📖LearnModule 8 · Lesson 1 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, first halfUnit 1 · Cause, conséquence, but
Parce que, car, puisque, comme
Module 8 of the free French course (CEFR B2, first half), lesson 1 of 30: Welcome to B2. 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 1.
The words
French
English
Say it
parce que
because
PAHRS kuh
car
for (because, in writing)
kahr
puisque
since (as you know)
pweesk
comme
as (at the start)
kohm
la cause
the cause
lah KOHZ
pourquoi
why
poor-KWAH
évident
obvious
ay-vee-DAH(n)
la proposition
the clause
lah proh-poh-zee-SYOH(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
Welcome to B2. Four words mean because in French and they are not interchangeable. Parce que answers a question and can also open a sentence. Car is its written cousin, joining two clauses and rarely starting a sentence.
Et aussi · And also
Puisque means since, as in "as you already know": puisque tu es là, aide-moi. Comme means as, and it likes the front of the sentence: comme il pleuvait, nous sommes restés. Pick by position and by how obvious the reason already is.
Attention · Watch out
car never opens an answer to pourquoi and never starts a sentence on its own; parce que does both. puisque means since as in 'as you already know', not since in time.
croire — the table
je crois · tu crois · il/elle croit · nous croyons · vous croyez · ils/elles croient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with parce que.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out croire 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.