📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 26 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 6 · L'argumentation C1
Thèse, antithèse, synthèse
Module 12 of the free French course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 26 of 30: The French dissertation has a shape older than any exam, and C1 expects it. 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 26.
The words
French
English
Say it
l'antithèsefeminine — the article elides to l'
the counter-argument
lah(n)-tee-TEHZ
la synthèse
the synthesis (exam task)
lah sa(n)-TEHZ
la dissertation
the formal essay
lah dee-sehr-tah-SYOH(n)
reformuler la question
to reframe the question
ruh-for-mew-lay lah kehs-TYOH(n)
le compromis
the compromise
luh koh(n)-proh-MEE
au sérieux
seriously
oh say-RYUH
l'homme de paillemasculine — the article elides to l'
the straw figure
lohm duh PAHY
échouer
to fail
ay-shoo-AY
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
The French dissertation has a shape older than any exam, and C1 expects it. Part one argues the position. Part two argues against it seriously — not as a straw figure. Part three does not split the difference; it reframes.
Et aussi · And also
The third part is where candidates fail. Synthèse does not mean compromise; it means finding the question underneath the disagreement and answering that instead.
Attention · Watch out
synthèse does not mean compromise: it finds the question underneath the disagreement and answers that. l'homme de paille is a straw figure — do not build one in part two.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with l'antithèse.
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 26 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.