📖LearnModule 15 · Lesson 15 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2 mastery — the capstoneUnit 3 · L'oral préparé
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Module 15 of the free French course (CEFR C2 mastery — the capstone), lesson 15 of 30: Close on the position, not on a summary. 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 15.
The words
French
English
Say it
je reviens à ce que je disais
I come back to what I was saying
zhuh ruh-vya(n) ah suh kuh zhuh dee-ZEH
à quelles conditions
on what terms
ah kehl koh(n)-dee-SYOH(n)
le silence qui suit
the silence afterwards
luh see-lah(n)s kee SWEE
remplir le silence
to fill the silence
rah(n)-pleer luh see-LAH(n)S
défaire la fin
to undo the ending
day-fehr lah FA(n)
s'arrêter
to stop
sah-reh-TAY
la fermeture
the closing
lah fehr-muh-TEWR
sobre à la fin
plain at the end
sohbr ah lah FA(n)
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
Close on the position, not on a summary. Je reviens à ce que je disais au début: la question n'est pas de savoir si, mais à quelles conditions.
Et aussi · And also
Then stop. The silence after a finished sentence is the strongest thing in a spoken case, and candidates fill it with voilà, merci, je ne sais pas si j'ai répondu — each of which undoes the ending.
Attention · Watch out
Close on the position, then STOP: voilà, merci, je ne sais pas si j'ai répondu… each undoes the ending. la question n'est pas de savoir si, mais à quelles conditions is a closing shape worth keeping whole.
prendre, conditionnel passé — the table
je aurais pris · tu aurais pris · il/elle aurait pris · nous aurions pris · vous auriez pris · ils/elles auraient pris
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with je reviens à ce que je disais.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out prendre, conditionnel 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.