📖LearnModule 10 · Lesson 27 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridgeUnit 6 · Le pont vers C1
La nominalisation — première rencontre
Module 10 of the free French course (CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridge), lesson 27 of 30: Written French prefers nouns where spoken French uses verbs. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 27.
The words
French
English
Say it
la nominalisation
nominalization
lah noh-mee-nah-lee-zah-SYOH(n)
le prix a augmenté
the price went up
luh pree ah ohg-mah(n)-TAY
l'ouvriermasculine — the article elides to l'
the manual worker
loo-vree-AY
le titre de journal
the newspaper headline
luh teetr duh zhoor-NAHL
transformer en nom
to turn into a noun
trah(n)s-for-may ah(n) NOH(n)
écrit
written
ay-KREE
parlé
spoken
pahr-LAY
élever le ton
to raise the register
ayl-vay luh TOH(n)
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
Written French prefers nouns where spoken French uses verbs. Le prix a augmenté becomes l'augmentation du prix. Les ouvriers ont fait grève becomes la grève des ouvriers.
Et aussi · And also
It is what makes a headline sound like a headline, and it is the single fastest way to raise the register of a sentence. Module 1 of the Proficient band takes it apart properly.
Attention · Watch out
Nominalization turns a verb into a noun: le prix a augmenté becomes l'augmentation du prix. The new noun takes an article and de: la grève des ouvriers.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with la nominalisation.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 27 in Module 10 are the written half of this page.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.