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How to Say ‘A boy is bothering him at recess, I think.’ in French

Un garçon l'embête à la récré, je crois.

uhn gar-son l ahn-BET ah lah ray-KRAY zhuh krwah

[uhn gar-son l ahn-BET ah lah ray-KRAY zhuh krwah]

Phrase Breakdown

Un garçon l'embête

uhn gar-son l ahn-BET

A boy is bothering him

The 'ç' sounds like 's': 'gar-son'. Then 'lan-bèt'.

Example

Un garçon l'embête tous les jours.

A boy bothers him every day.

Words in this phrase

[uhn]

a / an

An indefinite article used before a masculine singular noun.

Example

Un casque est important pour le roller.

A helmet is important for inline skating.

garçon

[gar-son]

boy

A young male child.

Example

Un garçon a trouvé un jouet.

A boy found a toy.

[l]

it / him / her

Direct object pronoun before a vowel.

Example

Nous sommes contents de l'entendre parler de ses progrès.

We are happy to hear him/her talk about his/her progress.

embête

[ahn-BET]

bothers / annoys

Informal verb embêter, to bother.

Example

Ce bruit m'embête.

This noise bothers me.

à la récré, je crois.

ah lah ray-KRAY zhuh krwah

at recess, I think.

'Récré' is short for 'récréation' (school break). 'Je crois' softens the statement. Your voice falls at the end.

Example

Ils jouent à la récré, je crois.

They play at recess, I think.

Words in this phrase

[ah]

A preposition indicating position or direction.

Example

À la maison.

At the house.

[lah]

the

A definite article preceding a noun.

Example

La porte est ouverte.

The door is open.

récré

[ray-KRAY]

recess / break time

Informal short form of 'récréation', the school playground break.

Example

Les enfants jouent à la récré.

The children play at recess.

[zhuh]

Pronoun used by the speaker to identify themselves.

Example

Je suis content.

I am happy.

crois

[krwah]

think / believe

From the verb croire, used to express what you think or believe.

Example

Oui, je crois que l'école finit plus tôt aujourd'hui.

Yes, I think school finishes earlier today.

Guides for French learners

Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.Hello in French: Greetings, Good Evening and How to Answer "How Are You?"How to say hello in French, when to switch to good evening, how to ask how are you and what to answer, with tu vs vous and native audio.

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