📖LearnModule 8 · Lesson 20 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, first halfUnit 4 · L'environnement et la société
Les chiffres et les tendances
Module 8 of the free French course (CEFR B2, first half), lesson 20 of 30: Numbers in an argued text come with their own small grammar. 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 20.
The words
French
English
Say it
la plupart des gens
most people
lah plew-pahr day ZHAH(n)
la moitié
half
lah mwah-TYAY
le tiers
a third
luh TYEHR
le quart
a quarter
luh KAHR
le pourcentage
the percentage
luh poor-sah(n)-TAHZH
un sur trois
one in three
uh(n) sewr TRWAH
l'habitantmasculine — the article elides to l'
the inhabitant
lah-bee-TAH(n)
la tendance
the trend
lah tah(n)-DAH(n)S
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
Numbers in an argued text come with their own small grammar. La plupart des gens pensent que... — most people, and the verb is plural even though la plupart looks singular.
Et aussi · And also
La moitié is half, le tiers a third, le quart a quarter, and un pourcentage a percentage. Un habitant sur trois — one inhabitant in three. That sur is how French writes a rate.
Attention · Watch out
la plupart des gens takes a PLURAL verb: la plupart des gens pensent. And un sur trois is one in three: sur, not dans.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with la plupart des gens.
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 20 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.