Thanks for coming back to start your week by learning a French word! For this edition of our blog, we’ve chosen the noun mode.
To kick things off, take a listen to how this word should be pronounced:
For your first thought on how to translate this word in English, you might be thinking about the exact same word we have in English, ‘mode’. While our blog often covers the pitfalls of assuming direct translations when we have the same words – also known as a false friend – you’re in luck this time! The French noun mode can indeed be translated as ‘mode’, as in a setting, a method or a way of doing something. But as you’ll later discover in our examples, this isn’t the only option for translation…
If you want to learn more about recognising nouns before reading on, visit our Easy Learning French Grammar pages on indefinite articles, definite articles and genders of nouns.
Let’s check out some examples of this masculine noun in action:
mode d’emploi instruction manual; user instructions
mode de déplacement method of travel; way of getting around
mode de vie lifestyle
en mode avion on airplane mode (on a mobile device)
mode de cuisson cooking method; way of cooking
Vous acceptez quels modes de paiement ? Which payment methods do you accept?
mode de faire way of going about things / of doing things
On ne comprend pas son mode de faire. We don’t understand the way he goes about it.
Now, the interesting thing about mode is that it’s not just a masculine noun. Mode can also be a feminine noun – often with the articles une or la before the word – with a totally different meaning. Here’s the feminine noun translation and some examples of how you might use it:
mode(f) fashion; trend;style
à la mode in fashion; fashionable
suivre la mode to follow fashion / trends
Mon frère voulait toujours travailler dans la mode.My brother always wanted to work in fashion.
On croit que les grands sacs en cuir vont revenir à la mode l’année prochaine. We think that large leather bags are going to come back into fashion next year.
Ellen ne connaît jamais les dernières modes. Ellen never knows the latest trends.
Congratulations on learning the ins and outs of another French word! We hope you find that our weekly blog is a good way of improving your vocabulary. And there are plenty more words to come – see you again next week.
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
