📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 28 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 6 · Lire la pensée des autres
Repérer le ton
Module 13 of the free French course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 28 of 30: Before you decide what a text says, decide how it is saying it. 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 28.
The words
French
English
Say it
repérer
to spot
ruh-pay-RAY
neutre dans le ton
neutral in tone
nuhtr dah(n) luh TOH(n)
polémique
polemical
poh-lay-MEEK
la question rhétorique
the rhetorical question
lah kehs-tyoh(n) ray-toh-REEK
la densité
the density
lah dah(n)-see-TAY
le ton du texte
the tone of the text
luh toh(n) dew TEHKST
trop formel
over-formal
troh for-MEHL
l'indice de tonmasculine — the article elides to l'
the tonal clue
la(n)-dees duh TOH(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
Before you decide what a text says, decide how it is saying it. Four tones cover most of what you will read: neutre, engagé, polémique, ironique.
Et aussi · And also
The tells are small. Adjective density signals engagement; rhetorical questions signal polemic; an over-formal compliment signals irony. Read the first and last paragraph for tone before you read the middle for content.
Attention · Watch out
Four tones: neutre, engagé, polémique, ironique. Adjective density signals engagement; rhetorical questions signal polemic; an over-formal compliment signals irony.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with repérer.
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 28 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.