Sense and Sensibility — Page 5
When he gave his promise to his father, he meditated within himself to increase the fortunes of his sisters by the present of a thousand pounds a-piece.
Lorsqu'il fit sa promesse à son père, il méditait en lui-même d'augmenter la fortune de ses sœurs par un don de mille livres chacune.
He then really thought himself equal to it.
Il se croyait alors vraiment capable de le faire.
The prospect of four thousand a-year, in addition to his present income, besides the remaining half of his own mother's fortune, warmed his heart, and made him feel capable of generosity.
La perspective de quatre mille livres par an, en plus de ses revenus actuels, sans compter la moitié restante de la fortune de sa propre mère, lui réchauffait le cœur et lui donnait le sentiment d'être capable de générosité.
"Yes, he would give them three thousand pounds: it would be liberal and handsome!
« Oui, il leur donnerait trois mille livres : ce serait généreux et magnifique !
It would be enough to make them completely easy.
Ce serait suffisant pour les mettre tout à fait à l'aise.
Three thousand pounds! he could spare so considerable a sum with little inconvenience."
Trois mille livres ! il pouvait se passer d'une somme aussi considérable sans grande gêne. »
He thought of it all day long, and for many days successively, and he did not repent.
Il y pensa toute la journée, et pendant de nombreux jours de suite, et il ne s'en repentit pas.
No sooner was his father's funeral over, than Mrs. John Dashwood, without sending any notice of her intention to her mother-in-law, arrived with her child and their attendants.
À peine les funérailles de son père étaient-elles terminées que Mme John Dashwood, sans envoyer le moindre avis de son intention à sa belle-mère, arriva avec son enfant et leurs domestiques.
No one could dispute her right to come; the house was her husband's from the moment of his father's decease; but the indelicacy of her conduct was so much the greater, and to a woman in Mrs. Dashwood's situation, with only common feelings, must have been highly unpleasing;
Personne ne pouvait contester son droit de venir ; la maison appartenait à son mari depuis le moment du décès de son père ; mais l'indélicatesse de sa conduite n'en était que plus grande, et pour une femme dans la situation de Mme Dashwood, dotée de sentiments ordinaires, cela aurait dû être fort déplaisant ;
—but in her mind there was a sense of honor so keen, a generosity so romantic, that any offence of the kind, by whomsoever given or received, was to her a source of immovable disgust.
— mais dans son esprit régnait un sens de l'honneur si vif, une générosité si romanesque, que toute offense de cette nature, de quelque part qu'elle vînt ou fût reçue, était pour elle une source de dégoût insurmontable.
Vocabulary
- Lorsqu'il
- lor-skeel — When he (conjunction introducing a subordinate clause)
- fit
- fee — Made or did (past tense of 'faire')
- sa
- sa — His, her, its (feminine possessive adjective)
- promesse
- pro-mess — A promise or pledge made to someone
- à
- a — To, at, in (common preposition with many uses)
- son
- son — His, her, its (masculine possessive adjective)
- père
- pair — Father, male parent
- il
- eel — He, it (third-person masculine singular pronoun)
- méditait
- may-dee-tay — Was meditating or pondering something deeply
- en
- on — In, on, while (preposition or pronoun)
- lui-même
- lwee-mem — Himself (emphatic reflexive pronoun)
- d'augmenter
- dohg-mon-tay — To increase or enlarge something
- la
- la — The (feminine definite article)
- fortune
- for-toon — Fortune, wealth, or financial assets
- de
- duh — Of, from (very common French preposition)
- ses
- say — His, her, its (plural possessive adjective)
- sœurs
- sur — Sisters, female siblings
- par
- par — By, through, per (preposition)
- un
- uhn — A, an, one (masculine indefinite article)
- don
- don — A gift or donation given to someone
- mille
- meel — Thousand (cardinal number)
- livres
- lee-vruh — Pounds (unit of currency or weight)
- chacune
- sha-koon — Each one (feminine pronoun referring to individuals)
- Il
- eel — He, it (third-person masculine singular pronoun)
- se croyait
- suh krwa-yay — Believed himself to be something
- alors
- a-lor — Then, at that time, so
- vraiment
- vray-mon — Truly, really, genuinely
- capable
- ka-pabl — Capable, able to do something
- le
- luh — The (masculine definite article or pronoun)
- faire
- fair — To do or to make (infinitive)
- La
- la — The (feminine definite article)
- perspective
- pers-pek-teev — Prospect or outlook of future events
- quatre
- katr — Four (cardinal number)
- an
- on — Year (unit of time)
- plus
- ploo — More, plus, additional amount
- revenus
- ruh-vuh-noo — Income or revenues earned regularly
- actuels
- ak-too-el — Current, present, existing at this time
- sans
- son — Without (preposition)
- compter
- kon-tay — To count or to include in a calculation
- moitié
- mwa-tyay — Half of something
- restante
- res-tont — Remaining, left over
- propre
- propr — Own (own mother); also clean or proper
- mère
- mair — Mother, female parent
- lui
- lwee — Him, her (indirect object pronoun)
- réchauffait
- ray-shoh-fay — Warmed up, heated something again
- cœur
- kur — Heart (physical organ or emotional center)
- et
- ay — And (coordinating conjunction)
- donnait
- do-nay — Was giving or used to give
- sentiment
- son-tee-mon — Feeling or emotion experienced inwardly
- d'être
- detr — Of being (preposition plus infinitive)
- générosité
- zhay-nay-ro-zee-tay — Generosity, willingness to give freely
- Oui
- wee — Yes (affirmative response)
- leur
- lur — Their, to them (pronoun or adjective)
- donnerait
- do-nuh-ray — Would give (conditional form of 'donner')
- trois
- trwa — Three (cardinal number)
- ce
- suh — This, it (demonstrative pronoun or adjective)
- serait
- suh-ray — Would be (conditional of 'être')
- généreux
- zhay-nay-ruh — Generous, liberal in giving
- magnifique
- ma-nyee-feek — Magnificent, wonderful, splendid
- Ce
- suh — This, it (demonstrative pronoun)
- suffisant
- soo-fee-zon — Sufficient, enough to meet a need
- pour
- poor — For, in order to (preposition)
- les
- lay — The (plural definite article or pronoun)
- mettre
- metr — To put, place, or set something
- tout
- too — All, everything, completely
- fait
- fay — Done, made; completely (in tout à fait)
- l'aise
- lez — Ease, comfort (à l'aise = at ease)
- Trois
- trwa — Three (cardinal number)
- pouvait
- poo-vay — Could, was able to (imperfect of 'pouvoir')
- passer
- pa-say — To pass, go, or transition from something
- d'une
- doon — Of a, from a (contraction)
- somme
- som — Sum, amount of money
- aussi
- oh-see — Also, as, so (adverb)
- considérable
- kon-see-day-rabl — Considerable, significant in size or amount
- grande
- grond — Great, large, big (feminine adjective)
- gêne
- zhen — Financial hardship or embarrassment
- y
- ee — There, to it (adverbial pronoun)
- pensa
- pon-sa — Thought about (past tense of 'penser')
- toute
- toot — All, entire (feminine adjective)
- journée
- zhoor-nay — Day, the whole day (duration)
- pendant
- pon-don — During, for (preposition of time)
- nombreux
- nom-bruh — Numerous, many in number
- jours
- zhoor — Days (plural of jour)
- suite
- sweet — Continuation; de suite = in a row
- ne
- nuh — Not (negative particle used with pas)
- s'en
- son — Of it, from it (reflexive + en pronoun)
- repentit
- ruh-pon-tee — Repented or regretted (past tense)
- pas
- pa — Not (negative particle paired with ne)
- À
- a — At, to (preposition)
- peine
- pen — Hardly, barely (à peine = scarcely)
- funérailles
- foo-nay-rye — Funeral ceremony or burial rites
- étaient-elles
- ay-tay-el — Were they (inverted question or emphasis form)
- terminées
- ter-mee-nay — Finished, concluded, completed (feminine plural)
- que
- kuh — That, which, than (conjunction or pronoun)
- Mme
- ma-dam — Abbreviation for Madame (Mrs./Ms.)
- envoyer
- on-vwa-yay — To send someone or something somewhere
- moindre
- mwendr — Least, slightest (superlative of 'petit')
- avis
- a-vee — Notice, opinion, or piece of advice
- intention
- en-ton-syon — Intention, purpose, plan in mind
- belle-mère
- bel-mair — Mother-in-law or stepmother
- arriva
- a-ree-va — Arrived (past tense of 'arriver')
- avec
- a-vek — With (preposition)
- enfant
- on-fon — Child, young person
- leurs
- lur — Their (plural possessive adjective)
- domestiques
- do-mes-teek — Servants, household staff
- Personne
- per-son — Nobody, no one (negative pronoun)
- contester
- kon-tes-tay — To contest or dispute a right or claim
- droit
- drwa — Right, entitlement (legal or moral)
- venir
- vuh-neer — To come (infinitive)
- maison
- may-zon — House, home, dwelling
- appartenait
- a-par-tuh-nay — Belonged to someone (imperfect of 'appartenir')
- mari
- ma-ree — Husband, male spouse
- depuis
- duh-pwee — Since, from (a point in time)
- moment
- mo-mon — Moment, instant in time
- du
- doo — Of the (contracted masculine article)
- décès
- day-say — Death, passing (formal term)
- mais
- may — But (coordinating conjunction)
- l'indélicatesse
- len-day-lee-ka-tes — Tactlessness or indelicate behavior
- conduite
- kon-dweet — Conduct, behavior, way of acting
- n'en
- non — Not of it (negative contraction with pronoun)
- était
- ay-tay — Was (imperfect tense of 'être')
- une
- oon — A, an, one (feminine indefinite article)
- femme
- fam — Woman or wife
- dans
- don — In, inside (preposition of place)
- situation
- see-too-a-syon — Situation, circumstances someone is in
- dotée
- do-tay — Endowed with, gifted with (feminine past participle)
- sentiments
- son-tee-mon — Feelings, emotions, sentiments
- ordinaires
- or-dee-nair — Ordinary, normal, common
- cela
- suh-la — That, this (demonstrative pronoun)
- aurait
- oh-ray — Would have (conditional of 'avoir')
- dû
- doo — Should have, ought to (past participle of 'devoir')
- être
- etr — To be (infinitive of key verb)
- fort
- for — Very, strongly, highly (adverb of intensity)
- déplaisant
- day-play-zon — Unpleasant, disagreeable, offensive
- esprit
- es-pree — Mind, spirit, wit, intellect
- régnait
- ray-nyay — Reigned, prevailed, dominated (imperfect)
- sens
- son — Sense, feeling, meaning
- l'honneur
- lo-nur — Honor, dignity, good reputation
- si
- see — So, if (conjunction or adverb)
- vif
- veef — Keen, lively, sharp (adjective)
- romanesque
- ro-ma-nesk — Romantic, fanciful, novel-like in character
- offense
- o-fonss — Offense, insult, wrongful act
- cette
- set — This, that (feminine demonstrative adjective)
- nature
- na-toor — Nature, kind, character of something
- quelque
- kel-kuh — Some, any, a certain (indefinite adjective)
- part
- par — Place, part (quelque part = somewhere)
- qu'elle
- kel — That she, which she (conjunction + pronoun)
- vînt
- ven — Came (subjunctive imperfect of 'venir')
- ou
- oo — Or (coordinating conjunction)
- fût
- foo — Were, was (subjunctive imperfect of 'être')
- reçue
- ruh-soo — Received (feminine past participle of 'recevoir')
- elle
- el — She, it (third-person feminine pronoun)
- source
- soors — Source, origin of something
- dégoût
- day-goo — Disgust, strong feeling of repulsion
- insurmontable
- en-soor-mon-tabl — Insurmountable, impossible to overcome
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →