The conjunction or pops up in two of our new videos this week:
Or la gravité est présente partout.
But gravity is present everywhere.
Caption 79, Le Monde - L’astrologie fonctionne-t-elle ?
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Or, je n'étais pas de garde et surtout j'étais saoul.
But, I wasn't on call and above all I was drunk.
Captions 85-86, Le Jour où tout a basculé - À l'audience: Mon chirurgien était ivre
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Or is not a particularly common conjunction, but it's a good one to know nonetheless (just don't confuse it with the English "or," which is ou in French). It's a synonym of mais (but, yet) and related words like cependant, néanmoins, pourtant, toutefois (however, nevertheless):
Or, il y en a un quatrièmeque nous décrit ici en détail un grand voyageur qui se nomme Amerigo Vespucci.
However, there's a fourth one that a great explorer named Amerigo Vespucci describes to us here in detail.
Captions 34-35, Il était une fois - les Explorateurs 10. Amerigo Vespucci - Part 7
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You'll also see or used as a more general conjunction, equivalent to "now" or "well," often to introduce a new or oppositional fact:
Cette pièce a été remplacée ensuite par celle-ci
This coin was replaced later by this one
au début vingtième siècle.
in the early twentieth century.
Or c'est à peu près la même, mais modernisée pour l'époque.
Now, it's more or less the same, but modernized for the era.
Captions 16-18, Georges - Breizh Numismat
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Je croyais qu'il allait me demander en mariage ce soir-là. Or, il ne l'a pas fait.
I thought he was going to ask me to marry him that night. Well, he didn't do it.
As you can see here, or always comes at the beginning of a sentence or clause when used as a conjunction. You could even call it a "transition word." But or isn't only a conjunction! It also happens to be the word for "gold":
Il doit y avoir une mine d'or.
There must be a gold mine here.
Caption 39, Il était une fois - les Explorateurs 10. Amerigo Vespucci - Part 3
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L'or is both the color gold and the element. Its adjective form is doré(e):
Il m'a donné une bague de fiançailles dorée.
He gave me a gold engagement ring.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for our next lesson and tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.
Did you know that, in French, "good" can also mean "right," and "bad" can also mean "wrong"? This might sound sort of philosophical, but it's really just an issue of translation. Bon/bonne and mauvais/mauvaise are two of the most basic adjectives in French. They usually mean "good" and "bad" respectively, but depending on context, they can also mean "right" and "wrong":
C'est la mauvaise réponse à la question.
That's the wrong answer to the question.
Vous pouvez aussi me donner deux numéros de compte.
You can also give me two account numbers.
Je vous dirai lequel est le bon.
I will tell you which is the right one.
Captions 20-21, Patricia - Pas de crédit dans le monde des clones
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When bon/bonne and mauvais/mauvaise mean "right" and "wrong," they're often preceded by a definite article (le, la, les). For example, take a look at the difference between the phrases un bon moment and au (à + le) bon moment:
Eh bien, j'espère que vous
Well, I hope you
avez passé un bon moment, ici, sur Arles...
had a good time here, in Arles...
Caption 21, Arles - Un Petit Tour d'Arles
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Tout cet art, c'est de faire en sorte de mettre dans l'eau
All this is an art to ensure that you put in the water
au bon moment, hein...
at the right time, you see...
Caption 8, Ostréiculture - Rencontre avec Gildas Mourier (Morbihan)
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Using these adjectives isn't the only way to describe correctness and incorrectness. You can also use the verbal phrases avoir raison (to be right, literally "to have reason") and avoir tort (to be wrong, literally "to have fault"):
Oui, tu as raison.
Yes, you're right.
Je ne suis pas trop dans mon assiette.
I'm not too much in my plate [I feel under the weather].
Caption 26, Manon et Clémentine - Expressions toutes faites
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J'ai peut-être eu tort de me fier à lui pour ce projet.
Maybe I was wrong to trust him with this project.
Caption 53, Il était une fois: Les Amériques - 9. Cortés et les Aztèques
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In a previous lesson, we mentioned one other way to say "to be wrong"—se tromper:
Donc, tu crois que Colomb se trompe!
So you think that Columbus is wrong!
Caption 6, Il était une fois: les Explorateurs - 10. Amerigo Vespucci
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