📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 16 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 4 · La pensée et l'éthique
Le vocabulaire de la pensée
Module 13 of the free French course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 16 of 30: An argument has parts and French names them. 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 16.
The words
French
English
Say it
le postulat
the assumption
luh pohs-tew-LAH
le corollaire
the corollary
luh koh-roh-LEHR
la démonstration
the demonstration
lah day-moh(n)-strah-SYOH(n)
le présupposé
the unstated assumption
luh pray-sew-poh-ZAY
supposer
to assume
sew-poh-ZAY
démonter un argument
to take an argument apart
day-moh(n)-tay uh(n) nahr-gew-MAH(n)
implicite
implicit
a(n)-plee-SEET
nommer une faille
to name a flaw
noh-may ewn FAHY
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
An argument has parts and French names them. Le postulat (what is assumed), la prémisse, le corollaire, la démonstration, le présupposé (what is smuggled in unstated).
Et aussi · And also
Présupposé is the sharpest of them. Naming a presupposition is how a French critique takes an argument apart, and there is no shorter way to say it in English.
Attention · Watch out
le présupposé is what is smuggled in unstated; le postulat is what is assumed openly. Naming a présupposé is how a French critique takes an argument apart.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with le postulat.
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 16 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.