Ch 12 · Lesson 14French · Chapter 12 · Lesson 14 · Grammar primer
The hidden s: école, forêt, hôpital
An accent often marks an s that French lost and English kept. Put it back: is forest, is hospital, is school.
The short version
An accent often marks a lost s
.
Why?Hide
French dropped an s before a consonant in hundreds of words, and the spelling now marks the gap with an accent, but English had already borrowed the word. Put the s back and the English appears: is forest, is hospital, is feast, and (escole) is school.
The hidden s
One swap is not an ending at all. French lost an s before a consonant in hundreds of words, and modern spelling marks the gap with an accent. English borrowed many of them before the s went, so the English word still has it.
| French | The accent | English |
|---|---|---|
| é = | school |
| é = | state |
| é = | strange |
| ê = | forest |
| ô = | hospital |
| ê = | feast |
| î = is | isle |
.- The hospital is closed..- It's a strange story.
The rule of thumb: an é at the start of a word, or a circumflex in the middle, often marks a lost s. Put it back and see whether an English word appears. Not every accent works this way (, ), but enough do to decode words you have never seen.
Going further: The six core swaps and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
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