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Today’s lesson focuses on a word that’s long been a stumbling block for many of my students: allemand and allemande, the adjectives for “German”. We’ll also have a look at the country name l’Allemagne (Germany) and language name l’alleman (German).
allemand
German (adj.)
Word origin
The French word Allemagne (country name) comes from alle Mann (all men) in German, refering to tribes situated between the Rhine and Danube rivers.
Pronunciation
The standard French pronunciation of the masculine and feminine forms allemand, allemande is [almɑ̃, almɑ̃d]. However, another common pronunciation is [alməɑ̃, alməɑ̃d]. This applies particularly to southern France where all the syllables are pronounced.
Example sentences
Martin est un homme allemand.
Martin is a German man.
Jacques va acheter une voiture allemande.
Jacques is going to buy a German car.
This finally sentence highlights the language name: l’allemand and the country name: l’Allemagne.
J’apprends l’allemand avant de voyager en Allemagne.
I’m learning German before traveling to Germany.
Related lessons
- Country and language names
- Prepositions for countries and cities
- French adjective rules
- Français – French
