Learn French Now: Update

Starting May 1, 2009 Learn French Now will be updated on a weekly basis. The author of the blog will be on a hiatus but he will still continue on posting French Lessons at least once a week for all the readers to learn from.

Thank you very much for supporting this blog and I hope you learn a lot of French and use it in your everyday life. Hopefully by the time the author gets things going this blog will be back updating in a daily basis.

For now enjoy reviewing all the other past lessons in this blog and feel free to contact me for any requests using the contact form on the navigation bar above.

à la prochaine fois,

Mot du Jour: rouage (wheel)

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:
rouage /ʀwaʒ/ masculine noun

1. (of machine) (cog)wheel;
les ~s the parts or works;

2. (of administration) machinery;
les ~s bureaucratiques the wheels of bureaucracy.

Mot du jour: travail (work)

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

travail, pl -aux /tʀavaj/ , /o/

1. masculine noun
   1. gen work;
      job;
      se mettre au ~ to get down to work;
      avoir du ~ to have work to do;
      les gros travaux the heavy work;
      (félicitations) c'est du beau ~! you've done a great job on that!;
      qu'est-ce que c'est que ce ~? what do you call this?;
      ne me téléphone pas à mon ~ don't call me at work;
      chercher du/un ~ to look for work/a job;
      être sans ~ to be out of work;
      le ~ temporaire temporary work;
      le ~ de nuit nightwork;
   2. Econ labour (BrE);
      entrer dans le monde du ~ to enter the world of work;
   3. le ~ musculaire muscular effort;
   4. le ~ de working with or in [metal, wood, stone];
   5. workmanship;
      un ~ superbe a superb piece of workmanship;
   6. (of water, erosion) action;
   7. (of wine) fermentation;
      (of wood) warping;
   8. (of woman in childbirth) labour (BrE).

2. travaux noun, masculine plural
   1. gen work;
      (on road) roadworks GB, roadwork US;
      faire faire des travaux dans sa maison to have work done in one's house;
   2. (of researcher) work;
   3. (of commission) deliberations;
   4. les travaux agricoles agricultural work;
      travaux de couture needlework.

COMPOUNDS:

~ à la chaîne assembly-line work;
~ à domicile working at or from home;
~ au noir gen work for which no earnings are declared;
(holding two jobs) moonlighting;
travaux manuels handicrafts;
travaux pratiques, TP practical work;
lab work;
travaux publics, TP civil engineering.

Mot du Jour: Embrasser (To hug)

Image Source
Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

embrasser /ɑ̃bʀase/

1. transitive verb
   1. to kiss;
      je t'embrasse lots of love;
   2. to embrace;
      to hug;
   3. to take up [career, cause].

2. s'embrasser reflexive verb (+ v être)
   1. to kiss (each other);
   2. to embrace;
      to hug.

IDIOMS:

~ qn comme du bon pain to hug sb warmly.

Mot du Jour: Examen (Exam)

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

examen /ɛgzamɛ̃/ masculine noun

1. Sch, Univ examination, exam;
   passer un ~ to take an exam;
   ~ de rattrapage retake, resit GB;

2. Med examination;

3. examination;
   consideration;
   review;
   être en cours d'~ to be under review;
   to be under consideration;

4. inspection.

COMPOUNDS:

~ blanc mock (exam), practice exam;
~ de conscience self-examination;
~ spécial d'entrée à l'université, ESEU university entrance exam for students not having the baccalaureate.

Mot du Jour: Cafard (Cockroach)

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

cafard /kafaʀ/ masculine noun

1. (familiar) depression;
   avoir le ~ to be down in the dumps (colloquial);

2. cockroach.

Mot du Jour: Profond (Deep)

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

profond, ~e /pʀɔfɔ̃/ , /ɔ̃d/

1. adjective
   1. deep;
      peu ~ shallow;
   2. [boredom] acute;
      [sigh] heavy;
      [feeling, sleep, colour] deep;
   3. [change, ignorance] profound;
   4. [mind, remark] profound;
      [gaze] penetrating;
   5. la France ~e provincial France;
      l'Amérique ~e small-town America.

2. adverb deeply, deep down.

Mot du Jour: Maillot (undershirt)

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

maillot /majo/ masculine noun

1. ~ (de corps) vest GB, undershirt US;

2. (of footballer) shirt;
   (of cyclist) jersey;

3. swimsuit.

COMPOUNDS:

~ de bain swimsuit;
le ~ jaune the leader in the Tour de France.

Mot du Jour: tête (head)

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

tête /tɛt/ feminine noun

1. head;
   en pleine ~ (right) in the head;
   ~ baissée [rush] headlong;
   la ~ en bas [hang] upside down;
   se laver la ~ to wash one's hair;
   au-dessus de nos ~s overhead;
   être tombé sur la ~ figurative (familiar) to have gone off one's rocker (colloquial);
   ma ~ est mise à prix there's a price on my head;
   vouloir la ~ de qn to want sb's head;
   to be after sb's head;
   risquer sa ~ to risk one's neck (colloquial);
   des ~s vont tomber figurative heads will roll;

2. face;
   une bonne/sale ~ a nice/nasty face;
   tu en fais une ~! what a face!;
   quelle ~ va-t-il faire? how's he going to react?;
   il (me) fait la ~ he's sulking;
   il a une ~ à tricher he looks like a cheat;
   tu as une ~ à faire peur, aujourd'hui! you look dreadful today!;

3. de ~ [quote, recite] from memory;
   [calculate] in one's head;
   tu n'as pas de ~! you have a mind like a sieve!;
   avoir qch en ~ to have sth in mind;
   où avais-je la ~? whatever was I thinking of?;
   ça (ne) va pas, la ~? (familiar) are you out of your mind or what?;
   mets-lui ça dans la ~ drum it into him/her;
   passer par la ~ de qn [idea] to cross sb's mind;
   monter la ~ à Pierre contre Paul to turn Pierre against Paul;
   j'ai la ~ qui tourne my head's spinning;
   monter à la ~ de qn [alcohol, success] to go to sb's head;
   il a encore toute sa ~ (à lui) he's still got all his faculties;
   n'en faire qu'à sa ~ to go one's own way;
   tenir ~ à qn to stand up to sb;

4. (person) avoir ses ~s to have one's favourites (BrE);
   un dîner en ~ à ~ an intimate dinner for two;
   par ~ gen a head, each;
   (in statistics) per capita;

5. (measurement) head;
   avoir une ~ d'avance sur qn to be a short length in front of sb;

6. il a été nommé à la ~ du groupe he was appointed head of the group;
   prendre la ~ des opérations to take charge of operations;
   être à la ~ d'une immense fortune to be the possessor of a huge fortune;

7. top;
   être en ~ (of list, category) to be at the top;
   (in election, race, survey) to be in the lead;
   en ~ de phrase at the beginning of a sentence;

8. (of train) front;
   (of convoy) head;
   (of tree, mast) top;
   (of screw, nail) head;
   en ~ de file first in line;

9. Sport (in football) faire une ~ to head the ball;

10. Mil (of missile) warhead;

11. ~ de lecture (in tape recorder, video recorder) head.

COMPOUNDS:

~ en l'air scatterbrain;
~ brûlée daredevil;
~ à claques (familiar) pain (colloquial);
~ de linotte = See Also→ ~ en l'air;
~ de mort skull;
death's head;
skull and crossbones;
~ de mule (familiar) mule;
être une vraie ~ de mule (familiar) to be as stubborn as a mule;
~ de Turc (familiar) whipping boy.

IDIOMS:

j'en mettrais ma ~ à couper I'd swear to it;
en avoir par-dessus la ~ (familiar) to be fed up to the back teeth (colloquial);
ça me prend la ~ (familiar) it's a real drag (colloquial).

Mot du Jour: Changement (Change)

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

changement /ʃɑ̃ʒmɑ̃/ masculine noun change;
~ en mieux/pire change for the better/worse.

Mot du Jour: Paques

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

1. noun Pâques m; Easter
   at ~ à Pâques;
   Happy ~ Joyeuses Pâques.

2. adjective (Sunday, egg) de Pâques.

Mot du Jour: vendredi (Friday)

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:
vendredi /vɑ̃dʀədi/ masculine noun Friday;
~ saint Good Friday.

Mot du Jour: jeûne (fasting)

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

jeûne /ʒøn/ masculine noun

1. fasting;
   fast;

2. period of fasting.

Mot du Jour: Souffrance (Suffering)

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

souffrance /sufʀɑ̃s/ feminine noun suffering.

Mot du Jour: Baiser (Kiss)

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

1. noun baiser m;
   to give sb a ~ embrasser qn, donner un baiser à qn.

2. transitive verb embrasser, donner un baiser à (person);
   to ~ sb on embrasser qn sur (cheek, lips);
   we ~ed each other nous nous sommes embrassés.

3. intransitive verb s'embrasser.

Mot du Jour: Oeil (Eye)

Image Source

Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary © 2005 Oxford University Press:

œil, pl yeux /œj/ , /jø/ masculine noun eye;
ouvrir l'~ to keep one's eyes open;
fermer les yeux sur qch to turn a blind eye to sth;
acheter qch les yeux fermés to buy sth with complete confidence;
avoir l'~ à tout to be vigilant;
jeter un ~ à or sur qch to have a quick look at sth;
aux yeux de tous openly;
jeter un coup d'~ à qch to glance at sth;
avoir le coup d'~ to have a good eye;
regarder qch d'un ~ neuf to see sth in a new light;
voir qch d'un mauvais ~ to take a dim view of sth;
à mes yeux in my opinion.

COMPOUNDS:

~ de verre glass eye.

IDIOMS:

mon ~! (familiar) my eye! (colloquial), my foot! (colloquial);
à l'~ (familiar) for nothing, for free (colloquial);
faire les gros yeux à qn to glare at sb;
dévorer qn/qch des yeux to gaze longingly at sb/sth;
faire les yeux doux à qn to make eyes at sb;
tourner de l'~ (familiar) to faint;
cela me sort par les yeux (familiar) I've had it up to here (colloquial);
avoir bon pied bon ~ to be as fit as a fiddle;
sauter aux yeux to be obvious.