📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 24 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 5 · La nuance
Traduire un ton
Module 14 of the free French course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 24 of 30: The hardest thing to carry between languages is not a word but a temperature. 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 24.
The words
French
English
Say it
il serait envisageable de
it might be conceivable to
eel suh-reh ah(n)-vee-zah-ZHAHBL duh
envisager
to contemplate
ah(n)-vee-zah-ZHAY
adoucir une demande
to soften a request
ah-doo-seer ewn duh-MAH(n)D
avertir
to warn
ah-vehr-TEER
la température du ton
the temperature of a tone
lah tah(n)-pay-rah-tewr dew TOH(n)
mot à mot est faux
word for word is wrong
moh tah moh eh FOH
la formule de politesse anglaise
the English polite formula
lah for-mewl duh poh-lee-tehs ah(n)-GLEHZ
bizarre
odd
bee-ZAHR
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
The hardest thing to carry between languages is not a word but a temperature. An English "I wonder whether we might" is French "il serait peut-être envisageable de" — and a literal translation of either sounds odd.
Et aussi · And also
The method: decide what the sentence is DOING (softening a request, conceding, warning), then write the sentence French uses to do that. Never translate the words of a polite formula.
Attention · Watch out
Decide what the sentence DOES before translating a word: il serait envisageable de… is the French for I wonder whether we might…, and a word-for-word je me demande si… reads as a real question, not a request.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il serait envisageable de.
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 24 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.