Politics & Society
Politics & Society
Political and social vocabulary leans on the impersonal on and passive constructions from this course — French news prefers to foreground the policy itself, not who enacted it, a habit English-language journalism shares closely.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Institutional passive: the actor disappears
La loi a été votée. (The law was passed — no mention of who voted it in)
The law was passed.
Political and journalistic French, like English news register, often favors the passive (a été votée) or the impersonal on (on a voté la loi) to foreground the institutional action itself rather than the actors behind it — treat this as the default, neutral way to describe laws, policies, and decisions in this topic area, exactly as English headlines default to 'the law was passed' over naming who cast each vote.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| le gouvernement | luh goo-vairn-MAHN | the government |
| la loi | lah lwah | the law |
| l'élection | lay-lek-SYOHN | the election |
| le parti (politique) | luh par-TEE (po-lee-TEEK) | the political party |
| voter | voh-TAY | to vote |
| la société | lah soh-syay-TAY | society |
| le citoyen / la citoyenne | luh see-twah-YAN / lah see-twah-YEN | the citizen |
| la manifestation | lah mah-nee-fes-tah-SYOHN | the protest / demonstration |
| le débat | luh day-BAH | the debate |
| la démocratie | lah day-moh-krah-SEE | democracy |
| la réforme | lah ray-FORM | the reform |
| l'opinion publique | loh-pee-NYOHN poo-BLEEK | public opinion |