📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 16 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 4 · La presse et les institutions
L'État
Module 12 of the free French course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 16 of 30: French political vocabulary is precise and a newspaper assumes it. 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 16.
The words
French
English
Say it
l'Étatmasculine — the article elides to l'
the state
lay-TAH
le gouvernement
the government
luh goo-vehr-nuh-MAH(n)
le pouvoir
power
luh poo-VWAHR
une politique
a policy
ewn poh-lee-TEEK
la politique
politics
lah poh-lee-TEEK
le ministre
the minister
luh mee-NEESTR
élire
to elect
ay-LEER
l'institutionfeminine — the article elides to l'
the institution
la(n)-stee-tew-SYOH(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
French political vocabulary is precise and a newspaper assumes it. L'État (with a capital) is the state as an institution; le gouvernement is the ministers currently running it; le pouvoir is the ability to act.
Et aussi · And also
Une politique is a policy; la politique is politics. A single article separates a debate about pensions from a debate about parties, and misreading it misreads the article.
Attention · Watch out
l'État with a capital É is the state as an institution; le gouvernement is the ministers in office. une politique is a policy; la politique is politics.
élire, voix passive — the table
il est élu · elle est élue · ils sont élus · elles sont élues
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with l'État.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out élire, 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.