| Grammar Notes: Une – feminine singular indefinite article: “a/an”. vache – feminine noun: “cow”. se – reflexive pronoun, third person singular; used with the pronominal verb se reposer. It refers back to *une vache*. repose – present-tense verb form, infinitive se reposer: “to rest”. With *se*, it means “rests/is resting”. dans – preposition: “in”. un – masculine singular indefinite article: “a/an”. pré – masculine noun: “meadow” or “pasture”. Au – contraction of à + le: “at the/to the/in the”. In *au loin*, it forms the set phrase meaning “in the distance”. loin – adverb: “far”. on – indefinite subject pronoun: “one”, “someone”, “people”, and in everyday French often “we”. aperçoit – present-tense verb form, infinitive apercevoir: “to catch sight of”, “to see”, “to notice”. un – masculine singular indefinite article: “a/an”. lac – masculine noun: “lake”. Grammar tip: French present tense covers both “rests” and “is resting”: *Une vache se repose* means “A cow rests” or “A cow is resting.” Also, on is very common in spoken French for “we”, so *On aperçoit un lac* can mean “We can see a lake” or “One can see a lake.” Related words: reposer means “to put down/rest something”, and le repos means “rest/a break”. Voir means “to see”; apercevoir is related but suggests catching sight of something, often from a distance. Another word for a body of water is un étang (“a pond”). |
