📖LearnModule 9 · Lesson 19 of 30Independent User · CEFR B2, completedUnit 4 · Les relatifs complexes
Dont, encore
Module 9 of the free French course (CEFR B2, completed), lesson 19 of 30: Dont does two jobs and B2 needs both. 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
le livre dont je parle
the book I am talking about
luh leevr doh(n) zhuh PAHRL
l'homme dont la fille est médecin
the man whose daughter is a doctor
lohm doh(n) lah fee-yuh eh mayd-SA(n)
la possession
the possession
lah poh-seh-SYOH(n)
le livre
the book
luh LEEVR
parler de
to talk about
pahr-LAY duh
se souvenir de
to remember
suh soo-vuh-NEER duh
fréquent
frequent
fray-KAH(n)
la confusion
the confusion
lah koh(n)-few-ZYOH(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
Dont does two jobs and B2 needs both. It replaces de plus a noun after a de-verb: le livre dont je parle. And it carries possession: l'homme dont la fille est médecin — the man whose daughter is a doctor.
Et aussi · And also
Careful with the possession use: what follows dont is a normal sentence with a normal article. Not dont sa fille — dont la fille. English whose misleads people here every single time.
Attention · Watch out
dont for possession keeps a normal article after it: l'homme dont la fille est médecin — never dont sa fille. English 'whose' misleads here every time.
savoir, imparfait — the table
je savais · tu savais · il/elle savait · nous savions · vous saviez · ils/elles savaient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with le livre dont je parle.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out savoir, imparfait 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.