📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 17 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 4 · La presse et les institutions
La loi et la justice
Module 12 of the free French course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 17 of 30: Une loi is passed, un décret is issued by the executive, un arrêté by a minister. 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 17.
The words
French
English
Say it
la loi
the law (a statute)
lah LWAH
le décret
the decree
luh day-KREH
le tribunal
the court
luh tree-bew-NAHL
le juge
the judge
luh ZHEWZH
juger
to try (in court)
zhew-ZHAY
condamner
to convict
koh(n)-dah-NAY
le procureur
the prosecutor
luh proh-kew-RUHR
le procès
the trial
luh proh-SEH
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
Une loi is passed; un décret is issued by the executive; un arrêté by a minister, a prefect or a mayor. Le tribunal hears the case, la cour is the higher court, and le juge decides.
Et aussi · And also
Two verbs to keep apart: juger is to try or to judge, condamner is to convict or sentence. A headline that says jugé is telling you the trial happened, not how it ended.
Attention · Watch out
juger is to try or to judge; condamner is to convict. A headline saying jugé tells you the trial took place, not how it ended.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with la loi.
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 17 in Module 12 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.