📖LearnModule 13 · Lesson 3 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, first halfUnit 1 · La mise en relief
La dislocation
Module 13 of the free French course (CEFR C2, first half), lesson 3 of 30: Spoken French pulls a word out of its sentence and leaves a pronoun in its place. 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 3.
The words
French
English
Say it
moi, je pense que non
personally, I think not
mwah zhuh pah(n)s kuh NOH(n)
ce livre, je l'ai lu
that book, I have read it
suh leevr zhuh lay LEW
la dislocation
the dislocation
lah dees-loh-kah-SYOH(n)
le thème
the topic
luh TEHM
la nouvelle information
the new information
lah noo-vehl a(n)-for-mah-SYOH(n)
le français parlé
spoken French
luh frah(n)-seh pahr-LAY
négligé
careless
nay-glee-ZHAY
organiser
to organize
or-gah-nee-ZAY
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
Spoken French pulls a word out of its sentence and leaves a pronoun in its place. Moi, je pense que non. Ce livre, je l'ai lu deux fois. Le directeur, il ne viendra pas.
Et aussi · And also
It is not careless; it is how French speech organizes information, putting the topic first and the news second. Writing it in a formal essay is wrong; hearing it and not noticing is C2.
Attention · Watch out
Dislocation belongs to speech: moi, je pense que non. In a formal essay it is wrong; in conversation it is how French orders topic and news. Hear it; do not write it there.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with moi, je pense que non.
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 3 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.