📖LearnModule 14 · Lesson 9 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2, continuedUnit 2 · Les expressions figées
Les proverbes
Module 14 of the free French course (CEFR C2, continued), lesson 9 of 30: A handful of proverbs turn up in French conversation and in French newspapers alike. 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 9.
The words
French
English
Say it
petit à petit
little by little
puh-tee tah puh-TEE
l'habit ne fait pas le moine
appearances can deceive
lah-bee nuh feh pah luh MWAHN
qui va à la chasse perd sa place
you snooze, you lose
kee vah ah lah shahs pehr sah PLAHS
le proverbe
the proverb
luh proh-VEHRB
l'oiseaumasculine — the article elides to l'
the bird
lwah-ZOH
le nid
the nest
luh NEE
citer à moitié
to quote half of it
see-tay ah mwah-TYAY
connu de tous
known to everyone
koh-new duh TOOS
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
A handful of proverbs turn up in French conversation and in French newspapers alike. Qui va à la chasse perd sa place. Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid. L'habit ne fait pas le moine.
Et aussi · And also
Most are quoted half-finished, because everyone knows the rest. Hearing only petit à petit... and knowing what follows is the point at which idiom stops being a vocabulary list.
Attention · Watch out
A proverb is quoted exactly or not at all: l'habit ne fait pas le moine cannot become l'habit ne fait pas le prêtre. Often only the first half is said — petit à petit… — and the listener supplies the rest.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with petit à petit.
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 9 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.