📖LearnModule 5 · Lesson 28 of 30Basic User · CEFR A2 mastery + the B1 bridgeUnit 6 · The self-check, and the view from the top
B1 preview: the longer text
Module 5 of the free French course (CEFR A2 mastery + the B1 bridge), lesson 28 of 30: A taste of the next band, longer. On this page: 6 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 28.
The words
French
English
Say it
depuis
since / for (time)
duh-PWEE
depuis trois ans
for three years
duh-pwee trwah ZAH(n)
avant
before
ah-VAH(n)
elle habitait
she used to live
ehl ah-bee-TEH
la première fois
the first time
lah pruh-myehr FWAH
nouveau
new (m)
noo-VOH
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 taste of the next band — longer, but built from what you own: Léa habite à Lyon depuis trois ans. Avant, elle habitait à Nice, près de la mer. La mer lui manque, mais elle adore sa nouvelle école et ses amis. Le week-end prochain, ses cousins viendront chez elle pour la première fois.
Et aussi · And also
Two new machines are visible: depuis (since/for) and viendront (a futur simple you can now read). B1 is not a wall; it is more of this.
Attention · Watch out
depuis takes the PRESENT for something still going on: elle habite à Lyon depuis trois ans — she has lived there for three years, and still does. Never the passé composé in a positive sentence.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 6 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with depuis.
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 28 in Module 5 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.