Dialogue · At an art gallery

Culture · Art in France

Vocabulary gallery

Musée du Louvre Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole Musée des arts et métiers Musée des beaux arts du Canada

Grammar · Regular -re verbs · Les verbes en -re

The third category of regular verbs is made up of -re verbs. Relative to -er verbs, -re verbs are not very common. Many common verbs ending in -re , such as prendre , mettre , and connaître , have irregular conjugations.

Formation

To conjugate, drop the -re to find the "stem" or "root". Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense, as demonstrated below for the present tense.

attendre^{to wait} /a.tɑ̃dʁ/

File:French/Grammar/-re verb formation.ogg
Pronoun	Ending	Verb	Pronunciation
je (j')	-s	attends	/a.tɑ̃/
tu	-s	attends	/a.tɑ̃/
il/elle	-	attend	/a.tɑ̃/
nous	-ons	attendons	/a.tɑ̃.dɔ̃/
vous	-ez	attendez	/a.tɑ̃.de/
ils/elles	-ent	attendent	/a.tɑ̃d/

Supplementary vocabulary · Example -re verbs

File:French/Grammar/Example -re verbs.ogg
vendre	/vɑ̃dʁ(ə)/	to sell
attendre	/a.tɑ̃dʁ/	to wait		J’attends mon cousin à la gare.	I am waiting for my cousin at the station.
descendre	/de.sɑ̃dʁ/	to go down, to put down
rendre	/ʁɑ̃dʁ/	to give back, to return
perdre	/pɛʁdʁ/	to lose
mordre	/mɔʁdʁ/	to bite

Vocabulary · Music · La musique

écouter de la musique		to listen to music
la chanson	/ʃɑ̃.sɔ̃/	song
des paroles	/pa.ʁɔl/	lyrics	la parole means word	les paroles d'une chanson	the lyrics of a song
Composing
le musicien la musicienne	/my.zi.sjɛ̃/ /my.zi.sjɛn/	musician
le compositeur la compositrice	/kɔ̃.po.zi.tœʁ/ /kɔ̃.po.zi.tʁis/	composer		C’est un savant compositeur.	This is a clever composer.
l’auteur (des paroles)	/o.tœ:r/	(lyrics) writer
Instruments
l'instrument (de musique) (m)	/ɛ̃s.tʁy.mɑ̃ də my.zik/	instrument
la clarinette	/kla.ʁi.nɛt/	clarinet
le violon	/vjɔ.lɔ̃/	violin
la harpe	/aʁp/	harp
la guitare (basse, électrique, acoustique)	/ɡi.taʁ bɑs/ /gi.ta.ʁ‿e.lɛk.tʁik/	(bass, electric, acoustic) guitar
le piano	/pja.nɔ/	piano
la flûte	/flyt/	flute

Vocabulary · Museums · Les musées

File:French/Vocabulary/Museums.ogg
le musée	/my.ze/	museum
l'exposition (artistique, d'art)	/ɛk.spɔ.zi.sjɔ̃/	(art) exhibit
la galerie	/ɡal.ʁi/	gallery
le/la portraitiste	/pɔʁ.tʁe.tist/	portraitist
le portrait	/pɔʁ.tʁɛ/	portrait
le tableau la peinture	/ta.blɔ/ /pɛ̃.tyʁ/	painting		Il y a de belles peintures dans ce palais.	There are beautiful paintings in this palace.
le sculpteur (en marbre, en bois) la sculptrice	/skyl.tœʁ/ /skyl.tʁis/	(marble, wood) sculptor
la sculpture	/skyl.tyʁ/	sculpture	p is not pronounced
l'œuvre d’art (f)		work of art
admirer	/ad.mi.ʁe/	to admire		J'admire sa magnificence.	I admire its magnificence.
visiter	/vizite/	to visit
la visite	/vi.zit/	visit

Usage notes · Visiter and rendre

Visiter /vizite/, meaning to visit, is used for places (and not for people) :

Tu dois visiter Paris un jour.^{You must visit Paris one day.}

Je vais visiter mon frère. is not a correct sentence in french. It's a common (but understanble) mistake made by foreign people.

Rendre /ʁɑ̃dʁ/ or rendre visite (à) /ʁɑ̃dʁ vi.zit/, meaning to pay a visit (to), is used for people:

Je rends visite à mon père à Paris.^{I'm visiting my father in Paris.}

Amour viens rendre à mon âme.^{Love comes to pay a visit to my soul.}

Rendre has other meanings, such as to produce, to express, to make, and to give back:

Tu me rends malade.^{You make me ill.}

Grammar · Beautiful, new, and old · Beau, nouveau, et vieux

Vocabulary · Plays · Les pièces

File:French/Vocabulary/Plays.ogg
At the theater
le théâtre	/te.atʁ/	theater
la pièce (de théâtre)	/pjɛs/	(theatrical) play
l'acte (f) la scène l'entracte (m)	/akt/ /sɛn/	act scene intermission
chanter le (la) chanteur (-euse)	/ʃɑ̃.te/ /ʃɑ̃.tøʁ/ /ʃɑ̃.tøz/	to sing singer
danser le (la) danseur (-euse)	/dɑ̃.se/	to dance dancer
Play genres
le ballet	/balɛ/	ballet
la comédie	/kɔ.me.di/	comedy
la comédie musicale		musical comedy
le drame	/dʁam/	drama		Macbeth est un drame de William Shakespeare.	Macbeth is a drama of William Shakespeare.
la tragédie	/tʁa.ʒe.di/	tragedy		Cet acteur est admirable dans la tragédie.	This actor is admirable in the tragedy.

Dialogue

Exercises