📖LearnModule 10 · Lesson 4 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridgeUnit 1 · Les trois passés, en contraste
Le fait divers
Module 10 of the free French course (CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridge), lesson 4 of 30: . On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 4.
The words
French
English
Say it
le fait divers
the news-in-brief item
luh feh dee-VEHR
un incendie s'est déclaré
a fire broke out
uh(n) na(n)-sah(n)-dee seh day-klah-RAY
évacuer
to evacuate
ay-vah-kew-AY
le blessé
the injured person
luh bleh-SAY
le vol
the theft
luh VOHL
le sauvetage
the rescue
luh sohv-TAHZH
les faitsplural
the facts
lay FEH
sobre
plain in style
sohbr
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
A fait divers is a short news item about an ordinary event — a fire, a theft, a rescue — and French papers have a house style for it: passive voice, no adjectives, facts in order.
Et aussi · And also
Un incendie s'est déclaré hier soir. Trois personnes ont été évacuées. Aucun blessé n'est à déplorer. Notice aucun and the passive — this is where Module 2 and Module 3 meet on one page.
Attention · Watch out
A fait divers is written in the passive with no adjectives: trois personnes ont été évacuées, participle agreeing. aucun blessé keeps ne: aucun blessé n'est à déplorer.
inviter, voix passive — the table
il est invité · elle est invitée · ils sont invités · elles sont invitées
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with le fait divers.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out inviter, voix passive in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
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.