📖LearnModule 6 · Lesson 4 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, first halfUnit 1 · Raconter — telling the past
First, then, finally — the storyteller's markers
Module 6 of the free French course (CEFR B1, first half), lesson 4 of 30: Real stories are held together by time markers: puis (then), enfin (finally). On this page: 7 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 4.
The words
French
English
Say it
puis
then
pwee
enfin
finally
ah(n)-FA(n)
pendant que
while
pah(n)-DAH(n) kuh
au moment où
at the moment when
oh moh-mah(n) OO
le début
the beginning
luh day-BEW
la fin
the end
lah FA(n)
à la fin
in the end
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
Real stories are held together by time markers: puis (then), enfin (finally), pendant que (while), au moment où (at the very moment when).
Et aussi · And also
Pendant que je lisais, mon chat dormait. Au moment où je suis sorti, il a commencé à pleuvoir. Markers plus the two pasts: that is narration.
Attention · Watch out
pendant que (while) takes a full clause: pendant que je lisais. pendant alone takes a noun: pendant la nuit. The que decides which.
partir, plus-que-parfait — the table
il était parti · elle était partie · ils étaient partis · elles étaient parties
finir, plus-que-parfait — the table
je avais fini · tu avais fini · il/elle avait fini · nous avions fini · vous aviez fini · ils/elles avaient fini
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with puis.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out partir, plus-que-parfait and finir, plus-que-parfait 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.