French Word of the Day

to forget, to forget to

J’ai oublié mes clés, et puis j’ai oublié de fermer la porte!
I forgot my keys, and then I forgot to close the door!

TODAY
In French, verbs may not always be followed by the same prepositions as their English equivalents. The verb oublier is one such example. While in English we say to forget to do something, the same idea is expressed in French by following the verb oublier with the preposition de. Click here to discover more examples of how French verbs and prepositions interact, sometimes creating meanings that are completely different from one preposition to another.

TEST YOUR SKILLS WITH PREPOSITIONS AND VERBS
Find out if you’ve mastered how to say to forget to in French and more with our Verbs and Prepositions Quiz.

to catch some sun

Jean-Marc se couche sur le sable et attrape du soleil.
Jean-Marc lies down on the sand and catches some sun.

TODAY
Our word is about the summer seaside. Click here to discover more words about outdoor pursuits.

READY FOR THE BEACH?
Take our Beach Quiz to find out if you’re ready to say you want to catch some sun in French.

a notebook

Prenez des notes dans votre cahier.
Take notes in your notebook.

TODAY
Our word is about the classroom. Click here to learn more classroom vocabulary.

TAKE THE QUIZ!
See how well you can say notebook in French and test your knowledge on other classroom words with our Classroom Quiz.

a flash of lightning

Un éclair a illuminé le ciel.
A flash of lightning lit up the sky.

TODAY
Our word is one of many about thunderstorms and their effects — les orages et leurs effets.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Find out if you can recognize the word for lightning in French with our Stormy Weather Quiz.

window-shopping

Elles faisaient du lèche-vitrines toute la journée.
They were window-shopping all day long.

Lécher les vitrines and faire du lèche-vitrine both mean to go window-shopping.

yellow

Un citron est jaune.
A lemon is yellow.

TODAY
Our word is from a topic that’s perfect for beginning French students — colors, or les couleurs. If you’ll be studying French for the first time next school year or if you just need a refresher, these French words for colors are for you.

TAKE THE QUIZ
See if you remember how to say yellow in French and more with our Colors Quiz.

Bastille Day

In France, today is Bastille Day — a very important national holiday commemorating the 1789 storming of the Bastille prison. This event was seen as an important symbol of the overthrow of the French aristocracy and the birth of the modern French nation. The holiday is analogous to Independence Day in the United States and is commonly referred to as le quatorze juillet and more formally as la Fête Nationale.

To learn more about this important holiday, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille_Day.

the net

Il a frappé la balle par-dessus le filet.
He hit the ball over the net.

to have

Je n’ai pas d’argent.
I don’t have any money.

Avoir is one of the most essential of all French verbs. Not only does it express possession, it is also used to form numerous tenses of many other French verbs.

For a complete conjugation of avoir, click here.

To see avoir used to form tenses of other regular verbs, explore these regular verb conjugations:

-er verbs
-ir verbs
-re verbs