masculine plural mots, so it has the spelling -és. The construction être lié à + noun is reusable: Cette idée est liée à ce problème. — “This idea is connected to this problem.” peut-être means “maybe” or “perhaps.” It expresses uncertainty about the statement rather than changing the meaning of liés à. It is written with a hyphen in this adverbial use. situations means “situations.” It is the plural of situation, a feminine noun, but the noun’s gender does not affect the form of this plural noun here. The phrase lié à des situations uses à before the plural indefinite article des. où means “where” in this sentence. It introduces the relative clause où tu les utiliserais vraiment, identifying situations by what would happen in them. Its accent distinguishes it from ou (“or”). tu is the familiar singular subject pronoun “you.” It is the subject of utiliserais, not of sont; the earlier verb has the plural subject les mots. les means “them” here and is a direct-object pronoun. The fixed translation identifies its referent as the words. In French, this pronoun comes before the conjugated verb: tu les utiliserais = “you would use them.” utiliserais means “would use” in this clause. Its base form is the infinitive utiliser (“to use”), and the form is the present conditional for tu: tu utiliserais. The conditional presents the use as dependent on the situations being considered, rather than stating that the use is happening now. Compare tu utilises (“you use/are using”) with tu utiliserais (“you would use”). vraiment means “actually” here and modifies utiliserais, emphasizing real or genuine use. It does not mean that the words are connected in a stronger way; it qualifies how the words would be used. Together, Les mots sont liés à des situations says “The words are connected to situations.” Adding où tu les utiliserais vraiment specifies those situations as ones where you would actually use the words. The negation and peut-être then produce the complete meaning: “The words may not be connected to situations where you would actually use them.”

4. J'écris généralement la traduction et je révise ensuite la même liste.

   I usually write the translation and review the same list later.

   J'écris

   I write

   généralement

   usually

   traduction

   translation

   révise

   review

   ensuite

   afterward

   même

   same

   liste

   list

   More detail

   J'écris means “I write” here. It combines je (“I”) with the first-person singular present form écris of écrire (“to write”); the final vowel of je is elided before the vowel of écris. The same verb can be used with other subjects: tu écris means “you write,” while il écrit means “he writes.” Example: J'écris une phrase. — “I write a sentence.” généralement means “usually” or “generally.” It describes the regularity of the action rather than changing the action itself. Example: Je lis généralement le soir. — “I usually read in the evening.” traduction means “translation.” In la traduction, the noun is feminine singular, shown by the article la. Its singular and plural forms are traduction and traductions, with the plural marked by -s and accompanied here by les: la traduction / les traductions. Example: Je vérifie la traduction. — “I check the translation.” révise means “review” here. It is the first-person singular present form of réviser: je révise — “I review.” This is a regular action in the same present-time frame as j'écris; it does not mean that the review is necessarily happening at this exact moment. Example: Je révise mes notes. — “I review my notes.” ensuite means “afterward” or “then.” It orders the reviewing after the writing. Example: Je lis le texte, ensuite je le révise. — “I read the text, then I review it.” même means “same” in la même liste. It marks the list as the same one referred to by the context, rather than a different list. Before a feminine singular noun, it appears as même; with a plural noun, it is mêmes, as in les mêmes listes — “the same lists.” liste means “list.” Here it is feminine singular, as shown by la même liste. Example: La liste est courte. — “The list is short.” The sentence has two coordinated actions: J'écris généralement la traduction (“I usually write the translation”) and je révise ensuite la même liste (“then I review the same list”). The conjunction et links them. Généralement gives the first action its usual frequency, while ensuite places the second action afterward. Together, the sentence means: “I usually write the translation and review the same list later.”

5. Essaie d'ajouter une phrase d'exemple simple pour chaque mot utile.

   Try adding one simple example sentence for each useful word.

   Essaie

   try

   d'ajouter

   to add

   phrase

   sentence

   exemple

   example

   simple

   simple

   pour chaque

   for each

   mot

   word

   utile

   useful

   More detail

   Essaie is the imperative form of essayer for one familiar or informal tu addressee. In this sentence it means “try,” and the subject is understood rather than written. A reusable pattern is Essaie de + infinitive: Essaie de lire ce texte. — “Try to read this text.” d'ajouter combines de with the infinitive ajouter (“to add”); the apostrophe appears because de comes before a vowel. French commonly uses essayer de + infinitive, so Essaie d'ajouter means “Try to add.” phrase is a feminine noun meaning “sentence” here. Its gender matters for words that agree with it: une phrase, la phrase, une phrase simple. It can also mean a phrase or utterance in other contexts, but the fixed sentence clearly refers to a sentence. exemple means “example.” In phrase d'exemple, d' introduces the kind or purpose of the noun: literally, an “example sentence.” The noun remains masculine, as shown by un exemple. simple is an adjective meaning “simple.” It agrees with the feminine singular noun phrase, but its written form is the same for masculine singular: un exemple simple and une phrase simple. For example, une explication simple means “a simple explanation.” pour chaque expresses distribution: “for each.” Chaque is a singular determiner, so the noun after it is normally singular: chaque mot (“each word”), not a plural noun. This does not itself state a numerical count; it indicates that the instruction applies individually to the relevant items. mot is a masculine noun meaning “word.” Its singular form appears after chaque; the plural is mots. For example, Je connais ce mot. — “I know this word.” utile means “useful” here. It is an adjective modifying mot, so it is masculine singular in this phrase. The written form is also used with feminine singular nouns: un mot utile and une phrase utile. Its plural form is utiles for both masculine and feminine nouns. Together, Essaie d'ajouter gives the informal singular instruction “Try to add.” une phrase d'exemple simple means “a simple example sentence”; the indefinite article does not by itself assert a numeric count. pour chaque mot utile specifies that this should be done separately for every useful word. The whole utterance is therefore: “Try adding a simple example sentence for each useful word.”

6. Je peux écrire des phrases sur le travail, les achats ou des messages à mes amis.

   I can write sentences about work, shopping, or messages to friends.

   Je peux

   I can

   écrire

   write

   phrases

   sentences

   travail

   work

   achats

   shopping

   messages

   messages

   amis

   friends

   More detail

   Je peux uses the first-person singular present form of pouvoir, meaning “I can” here. Pouvoir is normally followed by an infinitive: Je peux venir means “I can come.” The form peux is for je and tu; the subject identifies which form is used. écrire is the infinitive “to write.” After peux, it stays in the infinitive rather than taking a personal ending. Its present forms include j’écris, tu écris, and nous écrivons; the infinitive and the conjugated forms are not interchangeable after pouvoir. phrases is the plural of the noun phrase, “sentence” or “phrase.” In this utterance, the intended meaning is “sentences.” The plural article des in des phrases introduces plural sentences without stating an exact number. Example: J’écris des phrases courtes. — “I write short sentences.” travail means “work” here. It is singular, but le travail refers generally to work rather than to one countable item. The noun’s plural is travaux, used in different contexts such as works or projects. In sur le travail, sur connects the writing to its subject: “about work.” achats is the plural of achat, “purchase.” In the supplied translation, the natural overall meaning is “shopping”; the French noun focuses more literally on purchases. les achats uses the definite plural article for shopping or purchases as a general topic in this list. Example: Je parle des achats. — “I talk about shopping.” messages is the plural of message, “message.” The plural form refers to messages generally, without specifying how many. In des messages, des again presents unspecified plural items. Example: Elle écrit des messages. — “She writes messages.” amis is the plural of ami, “friend.” Here, mes amis means “my friends”: mes is the plural possessive determiner, and it agrees with the plural noun. The form mes is the same before masculine and feminine plural nouns; it does not by itself identify the friends’ gender. The connecting words complete the relationships between these entries. sur le travail means “about work,” les achats supplies the second topic, and ou means “or.” des messages à mes amis means “messages to my friends”: à marks the recipients, while mes expresses possession or personal association. The list therefore has three possible topics: work, shopping, or messages to friends. Together, Je peux écrire gives “I can write,” and the following noun groups specify what can be written about or what kind of messages can be written. The whole utterance means: “I can write sentences about work, shopping, or messages to friends.”

7. Ces situations rendront le sens plus facile à retrouver pendant une conversation.

   Those situations will make the meaning easier to recall during conversation.

   Ces

   those

   situations

   situations

   rendront

   will make

   sens

   meaning

   plus facile

   easier

   retrouver

   recall

   pendant

   during

   conversation

   conversation

   More detail

   Ces is a plural demonstrative determiner: it means “those” here and agrees with the plural noun situations. It does not by itself identify which situations they are. Compare the common forms ce/cet for masculine singular, cette for feminine singular, and ces for plural nouns. situations is the plural of the feminine noun situation. The noun is the subject of the sentence, and its plural form is reflected in the verb rendront. rendront is the future simple, third-person plural form of rendre (“to make” here): rendre → ils/elles rendront. In the useful pattern rendre quelque chose plus facile à faire, the subject causes something to become easier to do. The future places this effect after the present point of reference. le sens means “the meaning” in this sentence. sens is a masculine noun, so it appears with the masculine singular article le. In other contexts, sens can have related meanings such as “sense” or “direction”; here the fixed translation selects “meaning.” plus facile means “easier.” facile is the adjective’s base form, and plus facile forms a comparative with plus. facile does not change between masculine and feminine; its plural form is faciles. Example: Cette règle est plus facile. — “This rule is easier.” à retrouver is an infinitive phrase. retrouver means “to recall” in this context, with the meaning of bringing the meaning back to memory. The à belongs to the pattern rendre ... plus facile à retrouver: “make ... easier to recall.” The infinitive itself is not marked for person or tense. pendant introduces the time span “during.” It is followed here by une conversation, “a conversation.” conversation is a feminine noun, which is why the article is une; the article does not by itself assert a numerical count as a teaching point here. Example: Je lis pendant une conversation. — “I read during a conversation.” Together, Ces situations rendront gives “Those situations will make,” le sens plus facile à retrouver gives “the meaning easier to recall,” and pendant une conversation specifies when this will be easier. The complete meaning is: “Those situations will make the meaning easier to recall during conversation.”

8. Je devrais probablement étudier moins de mots et les utiliser plus souvent.

   I should probably study fewer words and use them more often.

   Je devrais

   I should

   probablement

   probably

   étudier

   to study

   moins de

   fewer

   mots

   words

   les

   them

   utiliser

   to use

   plus souvent

   more often

   More detail

   Je devrais combines the subject pronoun je (“I”) with devrais, the first-person singular present conditional of devoir (“to have to; must”). In this sentence, devoir in the conditional expresses advice or a personal recommendation: “I should,” rather than a firm obligation such as je dois (“I must / have to”). The conditional form agrees with je; devrais is not the infinitive. Example: Je devrais dormir. — “I should sleep.” probablement means “probably.” It modifies the recommendation, making it probable rather than certain. Its placement after Je devrais is natural here, before the first action. étudier is the infinitive “to study.” After a conjugated form of devoir, the following action normally appears as an infinitive: Je devrais étudier — “I should study.” Example: Tu dois travailler. — “You have to work.” moins de introduces a smaller amount or number of something. Before a noun, French uses moins de whether the noun is countable or not; here moins de mots means “fewer words.” The useful contrast is plus de mots — “more words.” De is part of this quantity pattern, not an indefinite article asserting a single quantity. mots is the plural of the masculine noun mot, “word.” The plural is formed by adding -s in writing, although that final letter is normally not pronounced. In this utterance, it is the noun counted by moins de. Example: J’apprends de nouveaux mots. — “I am learning new words.” les is a plural direct-object pronoun meaning “them” here. The fixed translation and the surrounding bounded context identify its referent as the words. In French, les has the same form for masculine and feminine plural direct objects; its plural marking is visible, but it does not itself show gender. It is placed before the infinitive it belongs to: les utiliser — “to use them.” Compare singular direct-object forms such as le or la in contexts where the object is singular. utiliser is the infinitive “to use.” It follows the object pronoun in the construction les utiliser, not utiliser les. The infinitive is coordinated with the earlier infinitive étudier, so both actions depend on devrais: “should study ... and use them.” Example: Je veux les utiliser. — “I want to use them.” plus souvent means “more often.” Souvent means “often,” and plus souvent compares frequency: the using should happen more frequently. The comparison is on the adverb souvent, not on the noun mots; plus de mots would instead mean “more words.” Example: Je lis plus souvent. — “I read more often.” Together, Je devrais probablement étudier moins de mots means “I should probably study fewer words,” and et les utiliser plus souvent adds the coordinated action “and use them more often.” The full utterance therefore recommends studying a smaller number of words and using those words with greater frequency. The conditional keeps this as a recommendation or reflection rather than stating an unavoidable obligation.

9. Le fait de les utiliser souvent aidera ces mots à entrer dans ton vocabulaire actif.

   Repeated use will help the words become part of your active vocabulary.

   Le fait de

   the fact of; doing

   les

   them

   utiliser

   to use

   souvent

   often

   aidera

   will help

   ces

   these

   mots

   words

   entrer

   to enter

   ton

   your

   vocabulaire

   vocabulary

   actif

   active

   More detail

   Le fait de turns an action into a noun-like expression: le fait de + infinitive means “the fact of doing” or, naturally here, “doing.” In this sentence, Le fait de les utiliser souvent is the subject of aidera. les is an unstressed object pronoun meaning “them.” Here the fixed translation identifies its referent as the words. It comes before the infinitive: les utiliser = “to use them.” Compare utiliser les mots, where the noun object follows the verb. utiliser is the infinitive “to use.” The infinitive is required after de in le fait de les utiliser; it does not mark a particular subject or time. Example: J’aime les utiliser. — “I like using them.” souvent means “often.” It modifies utiliser, so the idea is using the words frequently. Example: Elle lit souvent. — “She often reads.” aidera is the third-person singular future form of aider, “to help”: aider → il/elle aidera. Here, the whole preceding Le fait de... expression is singular, so aidera is singular. The useful pattern is aider quelqu’un ou quelque chose à + infinitive. ces is the demonstrative determiner “these,” used with a plural noun. It does not itself identify which words; the sentence presents them as ces mots. mots is the plural of mot, “word.” The singular/plural contrast is un mot / des mots. In ces mots, the plural form is required by the demonstrative and by the meaning “words.” entrer is the infinitive “to enter” or “to go into.” In aidera ces mots à entrer, it forms the pattern aider + object + à + infinitive: “will help these words enter.” Example: Cette pratique aide les élèves à comprendre. — “This practice helps the students understand.” ton is the masculine singular possessive determiner “your,” used before the singular masculine noun vocabulaire. Its form agrees with the possessed noun, not with the person who possesses it. Before a feminine singular noun, the corresponding form is often ta, as in ta méthode (“your method”). vocabulaire means “vocabulary.” It is a masculine singular noun, as shown by ton and actif. ton vocabulaire means “your vocabulary.” actif is the masculine singular form of the adjective actif, “active.” It agrees with the masculine singular noun vocabulaire; the adjective is not based on that noun. With a feminine singular noun, the form is active, as in une méthode active (“an active method”). The sentence assembles as follows: Le fait de les utiliser souvent means “using them often”; that singular subject combines with aidera to mean “will help”; aidera ces mots à entrer means “will help these words enter”; and dans ton vocabulaire actif means “into your active vocabulary.” Together: “Using them often will help these words become part of your active vocabulary.”

10. Je choisirai un petit groupe de mots et j'écrirai des exemples personnels après le cours.

    I will choose a small set and write personal examples after class.

    choisirai

    will choose

    petit

    small

    groupe

    group; set

    mots

    words

    écrirai

    will write

    exemples

    examples

    personnels

    personal

    cours

    class

    More detail

    choisirai is the first-person singular future of choisir (“to choose”): je choisirai = “I will choose.” The ending -ai here marks the future with je; it is not the present form. Example: Je choisirai un livre demain. — “I will choose a book tomorrow.” petit describes groupe. It is the masculine singular form of petit; the feminine singular form is petite, and the plural forms are petits (masculine) and petites (feminine). Its masculine singular form is required here because groupe is masculine singular. Example: un petit problème — “a small problem.” groupe is a noun meaning “group” and, in un groupe de mots, naturally means a set or group of words. The pattern un groupe de + noun is useful for identifying a collection: un groupe de personnes means “a group of people.” Un is an indefinite article; it does not by itself assert a numerical count beyond introducing one unspecified group. mots is the plural of mot, “word.” The final -s marks the plural in writing, while the pronunciation is generally the same as for singular mot. des mots means “words”; the phrase un groupe de mots means “a group of words.” écrirai is the first-person singular future of écrire, “to write.” The future stem is écrir-, so the form is j'écrirai, not a form built by simply adding the regular future ending to the visible present stem. Example: J'écrirai une phrase. — “I will write a sentence.” exemples is the plural of exemple, “example.” The plural article and noun together, des exemples, refer to unspecified examples. Example: Je donne des exemples simples. — “I give simple examples.” personnels means “personal” here and agrees with exemples: both are masculine plural. Its base adjective is personnel; the feminine forms are personnelle and personnelles. This adjective describes the examples as belonging to or relating to the writer personally, rather than changing the meaning of exemples itself. Example: mes notes personnelles — “my personal notes.” cours means “class” here in le cours. The noun is spelled cours in both singular and plural; the article distinguishes le cours (“the class”) from les cours (“the classes”). The preposition après means “after,” so après le cours is the time expression “after class.” The sentence has two coordinated future actions with the same subject je: Je choisirai un petit groupe de mots (“I will choose a small set of words”) and j'écrirai des exemples personnels (“I will write personal examples”). The conjunction et joins them, and après le cours places the writing after class. Together, the utterance means: “I will choose a small set and write personal examples after class.”

11. Cette routine devrait rendre ta pratique du vocabulaire plus concrète.

    That routine should make your vocabulary practice more practical.

    Cette

    that

    routine

    routine

    devrait

    should

    rendre

    make

    ta

    your

    pratique

    practice

    vocabulaire

    vocabulary

    plus concrète

    more concrete

    More detail

    Cette is the feminine singular form of the demonstrative determiner, used with a feminine singular noun. Here it agrees with routine; in the fixed translation, the meaning is “that” routine. Demonstratives vary with the noun they determine: for example, ce livre means “this/that book,” while cette méthode means “this/that method.” In the preceding context, the routine is the activity of choosing words and writing personal examples. routine is a feminine noun meaning a repeated method or set of activities. Its gender is relevant because it takes cette here. Example: Cette routine est simple. — “This routine is simple.” devrait is a form of devoir, “to have to” or “must.” It is the third-person singular conditional form. In this sentence, the conditional gives the prediction or expectation “should,” rather than stating an absolute result. The subject is Cette routine, so the third-person singular form is used. Example: Cette méthode devrait aider. — “This method should help.” rendre is the infinitive of “to make” in the sense of causing something to become a certain way. After devoir, the next verb remains in the infinitive: devrait rendre. A useful pattern is rendre + object + adjective, as in rendre le texte plus clair — “make the text clearer.” ta is the feminine singular possessive determiner meaning “your.” It agrees with the possessed noun, pratique, not necessarily with the person who possesses it. The corresponding masculine singular form is ton, as in ton livre — “your book”; before a vowel sound, French uses ton even with a feminine noun, as in ton activité — “your activity.” pratique is a feminine noun here, meaning “practice” or the activity of practicing. It is different from the adjective pratique, which can mean “practical” or “convenient”; the surrounding structure and the following noun identify the noun use here. Example: La pratique du français demande du temps. — “Practicing French takes time.” vocabulaire is a masculine noun meaning “vocabulary,” the set of words known or being learned. In la pratique du vocabulaire, du is the combination of de and le, marking the vocabulary as the content or area of the practice. Example: Je révise mon vocabulaire. — “I review my vocabulary.” plus concrète means “more concrete” or, in the fixed translation, “more practical.” plus forms a comparative, and concrète is the feminine singular form of the adjective concret, agreeing with pratique. The adjective’s base form is concret; concrète is its feminine form, while plus concrète is its comparative form. Example: Cette explication est plus concrète. — “This explanation is more concrete.” Together, Cette routine is the subject, devrait rendre expresses that it should cause a change, and ta pratique du vocabulaire is what becomes changed. The pattern rendre + object + plus + adjective therefore gives: “That routine should make your vocabulary practice more practical.”