📖LearnModule 8 · Lesson 17 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, first halfUnit 4 · L'environnement et la société
Les énergies
Module 8 of the free French course (CEFR B2, first half), lesson 17 of 30: Energy vocabulary turns up in every B2 exam text. 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
l'énergie renouvelable
renewable energy
lay-nehr-zhee ruh-noo-VLAHBL
le charbon
coal
luh shahr-BOH(n)
le pétrole
crude oil
luh pay-TROHL
consommer
to consume
koh(n)-soh-MAY
gaspiller
to waste
gahs-pee-YAY
l'éoliennefeminine — the article elides to l'
the wind turbine
lay-oh-LYEHN
le panneau solaire
the solar panel
luh pah-noh soh-LEHR
durable
sustainable
dew-RAHBL
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
Energy vocabulary turns up in every B2 exam text. L'énergie renouvelable (renewable energy), le charbon (coal), le pétrole — which is oil, not gasoline, and catches English speakers every time.
Et aussi · And also
Consommer is to consume, gaspiller is to waste, and the two shape most of the argument: nous consommons trop et nous gaspillons encore plus.
Attention · Watch out
le pétrole is crude oil, never gasoline — that is l'essence. And l'éolienne is the wind turbine itself; le vent is the wind.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with l'énergie renouvelable.
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 8 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.