📖LearnModule 7 · Lesson 13 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1, completedUnit 3 · Le travail et l'argent
Gagner, dépenser, économiser
Module 7 of the free French course (CEFR B1, completed), lesson 13 of 30: Three verbs run the whole money conversation. 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 13.
The words
French
English
Say it
gagner
to earn
gah-NYAY
dépenser
to spend
day-pah(n)-SAY
économiser
to save up
ay-koh-noh-mee-ZAY
le salaire
the wage
luh sah-LEHR
le loyer
the rent
luh lwah-YAY
l'impôtmasculine — the article elides to l'
the tax
la(n)-POH
la dépense
the expense
lah day-PAH(n)S
je gagne bien ma vie
I make a good living
zhuh gah-nyuh bya(n) mah VEE
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
Three verbs run the whole money conversation. Gagner is to earn (and also to win), dépenser is to spend, économiser is to save up. Je gagne bien ma vie — I make a good living, literally I earn my life well.
Et aussi · And also
Nouns to go with them: le salaire (the wage), les impôts (taxes), le loyer (the rent), les dépenses (the outgoings). C'est trop cher pour moi — that is too expensive for me.
Attention · Watch out
gagner is to earn AND to win; économiser is to save money. Saving a file or a person is a different verb (enregistrer, sauver).
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with gagner.
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 13 in Module 7 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.