📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 20 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 4 · La presse et les institutions
Lire entre les lignes
Module 12 of the free French course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 20 of 30: A careful French writer signals a position without stating 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 20.
The words
French
English
Say it
prétendre
to claim (doubtfully)
pray-TAH(n)DR
un certain M. Dupont
a certain Mr Dupont
uh(n) sehr-ta(n) muh-syuh dew-POH(n)
l'implicationfeminine — the article elides to l'
the implication
la(n)-plee-kah-SYOH(n)
sous-entendre
to imply
soo-zah(n)-TAH(n)DR
aplatir
to flatten
ah-plah-TEER
la traduction
the translation
lah trah-dewk-SYOH(n)
soupçonner
to suspect
soop-soh-NAY
discret
discreet
dees-KREH
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 careful French writer signals a position without stating it. Prétendre means to claim (and to doubt the claim). Aurait, in a news report, means allegedly. Un certain M. Dupont is not a compliment.
Et aussi · And also
Collect these as you read. They are the vocabulary of implication, and they are what a translation flattens first.
Attention · Watch out
prétendre means to claim — and to doubt the claim — never to pretend. un certain M. Dupont is a discreet way of casting doubt on Mr Dupont.
dire, conditionnel — the table
je dirais · tu dirais · il/elle dirait · nous dirions · vous diriez · ils/elles diraient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with prétendre.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out dire, conditionnel 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.