Log inSign up

Je lis un roman de cet auteur français.

Je lis un roman de cet auteur français.
I am reading a novel by this French author.
From Lesson 86:Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)·French

Questions & Answers about Je lis un roman de cet auteur français.

How do you form the je form of the irregular verb lire (to read)?
Lire is an irregular verb. In the present tense, the je (I) and tu (you) forms are both lis. Remember that in French, je lis translates to both I read and I am reading.
Does roman mean a romantic book?
Not necessarily! Un roman is a false friend — it simply means a novel (a fiction book). If you want to specify a romance novel, you would say un roman d'amour.
Why is de used here to mean by?
In French, when you talk about the creator of a work (like a book, painting, or piece of music), you use de (of/from) instead of par (by). So un roman de cet auteur translates to a novel by this author.
Why is it cet auteur instead of ce auteur?
Auteur is a masculine noun, so normally you would use ce to say this. However, because auteur starts with a vowel, ce changes to cet to make it flow better when spoken. If it were a feminine noun, you would use cette.

Learn Je lis un roman de cet auteur français and more in French

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning French →