📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 5 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 1 · Les niveaux de langue
Changer de registre
Module 14 of the free French course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 5 of 30: The C2 skill is not knowing three registers. 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 5.
The words
French
English
Say it
sans couture
seamlessly
sah(n) koo-TEWR
se détendre
to relax
suh day-TAH(n)DR
se taire
to keep quiet
suh TEHR
suivre le ton
to follow the tone
sweevr luh TOH(n)
en vouloir à
to hold it against
ah(n) voo-lwahr AH
l'à-coupmasculine — the article elides to l'
the jolt
lah-KOO
prudent au début
cautious at first
prew-dah(n) toh day-BEW
attendre le signal
to wait for the cue
ah-tah(n)dr luh see-NYAHL
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 C2 skill is not knowing three registers; it is moving between them inside one conversation without a seam. A meeting that opens formally and relaxes is normal; one that lurches is not.
Et aussi · And also
The safe rule: follow the other person down, never up. If they relax first, you may. Going informal before they do is the one register mistake a French listener will actually hold against you.
Attention · Watch out
Follow the other person DOWN, never up: wait for them to relax or tutoyer first. se taire is to keep quiet, and it is irregular: je me tais, il se tait, nous nous taisons.
se taire — the table
je me tais · tu te tais · il/elle se tait · nous nous taisons · vous vous taisez · ils/elles se taisent
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with sans couture.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out se taire 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.