Holidays and Celebrations

Mardi Gras

Mardi gras vocabulary
Mardi Gras is an annual celebration of extravagance and (over)indulgence before Lent. Because Mardi Gras, literally "Fat Tuesday," is tied to Easter, the date changes every year.

   

Expressions

Quand même

Quand même
You're not really going to pass up the opportunity to learn how to use this French expression, quand même.

   

Grammar Lessons

Emphatic Coordinating Conjunctions

Emphatic French coordinating conjunctionsSome coordinating conjunctions are used in pairs or multiples to emphasize the connection between two or more grammatically equivalent words or phrases. These emphatic coordinating conjunctions, aka correlative conjunctions, might connect adjectives, nouns, adverbs, verbs, or even independent clauses.

   

Pronunciation Guides

EN

French pronunciationThe letter combination en has four possible pronunciations, depending on the letters that precede or follow it.

   

Literature

Germinal

Germinal, de Zola
Read the opening paragraphs of Émile Zola's 1885 masterpiece, Germinal.

   

Expressions

Romance au marché

Romance au marché
Learn some fun idioms featuring food while practicing your French listening comprehension in this story of love at first bite sight.

   

Fun with French

Terms of Endearment

French terms of endearment
You probably know the expressions mon cher et ma chérie, but French has many more interesting ways to refer to their dears and darlings - mostly terms related to food and animals.

Grammar Lessons

Se faire – Reflexive Causative

French reflexive causative constructionThe reflexive causative uses a reflexive pronoun to indicate that the subject is acted upon, whether this action is by his choice or not. It's equivalent to "get/have something done to/for oneself."

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