📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 21 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 5 · Le vocabulaire abstrait
Les paires de registre
Module 12 of the free French course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 21 of 30: C1 vocabulary is mostly pairs: the everyday word and its formal twin. 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 21.
The words
French
English
Say it
entamer
to commence
ah(n)-tah-MAY
achever
to complete
ahsh-VAY
accorder
to grant formally
ah-kor-DAY
acquérir
to acquire
ah-kay-REER
la paire
the pair
lah PEHR
le jumeau formel
the formal twin
luh zhew-moh for-MEHL
la pièce
the room
lah PYEHS
sonner faux
to ring false
soh-nay FOH
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
C1 vocabulary is mostly pairs: the everyday word and its formal twin. Commencer / entamer. Finir / achever. Donner / accorder. Montrer / faire état de.
Et aussi · And also
The formal one is not better — it is for a different room. Entamer des négociations is a headline; entamer un sandwich is a joke, and a French reader hears both.
Attention · Watch out
entamer, achever, accorder are the formal twins of commencer, finir, donner — for a different room, not a better one. entamer un sandwich is a joke a French reader hears.
acquérir — the table
je acquiers · tu acquiers · il/elle acquiert · nous acquérons · vous acquérez · ils/elles acquièrent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with entamer.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out acquérir 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.