📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 23 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 5 · La nuance
Les mots que le français n'a pas
Module 14 of the free French course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 23 of 30: It runs both ways. 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 23.
The words
French
English
Say it
peu profond
shallow
puh proh-FOH(n)
frère ou sœur
sibling
frehr oo SUHR
en train de lire
in the middle of reading
ah(n) tra(n) duh LEER
fixer du regard
to stare at
feek-say dew ruh-GAHR
la lacune
the gap
lah lah-KEWN
travailler plus
to work harder
trah-vah-yay PLEWS
le continu
the continuous
luh koh(n)-tee-NEW
dans les deux sens
both ways
dah(n) lay duh SAH(n)S
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
It runs both ways, and knowing where French has to work harder is a C2 skill. There is no single word for shallow (peu profond), for sibling (frère ou sœur), or for the verb to kick (donner un coup de pied).
Et aussi · And also
French also has no neat equivalent of the English continuous: je lis covers I read and I am reading, and the difference, when it matters, is carried by en train de.
Attention · Watch out
je lis is both I read and I am reading; add en train de only when the ongoing sense matters. There is no single word for sibling: frère ou sœur. peu profond is shallow — profond alone never is.
finir, subjonctif passé — the table
je aie fini · tu aies fini · il/elle ait fini · nous ayons fini · vous ayez fini · ils/elles aient fini
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with peu profond.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out finir, subjonctif passé 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.