Literary & Journalistic Style
Literary & Journalistic Style
Reading a French newspaper editorial or a novel calls on a distinct vocabulary of craft and technique — words for describing how a piece is written, not just what it says — and French headline conventions turn out to closely match a trick English headlines already use.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Headlines drop articles and often use the present
Le président annonce une réforme. (headline: 'President announces reform' — instead of the full Le président a annoncé...)
President announces reform.
French news headlines conventionally use the présent even for events that already happened, for a sense of immediacy — this is the exact same 'headline present' convention English newspapers use ('President Announces Reform' rather than 'announced'), so the trick transfers directly. Full articles then typically switch to passé composé or the conditionnel (for unconfirmed reports, from the C1 conditionnel-passé lesson) once they move past the headline, just as English body text reverts to ordinary past tense after a present-tense headline.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| le/la journaliste | luh/lah zhoor-na-LEEST | the journalist |
| l'éditorial | lay-dee-toh-ree-AL | the editorial |
| le reportage | luh ruh-por-TAZH | the news report |
| la chronique | lah kroh-NEEK | the column |
| la métaphore | lah may-ta-FOR | the metaphor |
| le ton | luh TOHN | the tone |
| la manchette | lah mahn-SHET | the headline |
| le récit | luh ray-SEE | the narrative |
| le point de vue | luh pwan duh VEW | the point of view / perspective |
| la satire | lah sa-TEER | satire |
| l'intrigue | lan-TREEG | the plot |
| la critique | lah kree-TEEK | the review / critique |