📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 11 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 3 · La phrase soignée
Aussi, à peine, peut-être — et l'inversion
Module 12 of the free French course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 11 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 11.
The words
French
English
Say it
aussi est-il parti
and so he left
oh-see eh teel pahr-TEE
à peine était-elle arrivée
no sooner had she arrived
ah pehn ay-teh tehl ah-ree-VAY
peut-être avez-vous raison
perhaps you are right
puh-tehtr ah-vay voo reh-ZOH(n)
l'inversionfeminine — the article elides to l'
the inversion
la(n)-vehr-SYOH(n)
en tête de phrase
at the head of the sentence
ah(n) teht duh FRAHZ
sans doute
no doubt
sah(n) DOOT
signaler le niveau
to signal the register
see-nyah-lay luh nee-VOH
plat en style
flat in style
plah ah(n) STEEL
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
Put certain adverbs at the head of a sentence and written French inverts the subject after them. Aussi est-il parti. À peine était-elle arrivée que le téléphone sonna. Peut-être avez-vous raison.
Et aussi · And also
Notice aussi changes meaning in that position: it means therefore, not also. Leaving the inversion out is not wrong so much as flat — this is how formal French signals that it is being formal.
Attention · Watch out
aussi at the HEAD of a sentence means therefore, not also, and inverts the subject: aussi est-il parti. In its usual place it still means also.
partir — the table
je pars · tu pars · il/elle part · nous partons · vous partez · ils/elles partent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with aussi est-il parti.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out partir 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.