📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 13 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 3 · La syntaxe complexe
L'incise et l'apposition
Module 14 of the free French course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 13 of 30: Written French drops information into the middle of a sentence between commas. 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 13.
The words
French
English
Say it
publié en mars
published in March
pew-blyay ah(n) MAHRS
l'incisefeminine — the article elides to l'
the reporting aside
la(n)-SEEZ
l'appositionfeminine — the article elides to l'
the apposition
lah-poh-zee-SYOH(n)
dit-il
he said
dee TEEL
contester
to contest
koh(n)-tehs-TAY
entre virgules
between commas
ah(n)-truh veer-GEWL
au milieu de la phrase
in mid-sentence
oh mee-lyuh duh lah FRAHZ
rapporter la parole
to report speech
rah-por-tay lah pah-ROHL
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
Written French drops information into the middle of a sentence between commas. Le rapport, publié en mars, a été contesté. Marie, elle, n'a rien dit.
Et aussi · And also
The incise is also how French reports speech inside a narrative: « Je viens », dit-il. Note the inversion, and note that the comma goes inside nothing — the incise's comma stays outside the guillemets.
Attention · Watch out
In an incise the verb comes BEFORE the subject: dit-il, répondit-elle, never il dit after a quotation. A hyphen joins them, with -t- when the verb ends in a vowel: demanda-t-elle.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with publié en mars.
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 13 in Module 14 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.