Level A1 · Review
Review 1: lessons 1 to 5
Révision 1 : leçons 1 à 5
The story of the first five lessons in a few sentences, the key vocabulary, the grammar of the block in one table, and three exercises.
The story
Je m’appelle Bernard d’Andrézy. Je suis français et je voyage sur la Provence, un grand bateau rapide.
My name is Bernard d’Andrézy. I am French and I am travelling on the Provence, a big, fast ship.
En première classe, les passagers sont riches et élégants.
In first class the passengers are rich and elegant.
Miss Nelly est américaine et très jolie. Un jeune homme blond et silencieux est toujours près d’elle.
Miss Nelly is American and very pretty. A quiet young blond man is always near her.
Le bateau a un télégraphe sans fil. Il y a des messages pour tout le monde.
The ship has a wireless telegraph. There are messages for everybody.
Le deuxième jour, il y a un orage et un télégramme terrible : Arsène Lupin est à bord !
On the second day there is a storm and a terrible telegram: Arsène Lupin is on board!
Il a les cheveux blonds et une blessure au bras droit. Son nom commence par R…
He has blond hair and a wound on his right arm. His name begins with R…
Lupin cambriole les châteaux, il vole les belles choses et il laisse sa carte de visite.
Lupin burgles châteaux, he steals beautiful things and he leaves his calling card.
Les passagers regardent leurs voisins. Moi, j’écoute et je trouve l’histoire amusante.
The passengers look at their neighbours. Me, I listen, and I find the story amusing.
Vocabulary
- le bateau: the ship
- le commandant: the captain
- le pont: the deck
- le télégraphe sans fil: the wireless telegraph
- l’orage (m.): the storm
- la vague: the wave
- la jeune fille: the girl
- le jeune homme: the young man
- joli / jolie: pretty
- sérieux / sérieuse: serious
- silencieux / silencieuse: quiet
- l’île (f.): the island
- les cheveux (m.): hair
- les yeux (m.): the eyes
- le bras droit: the right arm
- la blessure: the wound
- seul / seule: alone
- le coup de tonnerre: the clap of thunder
- le cambrioleur: the burglar
- voler: to steal
- chercher: to look for
- laisser: to leave
- le déguisement: the disguise
- la carte de visite: the calling card
Lessons 1 to 5 in one table
Start with the vocabulary list above, not the table. Cover the English column with your hand, read the French aloud, and mark every word you cannot turn into English in about three seconds. Those marked words, and only those, are what you should look at again before lesson 6.
| point | rule | from the summary above |
|---|---|---|
| être | suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont | Je suis français. |
| nationality, job | no article after être, and a small letter | Miss Nelly est américaine. |
| articles | the: le, la, l’, les · a / some: un, une, des. Every noun wears one. | le bateau, des messages |
| agreement | feminine -e (you hear it), plural -s (you do not) | riches et élégants |
| avoir | ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont. Buzz in ils‿ont, hiss in ils sont. | Le bateau a un télégraphe. |
| il y a | there is / there are, one form for both | Il y a des messages. |
| adjective position | usually after the noun; colours always after | le bras droit |
| describing a body | avoir + les + noun + adjective, no “his” | Il a les cheveux blonds. |
| -er verbs | -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent, and four of them sound the same | Lupin cambriole, nous voyageons. |
If one line of the table still feels shaky, go back to its lesson and redo the exercises: être and articles in 1, agreement in 2, avoir in 3, adjectives in 4, -er verbs in 5.