📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 27 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 6 · Lire la pensée des autres
La critique
Module 13 of the free French course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 27 of 30: A French review judges the form as much as the content. 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 27.
The words
French
English
Say it
desservir
to do a disservice to
day-sehr-VEER
tenir jusqu'au bout
to hold up to the end
tuh-neer zhews-koh BOO
sombrer
to sink
soh(n)-BRAY
servir
to serve
sehr-VEER
la critique de film
the film review
lah kree-teek duh FEELM
le dernier quart
the last quarter
luh dehr-nyay KAHR
universitaire
academic
ew-nee-vehr-see-TEHR
la voix de la maison
the house voice
lah vwah duh lah meh-ZOH(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
A French review judges the form as much as the content, and it has a stock of verbs for it: servir (to serve the work), desservir (to do it a disservice), tenir (to hold up), sombrer (to sink).
Et aussi · And also
Le film tient jusqu'au dernier quart, puis sombre. That is a complete review, and the register is neither academic nor casual — it is the house voice of French criticism.
Attention · Watch out
servir and desservir are opposites here: the music serves the film, the ending does it a disservice. sombrer is to sink, said of a film that collapses in its last quarter.
servir — the table
je sers · tu sers · il/elle sert · nous servons · vous servez · ils/elles servent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with desservir.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out servir 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.