📖LearnModule 8 · Lesson 19 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, first halfUnit 4 · L'environnement et la société
Augmenter, diminuer, réduire
Module 8 of the free French course (CEFR B2, first half), lesson 19 of 30: . 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 19.
The words
French
English
Say it
augmenter
to increase
ohg-mah(n)-TAY
diminuer
to decrease
dee-mee-new-AY
réduire
to cut back
ray-DWEER
évoluer
to change over time
ay-voh-lew-AY
l'augmentationfeminine — the article elides to l'
the increase
lohg-mah(n)-tah-SYOH(n)
la baisse
the drop
lah BEHS
le prix
the price
luh PREE
stable
steady
stahbl
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
Every text about society or the environment is really a text about things going up and down. Augmenter is to increase, diminuer to decrease, réduire to cut back, and évoluer to change over time.
Et aussi · And also
They work both ways, with or without an object: les prix augmentent (prices are rising) and on augmente les prix (they are putting prices up). Watch which one a sentence means before you translate it.
Attention · Watch out
augmenter and diminuer work with or without an object: les prix augmentent (prices rise) and on augmente les prix (they raise prices). Read which one a sentence is doing.
produire, voix passive — the table
il est produit · elle est produite · ils sont produits · elles sont produites
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with augmenter.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out produire, voix passive 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.