📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 18 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 4 · Les langages professionnels
La finance
Module 14 of the free French course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 18 of 30: Financial French borrows less from English than you expect. 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 18.
The words
French
English
Say it
le chiffre d'affaires
the revenue (sales)
luh sheefr dah-FEHR
la trésorerie
the cash (position)
lah tray-zohr-REE
les chargesplural
the costs
lay SHAHRZH
le bénéfice
the profit
luh bay-nay-FEES
la perte
the loss
lah PEHRT
l'exercicemasculine — the article elides to l'
the financial year
lehg-zehr-SEES
investir
to invest
a(n)-vehs-TEER
annuel
annual
ah-new-EHL
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
Financial French borrows less from English than you expect. Le chiffre d'affaires is turnover; la trésorerie is cash flow; les charges are costs; le bénéfice is profit and la perte is loss.
Et aussi · And also
Un exercice is a financial year, not an exercise. A report that says au titre de l'exercice 2026 is telling you which year, and the phrase is unavoidable in any French annual report.
Attention · Watch out
l'exercice is the financial year, not an exercise; les charges are costs, not charges; le bénéfice is profit, not benefit. au titre de l'exercice 2026 simply names the year.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with le chiffre d'affaires.
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 18 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.