📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 25 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 5 · Le vocabulaire abstrait
Éviter le mot passe-partout
Module 12 of the free French course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 25 of 30: Chose, truc. 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 25.
The words
French
English
Say it
le mot passe-partout
the catch-all word
luh moh pahs-pahr-TOO
un problème se pose
a problem arises
uh(n) proh-blehm suh POHZ
mener une étude
to conduct a study
muh-nay ewn ay-TEWD
l'essentielmasculine — the article elides to l'
the essential point
leh-sah(n)-SYEHL
le remplacement
the replacement
luh rah(n)-plahs-MAH(n)
se poser
to arise
suh poh-ZAY
monter en niveau
to rise a level
moh(n)-tay ah(n) nee-VOH
vague
vague
vahg
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
Chose, truc, faire and il y a are the four words that keep a text at B1 however good its grammar is. Each one has a precise replacement waiting.
Et aussi · And also
Il y a un problème becomes un problème se pose. Faire une étude becomes mener une étude. La chose la plus importante becomes l'essentiel. Replace four words and the register rises a whole level.
Attention · Watch out
chose, truc, faire and il y a keep a text at B1: un problème se pose replaces il y a un problème; mener une étude replaces faire une étude.
conduire — the table
je conduis · tu conduis · il/elle conduit · nous conduisons · vous conduisez · ils/elles conduisent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with le mot passe-partout.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out conduire 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.