Rank, closeness, obligation — the order nobody writes down.
Practise this list
From these 37 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list
The twenty-third entry is la base militante, and the adjective in it is one of the most misleading words a French newspaper prints. Un militant is simply an active member of a party, a union or a cause: somebody who pays the subscription, turns up at branch meetings, knocks on doors before an election and sets out the chairs for the count. Un militant associatif gives his evenings to a charity, une militante écologiste campaigns for the environment, and militer is to be involved in any of it. The words are neutral and often warm; a party thanks ses militants on election night. English « militant » kept the harder edge of the soldier inside the Latin miles. It describes someone combative in pursuit of a cause, and in news reports it has come to mean an armed fighter. So la base militante is not « the militant base » but « the grass roots », « the rank and file », « the ordinary members », and des militants ont manifesté describes activists at a march, not a band of gunmen. Translating the word as it looks turns every volunteer with a clipboard into a threat.
The words
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Phrase (6)
le collègue homologuethe counterpartPhraseC2
Elle a écrit à son collègue homologue de la ville voisine.Her counterpart in the next town received a letter from her.
le premier cerclethe inner circlePhraseC2
La décision est restée dans le premier cercle.The decision was taken and kept within the inner circle.
la base militantethe grass rootsPhraseC2
La base militante n’a pas été consultée.Nobody thought to ask the grass roots.
l’ordre de préséancethe pecking orderPhraseC2
L’ordre de préséance se voit dès le plan de table.One glance at the seating plan reveals the pecking order.
le réseau de relationsthe network of contactsPhraseC2
Son réseau de relations pèse plus que son titre.His title matters less than his network of contacts.
le service à rendrethe favour owedPhraseC2
Il lui reste un service à rendre.He has not yet repaid the favour he owes her.
