LearnModule 15 · Lesson 17 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C2 mastery — the capstoneUnit 4 · La maîtrise du registre

Le registre qui trahit

Module 15 of the free French course (CEFR C2 mastery — the capstone), lesson 17 of 30: Register leaks through small words before it shows in big ones. 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 17.

The words

French	English	Say it
du coup	so (informal filler)	dew KOO
en fait	actually (correcting)	ah(n) FEHT
dès lors	accordingly	deh LOR
le petit mot	the small word	luh puh-tee MOH
trahir	to give away	trah-EER
faire baisser le niveau	to drop the level	fehr beh-say luh nee-VOH
sans le remarquer	without noticing	sah(n) luh ruh-mahr-KAY
l'équivalent formelmasculine — the article elides to l'	the formal equivalent	lay-kee-vah-lah(n) for-MEHL

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

Register leaks through small words before it shows in big ones. Du coup anywhere formal, en fait as a filler, bref as a shortcut — each one drops a text a level without the writer noticing.

Et aussi · And also

The formal equivalents exist and cost nothing: par conséquent, dès lors, en réalité. Change four words and a paragraph changes level.

Attention · Watch out

du coup, en fait and bref drop a text a level without your noticing; their formal twins cost nothing: par conséquent, en réalité, dès lors. trahir here means to give away, not to betray a person.

Do it now — on paper

Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with du coup.
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 17 in Module 15 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.

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