Matching game
French direction words: traverser, longer and passer devant
Match six French direction phrases to accessible route descriptions. Separate traverser, longer and passer devant by whether you cross, follow an edge or go past.
- A1
- 6 pairs
- Tap to match
- Learn this in the A1 notebook →
In short
Traverser goes across, longer follows alongside, and passer devant goes past the front of something. Traversez la rue changes street sides. Longez le mur follows the wall’s length. Passez devant la poste continues past the post office rather than entering it.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
The three panels above illustrate crossing a road, following a wall and going past a building, from left to right. The table then describes six movements, A to F. Match each French instruction to its written movement description.
| Label | Movement shown |
|---|---|
| A | Go from one side of the street to the other side. |
| B | Continue beside the wall, following its length. |
| C | Go past the front of the post office and continue. |
| D | Change direction to the right at the corner. |
| E | Pass the first left-hand street and enter the second. |
| F | Follow a route around the outside of the building. |
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
Traverser changes sides of the named space
Traversez la rue means go across the street. The route reaches the other side rather than following the kerb. Traverser can also take a park or square as its object: traversez le parc. Use the object after traverser to identify the space being crossed.
Traversez la place pour arriver devant le musée.
Cross the square to arrive in front of the museum.
Longer keeps an edge beside you
Longez le mur means follow alongside the wall. The route stays near its length rather than going through it. You can also say longer une rivière, to follow a river, or longer un bâtiment, to follow beside a building. Name the edge so the listener knows which feature to keep alongside.
Longez le mur jusqu’à la porte verte.
Follow alongside the wall as far as the green door.
Passer devant does not mean enter
Passez devant la poste means go past the front of the post office. Entrer dans la poste would mean enter it. A directions sentence can use the post office only as a landmark on the way to another destination. Keep the instruction verb rather than assuming every named place is a stop.
| French | Movement |
|---|---|
| Longez le bâtiment. | Follow alongside its length. |
| Passez devant le bâtiment. | Go past its front. |
| Contournez le bâtiment. | Go around its outside. |
| Entrez dans le bâtiment. | Go inside it. |
When a route feels unclear, repeat the movement with its object: Je longe le mur, puis je passe devant la poste ? That question lets the other person correct the geometry before you follow a different route.