Are you ready for another edition of our French word of the week blog? Today we’re looking at the word vers.
Before we explain what it means and how to use it, listen to its pronunciation in the audio clip below:
To understand vers, it’s first worth knowing that in terms of grammar, vers is both a preposition and a masculine noun. In each case, we need to translate it in a different way.
As a preposition, it means toward(s) when describing something like direction, but means about or around when describing time.
As a noun, it’s almost the same as its English translation, verse, but can also mean a line of poetry or writing. Finally, while we’re not studying this word today, the plural form of the French noun ver would also be vers – but this translates as worms!
Well, you’ve certainly got a lot to consider when you encounter this word. The best way to start getting used to vers in different situations is by looking at some examples of the word in action.
Firstly, as a preposition:
se diriger vers quelque chose / quel qu’un to head towards something / someone
Si vous vous dirigez vers la sortie, je vous rejoindrai là-bas. If you head towards the exit, I’ll meet you over there.
Elle s’est tournée vers moi. She turned towards me.
Avec cette nouvelle technologie, nous prenons des pas vers l’inconnu. With this new technology, we’re taking a step into the unknown.
On va se promener vers la côte. We’re going to take a walk towards the coast.
« Où se trouve le nouveau bâtiment ? » « Je ne sais pas exactement, mais il se trouve vers l’est. » “Where’s the new building?” “I’m not exactly sure, but it’s somewhere to the east.”
Tout le monde est arrivé vers dix-huit heures. Everyone arrived around six o’clock.
Le parc va rouvrir vers la fin du mois de juillet. The park is going to reopen around the end of July.
Next, we’ll have a look at vers as a noun. Bear in mind that because it’s a singular noun ending in ‘s’, its plural doesn’t look any different. You would need to look for other signs like indefinite or definite articles, or the spelling of any related adjectives. Remember that we’re not talking about un ver (a worm) in this case either, despite it having the same plural spelling!
S’il n’y a pas de rimes, c’est un poème écrit en vers libres. If there’s no rhyme scheme, it’s a poem written in free verse.
Shakespeare écrivait en vers pentamètre iambique. Shakespeare used to write verse in iambic pentameter.
J’aime bien les derniers vers. I really like the last few lines.
That’s all for now, but keep working towards your learning goals by boosting your vocabulary every week with our blog – you’ll soon be well-versed in French!
Written by Holly Tarbet, freelance copywriter and editor.
All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins.
