Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
French
Vocabulary Course
Hélène Lewis
Hodder Arnold
A MEMBER OF THE HODDER HEADLINE GROUP
MT FRENCH VOCAB COURSE (07) 25/9/07 10:44 am Page 2
First published in UK 2007 by Hodder Headline, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH.
Copyright © 2007, in the methodology, Thomas Keymaster Languages LLC, all rights reserved; in the series
template, Dr Rose Lee Hayden; in the content, Hélène Lewis
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher or under licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Further
details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency
Limited, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS, UK.
Typeset by Transet Limited, Coventry, England.
Printed in Great Britain
Impression 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Year 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
ISBN 978 0 340 93982 6
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Contents 3
Introduction 5
Course contents 15
Course segment 1: Cognates 15
Course segment 2: Verbs 19
Course segment 3: Everyday expressions 21
English–French glossary 23
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MT FRENCH VOCAB COURSE (07) 25/9/07 10:44 am Page 5
Introduction 5
My name is Rose Lee Hayden, and I had the distinct privilege of working
closely with Michel Thomas for several decades, in particular, teaching what
he referred to as his ‘second phase’ language courses. This ‘second phase’
built upon the structural knowledge of the language that Michel Thomas so
brilliantly provided in his foundation courses. As Michel Thomas himself
often said, ‘I built the house, but it is up to you to decorate it!’
At the outset, let me stress what this course does not attempt to do and
how it may differ a little from your previous experiences with the Michel
Thomas French courses. First, this course does not and cannot re-teach
the original courses, but rather builds directly on them. Therefore, you may
wish to review and keep reviewing your Michel Thomas French courses
and Language Builder to re-familiarize yourself with structural items and
basic vocabulary previously introduced by Michel Thomas.
6
asked his students to review and reinforce the basics before moving on.
Because his methodology is cumulative, you must never rush ahead. Each
building block in some way relates to previous content and uses it in a
carefully constructed way.
Third, those of you who expect drills of each and every word in a category –
family members, days of the week, and so on – don’t! Michel Thomas
actively discouraged memorization, rote learning, writing out lists and any
and all related activities of this type. He knew that we do not learn this way,
and that the stress generated by these means actually impedes learning.
And while we would have liked to have been able to include more words in
a category, space on audio recordings is limited, and we had to make hard
choices with respect to what we could and could not include. We did not
want to waste valuable learning time at the expense of introducing more
strategic content designed to help you create words, structures and habits of
learning on your own.
I dedicate this course to the memory of Michel Thomas and to all of you
who have chosen to build your French vocabulary the Michel Thomas way.
Michel Thomas dedicated his long professional life to probing the learning
process. He focused on the teaching and learning of foreign languages as a
perfect test case for his revolutionary learning system, one that made him
the world’s foremost language teacher to the celebrities, diplomats,
corporate executives as well as others seeking to acquire or enhance their
proficiency in another language.
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and apply what you have learned and will be motivated to learn more.
Without the stress of memorization, note taking and homework, you can
relax and let language learning take place as nature intended.
But you have to experience the Michel Thomas Method to believe it. Within
hours you will be creating sophisticated sentences in a wide variety of
situations, as those of you know who have completed the Michel Thomas
language courses and Language Builders. These courses provided you
with functional proficiency in your chosen language, be it French, Italian,
Spanish or German, and are the foundation upon which this Michel
Thomas Method: Vocabulary Course series builds, phrase by phrase,
the Michel Thomas way.
You already know a lot more French than you think you do!
The Michel Thomas Method is, above all, based on the commonality of
Western languages. French shares many thousands of words with English,
everyday words that you already know. This Michel Thomas Method:
French Vocabulary Course provides dozens of tips to help you unlock
what it is that you already know, to expand your French vocabulary
exponentially with easy transformations that convert thousands of English
words into their French equivalents. You will also learn how to pronounce
and spell these new words. As Michel Thomas told you, one can attain
functional proficiency in most languages by mastering no more than
500–1,500 words. A working knowledge of most languages – even your
own – does not require the use of every word in the dictionary. Literally
hundreds of additional words and expressions will be on the tip of your
tongue as you build your French vocabulary the Michel Thomas way.
With this, our first post-Michel Thomas series, we hope to provide what
Michel Thomas and his ever-expanding number of ‘students’ would expect of
us, both as educational publishers and professionals who love languages,
teaching them and learning them. We dedicate this series and others that we
will be developing for schools, businesses and individuals from all walks of
life to our much-esteemed and beloved ‘Language Master’, Michel Thomas.
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learn or review over 1,000 words and everyday expressions, and will
significantly boost your confidence in your ability to speak, listen to, read
and understand French.
You may find that it takes a while to get used to the Michel Thomas way of
teaching. It is innovative and quite unlike any other method you will have
come across. But once you have experienced the excitement of painless
learning the Michel Thomas way, you will be hooked!
The narrator will guide you through three distinct course segments:
1) Cognates – vocabulary building using similarities between English and
French; 2) Verbs; and 3) Everyday expressions – to top off your new
vocabulary and help you avoid making common mistakes in French. Two
native speakers, one female, one male, will repeat all words and phrases
after a pause designed to allow you to come up with your own response
based on prompts from the narrator. The correct response will then be
repeated by the narrator to help set it in your mind.
This User Guide contains a detailed listing of all the content on the CDs,
track by track, to help you locate and review what it is you wish to reinforce.
It also features a detailed English–French glossary listing the 1,000 words
covered in this course, words that were carefully chosen to increase your
communication skills in French, as well as to improve your ability to listen
and read for gist.
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I understand now’ – you are doing just fine. If you made a mistake and
you do not understand why, you may have been daydreaming for a few
seconds. As noted, the course is structured so that you cannot go on
unless you fully understand everything. So just go back a little and pick
up where you left off.
• Stop the recording whenever it suits you. Breaks in the CD
recordings reflect the numbering and content listings in this User Guide.
This will help you locate items you wish to review and will enable you to
locate where you left off and where you wish to begin once again.
Michel Thomas also recommended a little daily practice – ten minutes at least
– and knew that this was worth more than several hours of cramming after a
period of time has gone by. He encouraged you to start reading, especially
newspaper and magazine interviews that reflect French as it is actually being
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spoken rather than textbook versions of the language. You can also keep up 13
and extend your language by reading items in subject areas of personal
interest to you, or you can buy a French translation of your favourite mystery
writer. Michel Thomas knew and told you that the more you read, the more
things will fall into place. And as he warned, fight that temptation to use your
dictionary first and think last. You will be glad you did.
One last suggestion here. For really authentic practice, try to listen to French
radio and television programmes that you may be able to receive if you live
in a city or have satellite TV options. Relax and listen for gist, not word by
word. You can do it! And little by little, peu à peu, you will understand what
is being said. As Michel Thomas told you upon the completion of his French
courses, you have all the tools you need to express yourself and have
acquired many more having completed this course. We know that
you will find it both rewarding and exciting to practise your ever-improving
French!
Irish dance and music sensation, Michael Flatley (as quoted in The
Linguist):
‘He [Michel Thomas] was a genius … a born teacher and thinker.’
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Customer feedback on the Michel Thomas Method
‘I am writing to congratulate you on the highly original and successful
language courses by Michel Thomas; I am currently working on
German and French, while my daughter, at my suggestion, has
bought the Italian course.’
R. Harris
‘I have now finished the eight cassette Italian course and would like to
say how pleased I am with it. I am a scientist, with all my neurons in
the side of my brain that deals with understanding, and next to none
on the side that deals with memory. This has meant my ability to
retain vocabulary and learn a language has been about as bad as it
comes. Against all odds, the Michel Thomas course has left me with a
real sense of achievement, and a tremendous basis for further
progress in learning Italian.’
T. A. Whittingham
‘He doesn’t put words in your mouth, he makes you work out the
words to say yourself.’
Angie Harper
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Course contents 15
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8 (CD 1, track 9)
• Nouns ending in -tion: une réservation; la condition; une action
intelligente; ma conviction profonde
9 (CD 2, track 1)
• Nouns ending in -sion: une dimension; une expression; La
décision est urgente.
10 (CD 2, track 2)
• Nouns ending in -ance and -ence: l’indépendance; une alliance;
Il y a ici une différence que je ne peux pas comprendre.
11 (CD 2, track 3)
• Professions: transformation of English nouns ending in -er and -or:
un danseur; un directeur
12 (CD 2, track 4)
• Further transformation of nouns ending in -ance: l’importance;
l’élégance; les distances
13 (CD 2, track 5)
• Transformation of adverbs in -ly: naturellement;
automatiquement; absolument. Je suis totalement d’accord
avec vous. Eventuellement, je peux vous donner des
directions.
14 (CD 2, track 6)
• Transformation of adjectives and nouns ending in -ary: contraire;
militaire; secrétaire. Au contraire, c’est absolument
nécessaire.
• Transformation of adjectives and nouns ending in -ory: Ses
suggestions sont tellement contradictoires que c’est illusoire
de penser que nous pouvons trouver une solution.
15 (CD 2, track 7)
• Transformation of adjectives ending in -ive: exclusif; négatif. Les
opinions de ma sœur sont très négatives.
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16 (CD 2, track 8) 17
• Transformation of adjectives ending in -ous: dangereux; courageux.
Attention! La situation devient très dangereuse.
17 (CD 2, track 9)
• Transformation of adjectives ending in -ical and -ic: magique;
logique; économique; patriotique; électronique
• Transformation of nouns ending in -ics and -ic: l’électronique; la
physique. C’est ironique, mais ce film a un succès fantastique
avec le public.
18 (CD 2, track 10)
• Transformation of nouns ending in -ure: La température n’est pas
fantastique pour l’agriculture.
19 (CD 2, track 11)
• Transformation of nouns ending in -tude: une aptitude; une
multitude. Pour moi, exprimer ma gratitude est difficile.
20 (CD 2, track 12)
• Transformation of nouns ending in -ity: la possibilité; la capacité;
les opportunités
21 (CD 2, track 13)
• Transformation of nouns ending in -y: l’économie; l’astronomie
22 (CD 2, track 14)
• Transformation of nouns ending in -ine and -in: une routine; une
aspirine. Nous sommes très satisfaits de la machine, donc
nous en commanderons encore deux.
23 (CD 2, track 15)
Transformation of adjectives ending in -id: solide; avide; timide. Vos
billets ne sont pas valides.
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24 (CD 3, track 1)
• Transformation of nouns ending in -ism: Le socialisme et le
capitalisme sont des systèmes politiques. Son égoïsme est
intolérable.
• Transformation of nouns ending in -ist: un pacifiste; une socialiste.
Je vais voir l’exposition des Impressionnistes.
25 (CD 3, track 2)
• Transformation of adjectives ending in -al: central; principal; les
codes postaux; professionnel; individuel
• Conclusion
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7 (CD 3, track 9)
• Verbs in -ir of the ouvrir, sortir and venir types: Je découvre
seulement maintenant qu’il a beaucoup de problèmes. J’ai
ouvert la porte pour laisser sortir le chat. Quand nous
sommes entrés, il dormait devant la télévision.
8 (CD 4, track 1)
• Other verbs ending in -ir: finir; définir; établir; réfléchir
• en + present participle: en attendant; en finissant; en faisant
9 (CD 4, track 2)
• Verbs in -re: mettre; promettre; admettre etc.
10 (CD 4, track 3)
• Verbs in -uire: produire; détruire; construire etc.
• Verbs in -ire: suffire; lire etc.
11 (CD 4, track 4)
• Reflexive verbs: Maintenant qu’Alex travaille, il se réveille tôt,
c’est-à-dire avant 7 heures. Je m’aperçois que c’est très facile
d’apprendre des mots français.
• ‘Reciprocal’ verbs: Nous nous parlons tous les jours. Nous nous
embrassons.
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7 (CD 5, track 2)
• Expressions of quantity: quelque; du; de la
• The pronoun en: J’ai trois billets, mais j’en veux cinq.
• assez; la plupart de
8 (CD 5, track 3)
• Talking about numbers: le nombre; le numéro; un chiffre
9 (CD 5, track 4)
• Il faut: Il faut que nous fermions la porte; Il faut que nous
ouvrions la fenêtre.
10 (CD 5, track 5)
• The pronoun y: Il avait décidé d’aller à la réception, mais il y
est arrivé trop tôt. Vous devez y penser.
11 (CD 5, track 6)
• Avoir and semi-idiomatic expressions: J’ai très faim. Il a très soif
parce qu’il a oublié sa bouteille d’eau minérale. J’ai peur des
problèmes associés à l’expansion du département.
12 (CD 5, track 7)
• Etre and semi-idiomatic expressions: Nous sommes le cinq
janvier aujourd’hui. Vous n’y êtes pas du tout!
13 (CD 5, track 8)
• Negatives: ne … pas; ne … plus; ne … rien
14. (CD 5, track 9)
• Negatives: ne … jamais; ne … personne; … non plus; ni … ni;
ne … que
15 (CD 5, track 10)
• Adjectives which change meaning depending on their position in
relation to the noun described: ancien; certain; cher; propre
• Conclusion
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English–French glossary 23
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allow somebody to do something, to association association, l’ (fem.) (s)
permettre à quelqu’un de faire astronomy astronomie, l’ (fem.)
quelque chose ~permis at least au moins
almost presque at this time actuellement
already déjà Atlantic atlantique
also aussi attend, to assister (à) ~assisté
always toujours attention attention, l’ (fem.)
announce, to annoncer ~annoncé attitude attitude, l’ (fem.) (s)
answer réponse, la (s) Australia Australie, l’ (fem.)
answer, to répondre ~répondu author auteur, l’ (masc.) (s)
antique ancien/ancienne authorization autorisation,
anxious inquiet/inquiète l’ (fem.) (s)
apartment appartement, authorize, to *autoriser ~autorisé
l’ (masc.) (s) automatic automatique
applicable applicable automatically automatiquement
applications applications, les (fem.) (in) Autumn (en) automne,
apply, to appliquer ~appliqué l’ (masc.)
appointment rendez-vous, le average moyenne, la
approachable approchable avid avide
approximately *environ avoid, to éviter ~évité
aptitude aptitude, l’ (fem.) (s) avoidable évitable
arbitrary arbitraire awaken, to se réveiller ~s’est réveillé
archaeologist archéologue,
l’ (masc./fem.) (s) (worse) bad (plus) mal
argument argument, l’ (masc.) (s) badly mal
arrival arrivée, l’ (fem.) (s) bag sac, le (s)
arrive, to arriver ~est arrivé ball balle, la (s)
art art, l’ (masc.) ban interdire ~inderdit
artist artiste, l’ (masc./fem.) (s) bank account compte bancaire, le (s)
artistic artistique be (geog.), to se trouver
as comme ~s’est trouvé
ask a question, to poser une question be associated with, to être associé à
~posé be beautiful (weather), to faire beau
ask (for), to demander ~demandé be cold (weather), to faire froid
aspirin aspirine, l’ (fem.) be courageous, to avoir du courage
assessment évaluation, l’ (fem.) (s) be fed up, to en avoir assez
assistant assistant, l’ (masc.)/ be forgotten, to s’oublier ~s’est oublié
assistante, l’ (fem.) (s) be frightened (of/that), to avoir
associate, to associer ~associé peur (de/que)
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cat chat, le/chatte, la (s) coat manteau, le (x)
catastrophe catastrophe, la (s) coffee café, le
catch a glimpse (of something), to colleague collègue, le/la (s)
apercevoir (quelque chose) collection collection, la (s)
~aperçu come, to venir ~est venu
cause, to; talk, to causer ~causé comfortable *confortable
celebration célébration, la (s); commercial commercial/e
fête, la (s) committee comité, le (s)
central central/e company compagnie, la (s)
centre centre, le (s) competition compétition, la (s)
certain certain/e complain, to se plaindre
chair chaise, la (s) ~s’est plaint
chance chance, la (s) completely complètement
change one’s mind, to changer computer ordinateur, l’ (masc.) (s)
d’avis ~changé computer science informatique,
change, to changer (de) ~changé l’ (fem.)
charge, to prendre ~pris computer scientist informaticien,
charm charme, le l’ (masc.)/informaticienne,
charm, to *charmer ~charmé l’ (fem.) (s)
charming charmant/e computerize, to informatiser
cheap bon marché ~informatisé
check *contrôle, le (s) conceivable concevable
check, to vérifier ~vérifié concentrate, to se concentrer
chemist *chimiste, le/la (s) ~s’est concentré
child enfant, l’ (masc./fem.) (s) conception conception, la
chocolate chocolat, le concert concert, le (s)
choice choix, le conclusion conclusion, la (s)
choose, to choisir ~choisi condemn, to condamner
church église, l’ (fem.) (s) ~condamné
cinema cinéma, le condition condition, la (s)
circumstance circonstance, la (s) conference conférence, la (s)
civilization civilisation, la confidential confidentiel/
clarity clarté, la confidentielle
classic classique confirmation confirmation, la (s)
classify, to classifier ~classifié confusion confusion, la
clean propre constructive constructif/constructive
client client, le/cliente la (s) consult, to consulter ~consulté
close, to fermer ~fermé consultant consultant, le/consultante,
coast côte, la (s) la (s)
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difficulty difficulté, la (s) drive somebody back (home), to
digit chiffre, le (s) raccompagner quelqu’un en
dimension dimension, la (s) voiture ~raccompagné
dine, to dîner ~dîné drop goutte, la (s)
direction direction, la (s) due to à cause de
director directeur, le/directrice, la (s) during pendant
dirty *sale DVD DVD, le (-)
disappoint, to décevoir ~déçu
disappointment déception, la each chaque
discipline discipline, la (s) early tôt
discount réduction, la (s) earn, to gagner ~gagné
discover, to découvrir ~découvert easy facile
discretion discrétion, la eat, to manger ~mangé
discussion discussion, la (s) economic économique
disorganised désorganisé/e economy économie, l’ (fem.)
dispatch, to dépêcher editorial éditorial, l’ (masc.)
~dépêché (pl. éditoriaux)
disposable jetable education education, l’ (fem.);
distance distance, la (s) instruction, l’ (fem.)
distribute, to distribuer ~distribué effective efficace
distributor distributeur, efficient efficace
le/distributrice, la (s) effort effort, l’ (masc.) (s)
divide, to diviser ~divisé either … or … soit … soit …
do, to faire ~fait electricity électricité, l’ (fem.)
do sport, to faire du sport ~fait electronic électronique
doctrine doctrine, la electronics électronique, l’ (fem.)
document document, le (s) elegance élégance, l’ (fem.)
dog chien, le/chienne, la (s) elegant élégant/e
door porte, la (s) elusive insaisissable
double, to doubler ~doublé email e-mail, l’ (masc.) (s)
dozen douzaine, la (s) employee employé, l’ (masc.)/
dress robe, la (s) employée, l’ (fem.) (s)
dress, to habiller ~habillé encourage (to), to encourager (à)
dress oneself, to s’habiller ~s’est ~encouragé
habillé energy énergie, l’ (fem.)
drink, to boire ~bu English anglais/e
drink to somebody’s health enormously (enormous amount)
boire à la santé de quelqu’un énormément
drive, to conduire ~conduit enough suffisamment
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floor étage, l’ (masc.) (s) geology géologie, la
footballer footballeur, le (s) get along with, to s’entendre ~se
for pour sont entendus (pl.)
forbid, to défendre ~défendu get going again, to repartir ~est
force, to forcer ~forcé reparti
force oneself, to se forcer ~s’est get it, to (y) comprendre
forcé get married, to se marier ~s’est
foreign countries les pays étrangers marié
forget, to oublier ~oublié get on with, to s’entendre ~se sont
form forme, la (s) entendus (pl.)
form, to former ~formé get oneself (somewhere), to se
former ancien/ancienne rendre ~s’est rendu
fortunately heureusement get up, to se lever ~s’est levé
France France, la give, to donner ~donné
free, to *libérer ~libéré give again, to redonner ~redonné
freedom liberté, la give back, to rendre ~rendu
French (man/woman) Français, given that … ; since …
le/Française, la étant donné que …
French français/e glass verre, le (s)
(in) French (language) (en) français, go (somewhere), to aller ~allé; se
le rendre ~s’est rendu
frequently fréquemment go about (something), to s’y prendre
Friday vendredi, le (s) ~s’y est pris
friend ami, l’ (masc.)/amie, go back, to retourner ~est retourné
l’ (fem.) (s) go down, to descendre ~est
from here d’ici descendu
from now d’ici go home, to rentrer ~est rentré
from time to time de temps en go out, to sortir ~est sorti
temps go out together (romantically), to
full *plein/e sortir ensemble ~sont sortis (pl.)
fundamental fondamental/e go to bed, to se coucher ~s’est couché
fusion fusion, la (s) go up, to monter ~est monté
future avenir, l’ (masc.) goal but, le (s)
good bon
generally généralement goods marchandises, les (fem. pl.)
genetic *génétique government gouvernement, le (s)
geneticist généticien, le/généticienne, gratitude gratitude, la
la (s) green vert/e
geologist géologue, le/la (s) ground sol, le
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incapable incapable investigation investigation, l’
incident incident, l’ (masc.) (s) (fem.) (s)
incompetent incompétent/e ironic ironique
incomprehensible incompréhensible irony ironie, l’ (fem.)
inconceivable inconcevable Is it not? N’est-ce pas?
increase augmentation, l’ (fem.) (s) It costs 10 Euros. Ça fait 10 euros.
increase, to augmenter ~augmenté It does not matter. Ça ne fait rien.
incredulity incrédulité, l’ (fem.) It is agreed. C’est entendu.
indefinable indéfinissable It is better … Il vaut mieux …
independence indépendance, l’ (fem.) It is one o’clock. Il est une heure.
independent indépendant/e It is out of the question.
indicate, to; point out, to Il n’en est pas question.
indiquer ~indiqué It isn’t worth much. Ça ne vaut pas
industrial industriel/industrielle grand-chose.
inedible immangeable It seems to me … Il me semble …
inevitable inévitable It’s … who … C’est … qui …
infinity infinité, l’ (fem.)
influence influence, l’ (fem.) (s) jam confiture, la (s)
influence, to influencer ~influencé jogging jogging, le
information information, l’ (fem.) (s) join again, to rejoindre ~rejoint
information technology journalist journaliste, le/la (s)
informatique, l’ (fem.) (in) July (en) juillet
install, to *installer ~installé justify, to justifier ~justifié
installation *installation, l’ (fem.)
instead of au lieu de keep oneself busy, to s’occuper
instruction instruction, l’ (fem.) (s) ~s’est occupé
insufficiently insuffisamment keep, to garder ~gardé
intelligent intelligent/e key clé, la (s)
intend to, to avoir l’intention de (a) kind of … une espèce de …;
intention intention, l’ (fem.) (s) *une sorte de …
interesting intéressant/e kiss, to embrasser ~embrassé
international international/e kiss each other, to s’embrasser ~se
interpretation interprétation, sont embrassés (pl.)
l’ (fem.) (s) know (+noun), to connaître
intolerant intolérant/e ~connu
introduce, to introduire ~introduit know (how to do something), to
intuition intuition, l’ (fem.) savoir ~su
invent, to inventer ~inventé know oneself, to se connaître
invention invention, l’ (fem.) (s) ~s’est connu
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midday midi newspaper journal, le (pl. journaux)
midnight minuit next prochain/e
million million, le (s) next ensuite
millionaire millionnaire, le/la (s) nine neuf
military militaire no longer; no more ne … plus
mineral minéral/e nobody personne
minister ministre, le (s) noise bruit, le
minus moins not at all pas du tout
minute minute, la (s) not have a choice, to ne pas avoir
miss, to manquer ~manqué le choix
moan about, to se lamenter sur not only non seulement
~s’est lamenté not yet pas encore
mobile telephone portable, le (s) note (money) billet, le (s)
model modèle, le (s) nothing rien
modern moderne notice that, to s’apercevoir que
modify, to modifier ~modifié ~s’est aperçu
money argent, l’ (masc.) (in) November (en) novembre
month mois, le (-) now maintenant
mood humeur, l’ (fem.) (s) nuclear nucléaire
(this) morning (ce) matin, le (s) number nombre, le (s)
more plus; encore numeral chiffre, le (s)
most la plupart de
much too much beaucoup trop occupy, to occuper ~occupé
multitude multitude, la (s) offer, to offrir ~offert
must devoir ~dû office bureau, le (x)
often souvent
naturally naturellement old *vieux/vieille
near près (de) on sur
necessary nécessaire on his/her part de sa part
need besoin, le (s) on the left à gauche
need, to avoir besoin de on the right à droite
negative négatif/négative on time à l’heure
negotiate, to négocier ~négocié one (people) on
negotiation négociation, la (s) one hundred cent
neither am I/neither do I moi non plus only seulement
neither … nor … (ne) ni … ni … only ne … que; seulement
never (in my life) jamais (de la vie) only now seulement maintenant
new nouveau/nouvelle open ouvert/e
news nouvelle, la (s) (in my) opinion (à mon) avis
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possibly éventuellement pronunciation prononciation, la
post code code postal, le (pl. codes proportional proportionnel/
postaux) proportionnelle
pound (sterling) livre (sterling), la (s) propose, to proposer ~proposé
pour (with rain), to *pleuvoir des proposition proposition, la (s)
cordes ~plu protect, to protéger ~protégé
prefer, to préférer ~préféré protection *protection, la
preferable préférable public public, le
preference préférence, la (s) public holiday fête, la (s)
preferred *favori/favorite public organisation *organisme, l’ (s)
prepare, to préparer ~préparé pull over, to se garer ~s’est garé
prescribe, to prescrire ~prescrit put, to mettre ~mis
presence présence, la put (down), to poser ~posé
present présent, le put a stop to, to stopper ~stoppé
present, to présenter ~présenté put back, to remettre ~remis
president président, le (s) put in place, to mettre en place
price prix, le (-) ~mis
principal principal/e
principle principe, le (s) quarter quart, le (s)
print, to imprimer ~imprimé quarter to moins le quart
prize prix, le (-) question question, la (s)
probable probable questionnaire questionnaire, le (s)
probably probablement queue queue, la (s)
problem problème, le (s) quite assez
produce, to produire ~produit
product produit, le (s) rain, to pleuvoir ~plu
production production, la (s) rain in torrents, to *pleuvoir à
productivity productivité, la torrents ~plu
professional professionnel/ raise, to lever ~levé
professionnelle read, to lire ~lu
profit (from), to profiter de ~profité read again, to relire ~relu
programme (radio/TV) readjust, to réadapter ~réadapté
émission, l’ (fem.) (s) readjust oneself, to se réadapter
progress progrès, le (-) ~s’est réadapté
prohibit, to interdire ~interdit ready (to … ) prêt/e (à … )
project projet, le (s) realise, to se rendre compte ~s’est
promise promesse, la (s) rendu compte; s’apercevoir
promise, to promettre ~promis ~s’est aperçu
pronounce, to prononcer ~prononcé really; truly vraiment
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secondary secondaire sleep, to dormir ~dormi
secretary secrétaire, le/la (s) sleeve manche, la (s)
see, to voir ~vu slow down, to ralentir ~ralenti
seek to, to chercher à ~cherché slow *lent/e
seem, to sembler ~semblé small petit/e
seize, to *saisir ~saisi smell, to sentir ~senti
selfishness égoïsme, l’ (masc.) so (much) tellement
sell, to vendre ~vendu so much the better tant mieux
send, to envoyer ~envoyé socialism socialisme, le
send back (something), to socialist socialiste, le/la (s)
renvoyer ~renvoyé society société, la (s)
send for …, to faire venir … software (package) logiciel, le (s)
~fait venir soil sol, le
sensibility sensibilité, la solid solide
sentence, to condamner solidity solidité, la
~condamné solution solution, la (s)
(in) September (en) septembre something quelque chose
serious grave something important quelque chose
serve, to servir ~servi d’important
service(s) service, le (s) sometimes quelquefois
several plusieurs speak, to parler ~parlé
shape forme, la (s) speak to, to se parler ~ se sont
share, to partager ~partagé parlés (pl.)
shirt chemise, la (s) specialist spécialiste, le/la (s)
shop magasin, le (s) spectator spectateur, le/spectatrice,
shopper acheteur, l’ la (s)
(masc.)/acheteuse, l’ (fem.) (s) speech discours, le (-)
short court/e speed rapidité, la
shyness timidité, la spend (money), to dépenser
sick malade ~dépensé
sign, to signer ~signé spend (time), to passer ~passé
simple simple (in the) Spring (au) printemps, le
since depuis start, to commencer ~commencé
singer chanteur, le/chanteuse, la (s) start again, to recommencer
sister soeur, la (s) ~recommencé
sitting-room salon, le (s) (railway) station gare, la (s)
situation situation, la (s) stay, to rester ~est resté
skier skieur, le/skieuse la (s) still encore
sleep sommeil, le stop, to arrêter ~arrêté
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ten dix together ensemble
tenant *locataire le/la (s) tolerable tolérable
terminate, to terminer ~terminé tolerant tolérant/e
terrible terrible tolerate, to *tolérer ~toléré
terribly terriblement tomorrow (morning/evening)
test *contrôle, le (s) demain (matin/soir)
text message texto, le (s) too (much) trop; also aussi
Thank you! Merci! totally totalement
thanks to … grâce à … tourism *tourisme, le
that ça town ville, la (s)
that is (to say) c’est-à-dire traditional *traditionnel/traditionnelle
that’s it; here it is voilà (by) train (en) train, le (s)
That will teach him! Ça lui aprendra! training formation, la (s)
then ensuite transformation transformation, la (s)
There is … left. Il reste … translate, to traduire ~traduit
There is nothing to do. Il n’y a rien translation traduction, la (s)
à faire. transmissible transmissible
There is talk of … Il est question tree arbre, l’ (masc.) (s)
de … trip voyage, le (s)
There isn’t much. Il n’y a pas truck camion, le (s)
grand-chose. truth vérité, la
thing *machin, le (s); truc, le (s) try, to essayer ~essayé
think, to penser ~pensé turn, to tourner ~tourné
think/not think so, to penser que two deux
oui/non type type, le (s)
thirst soif, la
this way comme ça unbearable insupportable
thousand mille (-) unbreakable incassable
thousand million (billion) uncomfortable inconfortable
milliard, le (s) under sous
throw, to lancer ~lancé under the present circumstances
throw (away), to jeter ~jeté dans les circonstances présentes
ticket billet, le (s) understand, to comprendre
time (first time) fois, la (-) (la ~compris
première fois) understand of/about, to
time heure, l’ (fem.) (s) comprendre à ~compris
timid timide unexpected inattendu/e
tired fatigué/e unfortunately malheureusement
today aujourd’hui unhoped for inespéré/e
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11. Have you tried another method before? If so, which product?
12. What’s the best thing about learning with the Michel Thomas Method?
Hodder Arnold
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH