la
/ɡʁɛv/
Translation
strike
Word origin
Originally meant 'sandy riverbank, gravel shore'. The Place de Grève in Paris, an open gravelly bank of the Seine where unemployed workers used to gather looking for work, gave the word its modern sense of 'strike' from the nineteenth century.
- Origin
- Old French
- Root
- greve
- English cognates
- gravel
Grammar
Examples
.
The employees have been on strike for three days.
.
A transport strike brought the city to a standstill.
refus .
The workers voted to strike after the boss's refusal.
The set phrase (to be on strike) and (to strike, to go on strike) are the two constructions worth learning together; a literal "faire une grève" is also fine but less idiomatic than the bare verb phrase.
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grève: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the French word "grève" (strike): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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