Must know french 4000 words

Must know french 4000 words With 100 exercises, subcategories to facilitate word searches featuring English key words a logical format that allows users to recognise related vocabulary at a glance this volume will help readers test reinforce their vocabulary.

FRENCH

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4,000 Words That Give You the Power to Communicate

Eliane Kurbegov Illustrations by Jason Fennell

FRENCH

Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or ditributed in any form or by any means, or stored in

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INTRODUCTION xiii

1 Communicating with Others

Introductions, Greetings, and Farewells 2

Eyes 14

Character and Personality 16

Family Relationships and Family Activities 17

Nationalities, Ethnic Groups, and Religions 20

3 The Human Body, Health, and Medicine

Illnesses, Disabilities, and Medical Care 36

Psychological Conditions and Addictions 39

Life and Death 46

Shoes and Accessories 72

Jewelry, Makeup, and Hair Products 73

Buying, Renting, and Selling 79Furniture, Accessories, and Household Appliances 80

Career Choices and Training 86

Finance, Business, and the Economy 94

Fitness, Sports, and Outdoor Activities 109

10 Society and Government

Rights and Legal Status 140

Government and Politics 145

Ecology and Pollution 166

12 Measures, Numbers, and Time

Measurements and Quantities 182

Numbers and Calculations 185

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Congratulations! You’ve decided to study French! And now you want

to be able to find all the right words for a specific topic in one place

Must-Know French is what you need This book can be useful at any level

of learning It will reinforce what you already know and help you broadenyour vocabulary by building on prior knowledge

Must-Know French exposes you to current terminology in the French

language As the world changes around you, so does language With nological progress and globalization, new language is created at such a rapidpace that dictionaries and traditional books are challenged to respond appro-priately In the world of business, travel, and academics, or simply in dailylife, the power to communicate in French is a valuable skill Precise vocab-ulary is a key element to convey and understand clear messages Four thou-sand basic and more advanced terms were carefully selected and grouped bysubject matter in twelve units throughout this book Knowing these termswill enable you to communicate more easily in all kinds of situations.Lexical terms are grouped thematically (education, shopping, travel,

tech-etc.) First you will identify cognates and familiar words like le téléphone or

la loterie; then you can focus on new vocabulary However, new words and

unfamiliar expressions will be easy to grasp and remember because they

belong to a common semantic field (i.e la fête, l’anniversaire), or to a ily of words (i.e la politique, le politicien) Making these connections allevi-

fam-ates the memorization effort To further facilitate instant recall, idiomatic

expressions such as “Il fait froid ” are presented as vocabulary items where

vocabulary and structure are intertwined

Must-Know French contains twelve thematic vocabulary units such as

Communication, Health, Leisure, Work, and other important topics Eachunit is further subdivided into content-based clusters to make it easy for

self-learners to find vocabulary pertaining to individual needs Must-Know

French includes useful and common phrases to facilitate vocabulary

acqui-sition in specific contexts You will be able to recall and memorize theseterms in meaningful situations

A typical page consists of words or phrases translated from English toFrench For easier and faster access to terms, the listings are presented in

alphabetical order whenever possible and omit the preposition to before

infinitive verbs Within the listings, the definite article is omitted for lish nouns but included for French nouns to alert readers to their gender.Numerous sentences are offered in both English and French to helphighlight or clarify the meaning and usage of various terms The Must-Know Tips, located throughout each section, will alert readers to linguisticdevices such as idiomatic expressions, false cognates, and structures thatmay be problematic to the English speaker

Eng-Most importantly, over 100 interesting and fun exercises supplementthe content-based units Some exercises are based on recognition skills such

as finding the intruder in a series of terms, or identifying the correct ing of a phrase Others are more challenging contextualized activities Forexample, you will reconstruct the chronological order in a sequence ofevents, match a question with its answer, and reconstitute a dialoguebetween a salesperson and a client The numerous exercises, accompanied

mean-by the answer key at the back of the book, give you the choice of ing simple or more difficult tasks, and help you assess both your existingknowledge and your progress Just like the vocabulary units, each of theexercises has a theme Pick and choose as you will!

undertak-Learning and mastering other languages is sometimes challenging yet

always rewarding You will find Must-Know French indispensable and

invaluable in your quest to expand your communication skills in French

FRENCH

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Communicating

with Others

Introductions, Greetings, and Farewells

Personal Information Renseignements personnels

address (electronic) l’adresse (électronique) (f )

city/town la ville

divorced divorcé(e)

first name le prénom

last name le nom de famille

telephone number le numéro de téléphone

Here is my cell phone number Voici mon numéro de portable.

Hello I am listening Allô J’écoute.

Hope to see you again Au plaisir de vous revoir.

How are you? Comment allez-vous?

introduce (each other) (se) présenter

leave a message laisser un message

make a date/an appointment prendre rendez-vous

Remain on the line Ne quittez pas./Veuillez patienter.

see you soon à bientôt

Who’s calling? Qui est à l’appareil?

You are welcome Je vous en prie./De rien.

wrong number le mauvais numéro

Sorry, you have the wrong number Désolé(e), vous avez le mauvais

numéro.

Parts of Speech

DEFINITE ARTICLES LES ARTICLES DÉFINIS

the boy le garçon

the girl la fille

the man l’homme (m)

the ladies les dames

INDEFINITE ARTICLES LES ARTICLES INDÉFINIS

an apartment un appartement

a house une maison

some men des hommes

DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES LES ADJECTIFS DÉMONSTRATIFS

this book ce livre

this hotel cet hôtel

this picture cette image

these people ces gens

Must-Know Tip

Remember to use the article cet instead of ce before a masculine singular

noun starting with a vowel sound

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES LES ADJECTIFS POSSESSIFS

my father mon père

my mother ma mère

my parents mes parents

your dog ton chien

your lady friend ton amie

Must-Know Tip

Remember to use the possessive articles mon, ton, son instead of ma, ta,

sa before a feminine singular noun starting with a vowel sound.

your bicycle ta bicyclette

your friends tes amis

her fiancé son fiancé

his wife sa femme

his/her children ses enfants

Her/His train leaves at seven o’clock Son train part à sept heures.

our trip notre voyage

our clothes nos vêtements

your job votre emploi

your teachers vos professeurs

their university leur université

their classes leurs cours

Their friends are great! Leurs amis sont super!

Personal Pronouns Les pronoms personnels

SUBJECT PRONOUNS LES PRONOMS SUJETS

Hi Guy! How are you? Salut Guy! Comment vas-tu?

Hello madam How are you? Bonjour, madame Comment

allez-vous?

Must-Know Tip

The impersonal subject pronoun on is used to express we, one, or people.

DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS LES PRONOMS OBJETS DIRECTS

My parents? I love them Mes parents? Je les adore.

DIRECT/INDIRECT OBJECT LES PRONOMS OBJETS

(to) you (sing.; familiar) te

(to) you (pl.; formal) vous

The policeman gives me a ticket Le gendarme me donne une

contravention.

Give me your number! Donne-moi ton numéro!

Must-Know Tip

Remember that object pronouns are placed before the verb except in

affir-mative commands Also remember to change the object pronouns me and

te to moi and toi when placed after the verb in affirmative commands.

INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS LES PRONOMS OBJETS INDIRECTS

to (for) him/to (for) her lui

to (for) them leur

My friends? I speak to them Mes amis? Je leur parle tous les

every day jours.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS PRONOMS POSSESSIFS

yours (pl.; formal) le vôtre/la vôtre/les vôtres

theirs le leur/la leur/les leurs

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS LES PRONOMS DÉMONSTRATIFS

this one celui-ci/celle-ci

Both sweaters are pretty but this Les deux pulls sont jolis, mais

one is cheaper celui-ci est moins cher.

that one celui-là/celle-là

these ceux-ci/celles-ci

those ceux-là/celles-là

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS LES PRONOMS INTERROGATIFS

which one lequel/laquelle

which ones lesquels/lesquelles

Look at those pretty watches! Regarde ces jolies montres!

Which ones do you prefer? Lesquelles préf ères-tu?

DESCRIPTIVE ADJECTIVES LES ADJECTIFS QUALIFICATIFS

a new boss un nouveau patron

a new student un nouvel élève

Must-Know Tip

Remember that the adjectives beau, nouveau, and vieux, which are to be

placed before the noun, have two masculine singular forms For instance,

use nouveau before a consonant and nouvel before a vowel sound.

a brand new suit un costume neuf

a brand new car une voiture neuve

Must-Know Tip

Remember that only a few adjectives (beau, nouveau, vieux, jeune, joli,

petit, grand, long, bon, mauvais, autre, même) are placed before the

noun Most French adjectives are placed after the noun

INDEFINITE ADJECTIVES LES ADJECTIFS INDÉFINIS

each one chacun(e)

certain certains/certaines

There is no correct answer Il n’y a aucune réponse correcte.

INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVES LES ADJECTIFS INTERROGATIFS

which/what quel/quels/quelle/quelles

Which show are you watching? Quelle émission regardes-tu?

Today I do not feel well Aujourd’hui je me sens mal./

Aujourd’hui je ne me sens pas bien.

somewhere quelque part

Interrogative Expressions Les locutions interrogatives

how much/many combien (de)

what qu’est-ce que/que (qu’)

What do you want? Que veux-tu?/Qu’est-ce que tu veux?

Must-Know Tip

Remember that you can ask a question either by using est-ce que before the subject and verb as in “Est-ce que tu veux?” (“Do you want?”), or by using an inversion as in “Veux-tu?”

What happened? Qu’est-ce qui s’est passé?

with what avec quoi

since when depuis quand

until when jusqu’à quand

from where d’ó

with whom avec qui

Letters, Invitations, and E-Mail

address l’adresse (f )

dear Jean-Claude/dear Marie cher Jean-Claude/chère Marie

dear Sir/Madam cher Monsieur/chère Madame

envelope l’enveloppe (f )

express mail service prioritaire d’envoi

package le colis postal

postmark le cachet de la poste

recipient le destinataire

registered letter la lettre recommandée

return receipt l’avis de réception (m)

Do not end a friendly letter with the literal translation of Love or I love you

Instead use one of the equivalents of Your friend or Hugs and kisses:

Ami-calement, Bises, Bisous, Bons baisers, Je t’embrasse.

Your friend Amicalement

zip code le code postal

ceremony/official function la cérémonie

cocktail party le cocktail

decline regretfully être au regret

formal party la soirée

gladly volontiers

I gladly accept your invitation J’accepte volontiers votre invitation.

invite for a drink inviter à prendre un pot

please respond RSVP

reception la réception

unfortunately malheureusement

with pleasure avec plaisir

access l’accès (m)

e-mail le courriel/mél/e-mail

high-speed à haut débit

instant message le message instantané

Internet café le cybercafé

Internet Internet, le Net

log on se connecter

password le mot de passe

to send a message envoyer un message

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People and Relationships

Physical Description

Her face is all red Sa figure est toute rouge.

freckles les points de rousseur

brown bruns

He has brown hair and Il a les cheveux châtains et les yeux

green eyes verts.

He has a wide nose and very Il a le nez large et les lèvres très

thin lips minces.

Other Physical Traits Autres traits physiques

weigh peser

Character and Personality

Descriptive Adjectives Adjectifs qualificatifs

Descriptive Expressions Locutions descriptives

antisocial personality personnalité antisociale

behavior le comportement

character le caractère/la disposition/la

personnalité

She has a strong personality Elle a du caractère.

classy avoir de la classe

daredevil le/la risque-tout/casse-cou

generous avoir le cœur sur la main

good/bad disposition bon/mauvais caractère

happy-go-lucky bon vivant

have a sense of humour avoir le sens de l’humour

in a good/bad mood de bonne/mauvaise humeur

trustworthy digne de foi

Family Relationships and Family Activities

Family Relationships Relations familiales

daughter-in-law la brue

father-in-law/stepfather le beau-père

female cousin la cousine

fiancé/fiancée le/la fiancé(e)

granddaughter la petite-fille

grandson le petit-fils

My grandson’s name is Alexander Mon petit-fils s’appelle Alexandre.

half brother le demi-frère

half sister la demi-sœur

oldest child l’aỵné(e)

only child l’enfant unique (m/f )

youngest child le/la cadet(te)

The oldest boy is fifteen; the L’aỵné a quinze ans; le cadet a deux

youngest one is two ans.

Family Activities and

Celebrations Activités et fêtes familiales

eat a bite casser la crỏte

have a drink boire un pot

I am going to meet my cousins Je vais boire un pot avec mes cousins.

for a drink.

marriage le mariage

party/celebrate fêter/célébrer

pay a visit rendre visite/faire une visite

spend a vacation together passer des vacances ensemble

watch children garder les enfants

Let’s drink to her health! Trinquons à sa santé!

family celebration la fête de famille

get together se réunir

Happy birthday! Bon anniversaire!

Happy holidays! Joyeuses fêtes!

Happy New Year! Bonne Année!

honeymoon le voyage de noces/la lune de miel

offer one’s wishes présenter ses vœux

Best wishes for a Happy New Year! Mes meilleurs vœux pour une Bonne

Année!

propose a toast porter un toast

wedding anniversary l’anniversaire de mariage (m)

wedding le mariage/les noces (fpl)

Nationalities, Ethnic Groups, and Religions

Puerto Rican portoricain(e)

CENTRAL AMERICAN D’AMÉRIQUE CENTRALE

Costa Rican costaricain(e)

I would like to visit some Asian Je voudrais visiter des pays

countries this summer asiatiques cet été.

Adjectives of nationality are not capitalized in French: la cuisine française.

However, nouns describing people of a certain nationality are capitalized: