📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 19 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 4 · La pensée et l'éthique
L'esthétique
Module 13 of the free French course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 19 of 30: Talking about art in French needs a small, precise vocabulary. 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 19.
The words
French
English
Say it
l'œuvrefeminine — the article elides to l'
the work of art
luhvr
la forme
the form
lah FORM
le fond
the content
luh FOH(n)
le goût
taste
luh GOO
plaire
to please
plehr
majeur
major
mah-ZHUHR
l'architecturefeminine — the article elides to l'
architecture
lahr-shee-tehk-TEWR
sûr dans le jugement
sure in judgment
sewr dah(n) luh zhewzh-MAH(n)
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
Talking about art in French needs a small, precise vocabulary. L'œuvre (the work), la forme, le fond (the content), le goût, la portée. Une œuvre majeure, un goût sûr.
Et aussi · And also
The pair that matters is la forme et le fond — form and content — and it is the frame every French critique is built on, in literature, film and architecture alike.
Attention · Watch out
le fond is the content and la forme the form — the frame of every French critique. l'œuvre is feminine: une œuvre majeure. plaire takes à: cela me plaît.
plaire — the table
je plais · tu plais · il/elle plaît · nous plaisons · vous plaisez · ils/elles plaisent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with l'œuvre.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out plaire 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.