📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 14 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 3 · La syntaxe complexe
L'ellipse
Module 14 of the free French course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 14 of 30: French leaves out what the reader can supply, and it does so more readily than English. 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 14.
The words
French
English
Say it
les uns... les autres
some... others
lay zuh(n) lay ZOHTR
certains oui, d'autres non
some yes, others no
sehr-ta(n) wee dohtr NOH(n)
l'ellipsefeminine — the article elides to l'
the ellipsis
lay-LEEPS
sous-entendre un verbe
to leave a verb understood
soo-zah(n)-tah(n)dr uh(n) VEHRB
le jazz
jazz
luh ZHAHZ
alourdir
to weigh down
ah-loor-DEER
fournir
to supply
foor-NEER
rapide
fast
rah-PEED
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
French leaves out what the reader can supply, and it does so more readily than English. Les uns partaient, les autres restaient. Certains oui, d'autres non.
Et aussi · And also
The most common ellipsis is the repeated verb: Paul aime le jazz, Marie le rock. There is no second verb and none is missed. Writing one would slow the sentence without adding anything.
Attention · Watch out
les uns… les autres pairs with les, not des: les uns partaient, les autres restaient. The verb left out must still be in the reader's ear: Paul aime le jazz, Marie le rock works only because aime just passed.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with les uns... les autres.
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 14 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.