Vocabulary Bash!

Today’s mostly random vocabulary topic is….. *drumroll* Light!

All kinds of lights!

The word for light is Lumière. But it comes from so many sources!

Here are some sources of light:

le soleil	The sun
la lune	The moon
La lampe	The lamp
La lampe de poche	The flashlight
Les lumières de noel	The Christmas lights
Le feu	The fire
Les phares	The headlights
La chandelle	The candle
Un briquet	A lighter

 The word for lighting is éclairage.

Here are some adjectives that you can apply to both light and lighting!  You will notice they have both the masculine and feminine form included, because while éclairage is a masculine word, (un éclairage), lumière is a feminine word. (une lumière).

Brillant(e)	Shiny
Fort(e)	Strong
Coloré(e)	Colored
Joli(e)	Pretty
Allumé(e)	Lit (turned on)
Éteint(e)	Extinguished (turned off)

 Actually speaking of those last 2 adjectives (they can also be used on fire!), we light things just a bit differently! Here are some common expressions:

Allumer la lumière	To light the light	To turn the light on
Éteindre la lumière	To extinguish the light	To turn the light off

 Also, in Québec it is very common to hear:

Ouvrir la lumière	Open the light	To turn the light on
Fermer la lumière	Close the light	To turn the light off

 So if you’ve ever witnessed a Québecer asking you to “Close the light!”, now you know why.

Here are a few examples of these words in use:

Les lumières de Noël sont colorées.

Ces phares sont forts !

La chandelle est jolie.

 Your challenge :

1.       Find your candle stash *before* the next power outage.

2.       Think of a lighting source I missed (in French! Use the dictionary!) and post it in the comments.