Loney, Audra, Period 1, French Vocab

There was / There were

There was a lot of snow during winter break.

Il y avait

Il y avait beaucoup de neige pendant les vacances d’hiver.

The word Il y avait reminds me of “eel, uh…”, so there were eels in the water causing him to pause “uh…”.

This/It was

It was a new book on my shelf.

C’était

C’était un nouveau livre sur mon étagère.

C’était sort of sounds like “set a”, so I when I set a book down, it was on a shelf.

He had

He had tickets to a concert last night.

Il avait

Il avait des billets pour un concert hier soir.

My mom got my dad tickets to a concert, which he had, or obtained, on Christmas.

He was

He was happy when I gave him my present.

Il était

Il était heureux quand je lui ai donné mon cadeau.

My brother was smiling when I gave him my present.

He could

He could listen to me, but he chose not to.

Il pouvait

Il pouvait m’écouter, mais il a choisi de ne pas le faire.

It sort of sounds like “pool” to start, so I think the he could go to the pool but doesn’t.

He wanted

He wanted some chocolate after dinner.

Il voulait

Il voulait du chocolat après le dîner.

While it is a stretch, “voulait” most closely reminds me of “voila”, where you are surprised with something you wanted.

He went to

He went to the store to buy groceries.

Il est allé à

Il est allé au magasin pour acheter des provisions.

“Allé à” sort of sound like “all est at”, or all is at, so everyone went somewhere.

He leaves from

He left from school to go home.

Il est parti de

Il est parti de l’école pour rentrer à la maison.

You might tire of a large “party” and leave it after a while.

He came from

He came from Michigan to Illinois.

Il est venu de

Il est venu du Michigan à l’Illinois.

You come from a “venue” after a concert when going home.

He did/made

He made a big castle with his LEGO.

Il a fait

Il a fait un grand château avec ses LEGO.

It is “fate” to make a difference in someone else’s life.

He said

He said hello to his neighbors this morning.

Il a dit

Il a dit bonjour à ses voisins ce matin.

A “deed” could be speaking up for yourself, or saying something.

He saw

He saw the sunrise on the way to school.

Il a vu

Il a vu le lever du soleil en allant à l’école.

“Vu” reminds me of “boo”, which fans might say if they see the other team score a point.

He put

He set the plates on the table.

Il a mis

Il an mis les assiettes sur la table.

He tried to put the plates down, but he “missed” and they fell.

He took

He took a photo during his evening walk.

Il a pris

Il a pris une photo pendant sa promenade du soir.

Bandits “prise” (that means to pry) a safe open, then take the contents.

He gave

He gave the time to his friends when they asked.

Il a donné

Il a donné l’heure à ses amis quand ils ont demandé.

“Don” gave Mary a gift.

He received/got

She received jewelry for Christmas.

Il a reçu

Elle a reçu des bijoux pour Noël.

“Reçu” to me sounds like “re-sue”, so if you sue someone again you would receive more money possibly.

He brought

He brought a salad to the party.

Il a apporté

Il a apporté une salade à la fête.

There is the word “port” in the middle of “apporté”, so I imagine he brought his suitcase to the port before boarding a boat.

He knew that

He knew it would rain, so he brought an umbrella.

Il savait que

Il savait qu’il allait pleuvoir, alors il a apporté un parapluie.

“Savait” reminds me of “salvage”, and a person who knew that treasure was on a sunken ship ight try and “salvage” it.

He knew (person/place)

He had known New York only from pictures before his visit.

Il a connu (person/place)

Il a connu New York seulement par des photos avant sa visite.

“Connu” reminds me of “cone”, and many people know of ice cream parlors where you can get ice cream cones.

I screamed

I screamed when my brother snuck up on me.

J’ai crié

J’ai crié quand mon frère s’est approché sans bruit.

“Crié” resembles “cry”, and a loud cry is another word for a scream.

I cried

I cried because I laughed too much.

J’ai pleuré

J’ai pleuré parce que j’ai trop ri.

The word “Pleuré” reminds me of “pleuie” for run, and crying makes tears that look like raindrops.

I accompanied / went with

I went with my mom to the grocery store with my siblings, and we got a treat.

J’ai accompagné

J’ai accompagné ma mère au supermarché avec mes frères et sœurs, et nous avons eu une friandise

The word both looks and sounds like its English translation.

The living room

My brother played with his toys in the living room.

La salle de séjour

Mon frère a joué avec ses jousts dans la salle de séjour

“Séjour” kind of seems like it could be “se jour” - his day, and the living room is where m brother plays all of his day.

The staircase

I went up the staircase in my house yesterday.

L’escalier

Je suis monté l’escalier de ma maison hier.

I “scale” the staircase.

Ugly

I wore an ugly pair of pants, and I didn’t like it.

Moche

J’ai porté un pantalon moche, et je ne l’ai pas aimé.

I don’t like mushy food as I find it ugly.

of average size

My hands were average-sized.

de taille moyenne

Mes mains étaient de taille moyenne.

The tall person was of average size in his town.

the bathroom / the toilet room

La salle de bain / le VC

the dining room

la salle à manger

the kitchen

la cuisine

I invited

J’ai invité

I repeated

Ja’i répété

I accompanied / went with

J’ai accompagné

pretty

joli(e)

young

jeune

old

Vieux/vieille

Strong

Fort(e)

Weak

Faible

Shy

Timide

Talkative

Bavard(e)

He feels (he felt)

Il se sent (il s’est senti)

I dared

J’ai osé

I canceled

Annulé

I hurt

J’ai blessé

I turned on / lit

J’ai allumé

I added

J’ai ajouté

A couch

Un canapé

An armchair

Un fauteuil

A closet / cupboard

Un placard

A dresser

Une commode

A shower

Une douche

The drapes / curtains

I closed the curtains in my bedroom at night.

Les rideaux

J’ai fermé les rideaux de ma chambre la nuit.

A cat got tangles up in some long curtains and look ridiculous (sounds like rideaux sort of).

I erased

I erased the math problem when I realized I was doing it wrong.

J’ai effacé

J’ai effacé le problème de maths quand j’ai réalisé que je le faisais mal.

If you efface a drawing with a pencil someone else might come along and erase it.

I taught

I taught math to my friends.

J’ai enseigné

J’ai enseigné les mathématiques à mes amis.

I taught my brother how to sign (enseigné sounds like it) up for a new club.

I cleaned

I cleaned the kitchen floor.

J’ai nettoyé

J’ai nettoyé le sol de la cuisine.

The naughty boy was forced to clean as a punishment.

Hard-working

I have always been hardworking, even when I was tired.

Travailleur

J’ai toujours été travailleur, même quand j’étais fatigué.

“Travaille” is the term for work, as in your job, so it makes sense. That “travailleur” would be similar, as so much of the words are similar.

Lazy

My grandparents’ cat was very lazy.

Paresseux

Le chat de mes grands-parents était très paresseux.

If you want to make enough money to go to Paris (sounds like the start of Paresseux), then you can’t be lazy.

Generous

My grandmother was very generous because she made many cookies at Christmas.

Généreux

Ma grand-mère a été très généreuse parce qu’elle a fait beaucoup de biscuits à Noël.

The word “Génereux” sounds like generous, and also looks like it slightly.

Selfish

I was selfish and did not want to share the cookies I baked.

Égoïste

J’ai été égoïste et je n’ai pas voulu partager les biscuits que j’avais faits.

“Égoïste” begins with “ego”, and if you ahve a big ego you may do selfish things.

The sheets

Les drapes

A blanket

Une couverture

A pillow

Un oreiller

A rug / the carpet

Un tapis / la moquette

I tasted

J’ai goûté

It cost

Il a coûté

He feels / he felt

Il se sent / il s’est senti

Relaxed

Yesterday, I spent time outside and I felt relaxed.

Décontracté(e)

Hier, j’ai passé du temps dehors et je me suis senti décontracté.

You contract your muscles when you get nervous, but when you relax, they de-contract, which sound just like décontracté, the French word for relaxed.

Nervous

My friend was nervous before her presentation.

Nerveux / nerveuse

Mon amie était nerveuse avant sa présentation.

The word « nerveuse » looks and sounds like its English companion.

Funny

My little cousin was funny and he made everyone laugh.

Drôle

Mon petit cousin était drôle et il faisait rire tout le monde.

If you are too funny and make people laugh too much they might drool (sounds like drôle sort of).

Annoying

My sister was annoying yesterday because she annoyed me on purpose.

Pénible

Ma sœur a été pénible hier parce qu’elle m’a embêté exprès.

If something annoys you, it feels like a pen (beginning of pénible) in the side.

His/her physical appearance

Yesterday, I looked at my physical appearance in the mirror on the back of my mom’s door.

Son apparence physique

Hier, j’ai regardé mon apparence physique dans le miroir sur la porte de ma mère.

They noticed

They noticed that I had a new haircut.

Ils ont remarqué

Ils ont remarqué que j’avais une nouvelle coupe de cheveux.

In order to make a remark (sound like remarqué), you need to notice something.

They replaced

They replaced my chips with applesauce.

Ils ont remplacé

Ils ont remplacé mes chips par de la compote de pommes.

The words look very similar, with « rémplace » mirroring « replace ».

They wished

They wished for a dog.

Ils ont souhaité

Ils ont souhaité avoir un chien.

The wishes were very sweet (sounds like souhaité) to my ears.

They visited

Ils ont visité

They admired

Ils ont admiré

Never

Jamais

Sometimes

Parfois

Often

Souvent

Usually

D’habitude

Always

Toujours

In the past

In the past, I used to take the bus to school.

Autrefois

Autrefois, je prenais le bus pour aller à l’école.

“Autrefois” can be split up as “Autre”-“fois”, or another time.

Currently

I was currently reading a book by Agatha Christie.

Acctuellement

J’étais actuellement en train de lire un livre d’Agatha Christie.

If you say something is in actuality, then you mean that it is the truth, or what is currently happening.

In the future

In the future, I wanted to write a letter.

À l’avenir

À l’avenir, j’ai voulu écrire une lettre.

“Avenir” is close to the infinitive “venir”, which means “to come”, and the things in the future are those which have yet to come.

All of a sudden

All of a sudden, it started raining, but I had my umbrella.

Tout d’un coup

Tout à coup, il a commencé à pleuvoir, mais j’avais mon parapluie.

If a group were to stage a coup, it would be very sudden and unexpected.

Two times per week

I had orchestra twice a week in the evening.

Deux fois par semaine

J’ai eu orchestre deux fois par semaine le soir.

The phrase translate quite nicely - “deux” = “two”, “fois” = “times”, “par” = “per”, and “semaine” = “week”

The loaned (money)

They lent money when I bought lunch.

Ils ont prêté

Ils ont prêté de l’argent quand j’ai acheté le déjeuner.

“Prêté” is similar to “prey”, which means ready, and you have to be ready if you want to loan a lot of money.

They borrowed

They borrowed my gloves.

Ils ont emprunté

Ils ont emprunté mes gants.

You might be a bit of an old prune (looks kind of like “emprunté”) if you didn;t let anyone borrow any of your things.

They congratulated

They congratulated me after my cross-country race.

Ils ont félicité

Ils ont félicité moi après ma course de cross-country.

if you give someone congratulations, then it might be at a party, such as one for Christmas, or in Spanish “Felix Navidad”.

They announced

Ils ont annoncé

They augmented / increased

Ils ont augmenté

He said / he said to him

Il a dot / il lui a dit

He responded / he responded to him

Il a répondu / il lui a répondu

his/her problem was that

Son problème était que

A freezer

I put my homemade ice cream cake in the freezer.

Un congélateur

J’ai mis mon gâteau de glace fait maison dans le congélateur.

When you put liquids in the freezer, they may start to congeal (like congélateur).

An oven

Yesterday, I baked cookies in an oven.

Un four

Hier, j’ai fait cuire des cookies dans un four.

There are four racks in an oven.

A toaster

Yesterday, I used a toaster to make a toasted bagel with cream cheese.

Un grille-pain

Hier, j’ai utilisé un grille-pain pour faire un bagel grillé avec du fromage à la crème.

a dishwasher

The circuit breaker tripped when the dishwasher and the heater were running at the same time.

Un lave-vaisselle

Le disjoncteur a sauté quand le lave-vaisselle et le chauffage marchaient en même temps.

A dishwasher lavers dishes up in soap and cleans them.

They mixed

They mixed fruits to make a fruit salad.

Ils ont mélangé

Ils ont mélangé des fruits pour faire une salade de fruits.

If you speak many different languages, or “langues” in French, then you might mix them up.

A refridgerator

Un frigo

They informed

Ils ont informé