📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 14 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 3 · Les connecteurs rares
Quitte à, faute de
Module 13 of the free French course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 14 of 30: Quitte à means even at the risk of: je le dirai, quitte à me tromper. 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 14.
The words
French
English
Say it
quitte à
even if it means
keet AH
faute de preuves
for want of evidence
foht duh PRUHV
sous réserve de
subject to
soo ray-ZEHRV duh
l'affairefeminine — the article elides to l'
the case (a matter)
lah-FEHR
classer une affaire
to drop a case
klah-say ewn ah-FEHR
le risque assumé
the accepted risk
luh reesk ah-sew-MAY
comprimer en deux mots
to compress into two words
koh(n)-pree-may ah(n) duh MOH
la subordonnée
the subordinate clause
lah sewb-or-doh-NAY
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
Quitte à means even at the risk of: je le dirai, quitte à me tromper. Faute de means for want of: faute de preuves, l'affaire a été classée.
Et aussi · And also
Sous réserve de is the third: subject to. All three compress a whole subordinate clause into two words, which is what C2 vocabulary is mostly for.
Attention · Watch out
quitte à, faute de and sous réserve de take a noun or an infinitive: quitte à me tromper, faute de preuves, sous réserve de confirmation. With a clause it is sous réserve que + subjonctif.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with quitte à.
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 14 in Module 13 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.