📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 22 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 5 · Les figures de style
La litote
Module 13 of the free French course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 22 of 30: Understatement by negation is a French habit and a C2 trap. 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 22.
The words
French
English
Say it
il n'est pas bête
he is far from stupid
eel neh pah BEHT
ce n'est pas mal
that is rather good
suh neh pah MAHL
je ne dirais pas non
I would not say no
zhuh nuh dee-reh pah NOH(n)
la litote
understatement
lah lee-TOHT
haïr
to hate
ah-EER
bête
stupid
beht
renverser la négation
to reverse the negative
rah(n)-vehr-say lah nay-gah-SYOH(n)
célèbre
famous (well known)
say-LEHBR
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
Understatement by negation is a French habit and a C2 trap. Il n'est pas bête means he is clever. Ce n'est pas mal means it is good. Je ne dirais pas non means yes, please.
Et aussi · And also
The most famous example in French literature is Chimène's va, je ne te hais point — go, I do not hate you — which means she loves him. Read the negative and reverse it.
Attention · Watch out
il n'est pas bête means he is clever; ce n'est pas mal means it is good; je ne dirais pas non means yes. Read the negative and reverse it — that is litote.
haïr — the table
je hais · tu hais · il/elle hait · nous haïssons · vous haïssez · ils/elles haïssent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il n'est pas bête.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out haïr 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.