📖LearnModule 11 · Lesson 29 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, first halfUnit 6 · Argumenter avec nuance
Les expressions imagées
Module 11 of the free French course (CEFR C1, first half), lesson 29 of 30: . On this page: 7 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 29.
The words
French
English
Say it
ça n'a rien à voir
that has nothing to do with it
sah nah rya(n) nah VWAHR
tomber à l'eau
to fall through
toh(n)-bay ah LOH
avoir le bras long
to have influence
ah-vwahr luh brah LOH(n)
ce n'est pas la mer à boire
it is not that hard
suh neh pah lah mehr ah BWAHR
l'expression imagéefeminine — the article elides to l'
the figurative expression
lehks-preh-syoh(n) nee-mah-ZHAY
au sens propre
literally
oh sah(n)s PROHPR
au sens figuré
figuratively
oh sah(n)s fee-gew-RAY
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
Figurative French is where proficiency shows: ça n'a rien à voir (that has nothing to do with it), le projet est tombé à l'eau (it fell through), il a le bras long (he has influence), ce n'est pas la mer à boire (it is not that hard).
Et aussi · And also
Collect them from what you read and use them sparingly — one well-placed idiom persuades; four in a paragraph read as a phrasebook.
Attention · Watch out
Use one idiom well; four in a paragraph read as a phrasebook. ce n'est pas la mer à boire means it is not that hard — the literal reading, drinking the sea, is the joke.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with ça n'a rien à voir.
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 29 in Module 11 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.