📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 15 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 3 · La syntaxe complexe
L'ordre des compléments
Module 14 of the free French course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 15 of 30: French word order is freer than English but not free. 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 15.
The words
French
English
Say it
court avant long
short before long
koor ah-vah(n) LOH(n)
connu avant nouveau
known before new
koh-new ah-vah(n) noo-VOH
la montre
the watch
lah MOH(n)TR
le complément
the object phrase
luh koh(n)-play-MAH(n)
le plus lourd à la fin
the heaviest last
luh plew loor ah lah FA(n)
mal lu
badly read
mahl LEW
acquérir en dernier
to acquire last
ah-kay-reer ah(n) dehr-NYAY
remarquer aussitôt
to notice at once
ruh-mahr-kay oh-see-TOH
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 word order is freer than English but not free. The general habit: short before long, known before new, and the heaviest element last. Il a donné à son frère la vieille montre de leur père.
Et aussi · And also
Move the long phrase to the front and the sentence still parses but reads badly. This is the last thing a learner acquires and the first thing a French reader notices.
Attention · Watch out
The heaviest phrase goes LAST: il a donné à son frère la vieille montre de leur père, not il a donné la vieille montre de leur père à son frère. Short before long, known before new.
atteindre — the table
je atteins · tu atteins · il/elle atteint · nous atteignons · vous atteignez · ils/elles atteignent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with court avant long.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out atteindre 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.