Phrasebook

Cours, leçon or classe: what to say about French lessons

Ask about a class, a lesson to revise or a classroom. Practise cours, leçon and classe through useful phrases, a classroom picture and a short quiz.

In short

Use un cours for a teaching session or course, une leçon for a lesson or material to learn, and une classe for a class of pupils. Une salle de classe clearly names the room. For “I have class tomorrow”, say J’ai cours demain.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

One school day, four meanings
FrenchFocusExample
un coursa session or courseLe cours commence à neuf heures.
une leçona unit or material to learnJe révise la leçon sur les questions.
une classethe group of pupilsToute la classe participe.
une salle de classethe physical roomLa salle de classe est au premier étage.
1

Ask about the timetable

Avoir cours takes no article. Un cours and des cours keep the same final s.

YouQuel cours avons-nous demain ?What class do we have tomorrow?
Teacher or course organiserVous avez cours de français à neuf heures.You have French at nine.
YouLe cours dure combien de temps ?How long does the class last?
Teacher or course organiserUne heure et demie.An hour and a half.
2

Ask what to revise

Leçon is feminine: cette leçon. A piano lesson can be une leçon de piano or un cours de piano.

YouQuelle leçon faut-il revoir ?Which lesson should we go over?
Teacher or course organiserLa leçon sur les questions, page douze.The lesson on questions, on page twelve.
YouIl y a aussi un exercice à faire ?Is there also an exercise to do?
Teacher or course organiserOui, faites le premier exercice.Yes, do the first exercise.
3

Find the room and the group

YouDans quelle salle a lieu le cours ?Which room is the class in?
Teacher or course organiserDans la salle de classe au premier étage.In the classroom on the first floor.
YouIl y a combien d’élèves dans cette classe ?How many pupils are there in this class?
Teacher or course organiserIl y en a vingt.There are twenty.

In the classroom

A learner suit un cours (takes a course); a teacher donne un cours (teaches a class). Compare Je suis un cours de français le mardi and Ma sœur donne un cours de français le jeudi. The noun stays the same while the verb changes the person’s role.

Question 1No account needed
You mean the room. Choose the clearest phrase.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

la salle de classe. Salle de classe explicitly names the physical classroom.

Question 2No account needed
Complete the everyday expression.J’ai ___ demain matin.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

cours. Avoir cours means to have class: J’ai cours demain matin.

Question 3No account needed
Which phrase describes a learner taking a course?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

suivre un cours. Suivre un cours means taking it as a learner; donner names the teacher’s role.