FSV #5: ON NE VIT QU'UNE FOIS (par Sidoine) - French Pop

Learn French vocabulary with this great French Pop song, ON NE VIT QU’UNE FOIS (French Song Vocabulary, FSV #5). This catchy, not too fast & easy to sing along to song is sung by the handsome French Pop singer, Sidoine. It discusses life & love with a lot of practical vocabulary. On the grammar front, this song also introduces the concept of reflexive verbs. Watch the video, then start with the lyrics & cheat sheet in the Cheat Sheet Set and give this song a try!

Image from music video of “On Ne Vit Qu’Une Fois – Sidoine”

Table of Contents…

A) FSV #5 Video & Lyrics
B) Word List
*Cheat Sheet Tips
*Trivia & More (Culture Note)
C) Review Question
D) Downloads
E) Sneak Peek Word

TRIVIA

TRUE or FALSE? In the music video, the singer, Sidoine, became famous through the show STAR ACADEMY which is the French version of American Idol.

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Go to TRIVIA & MORE for the answer.

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A) FSV #5 Video & Lyrics

Watch the music video and see if you can fill in the Video Word Blanks below.

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B) Word List
Learn some of the words from the song with the Word Map & Word Table below.

A WORD TABLE is a table where each word is listed with its dictionary-look-up word (the form of the word that it is listed under in the dictionary), definition, grammatical parts of speech and other notes about the word.

What is a WORD TABLE?

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ON NE VIT QU’UNE FOIS
Word Table Preview

Notes: 1) Scroll horizontally, if all table columns are not visible. 2) LINK* This column shows the DICTIONARY-LOOK-UP word & a link to an online dictionary entry. 3) (* ) This is the translation of the conjugated verb. 4) RELEVER** is used as a reflexive verb. Reference the TIPS section for more information on these verbs.

#	WORD	*LINK	DEFINITION	GRAMMAR	NOTES
1	FAÇONS	FAÇON	Methods, ways	nfpl	---
3	RELEVER**		To pick up, to lift	vt-irr	---
......	......	......	......	......	......

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A WORD MAP is a visual diagram that organizes the words according to their relationship with each other. Words related to each other (ex: opposites, rhymes, similar conjugation patterns, etc…) are attached or connected to one another.

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ON NE VIT QU’UNE FOIS
Word Map Preview

Notes: 1) RELEVER** is used as a reflexive verb. Reference the TIPS section for more information on these verbs.
2) (* ) This is the translation of the conjugated verb.
3) Pink word boxes show the lyric vocabulary words.
4) Blue word boxes show Bonus words.
5) White word boxes attached to other word boxes (verbs, nouns, adjectives) show the various forms of the words they are attached to.
6) Bold font show dictionary-look-up words (The form of the word that it is listed under in the dictionary.)
7) Italics show feminine words.

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Word Map Preview of ON NE VIT QU'UNE FOIS blog post

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For a Sneak Peek of a vocabulary word from the next blog post song, AVENIR, check out the Sneak Peek Word below.

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CHEAT SHEET TIPS

Here are a few tips for the Cheat Sheet:

Comprehension Note

NE~QUE : But ~ only
MILLE : MILLE (Thousand) does not have an S at the end even when it is plural. Unlike the word CENT (Hundred) (Hundred) Ex: mille, 2 mille, 3 mille, cent, 2 cents, 3 cents

Dictionary Lookup

RELEVER, ARRÊTE & OUBLIE are listed in the dictionary under SE RELEVER, S’ARRÊTER & S’OUBLIER……
ARRÊTER & S’ARRÊTER, although they look like they mean the same thing, one is a regular verb while the ARRÊTE>> ARRÊTER>> S’ARRÊTER : In the song, ARRÊTE is used in its reflexive form S’ARRÊTE. To look it up in the dictionary, first, look up ARRÊTER. In the listing, it will first explain ARRÊTER. Then further down, it will explain the reflexive verb form, S’ARRÊTER. This also applies to RELEVER (RELEVER>> SE RELEVER) and OUBLIE (OUBLIE>> OUBLIER>> S’OUBLIER).

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Grammar Note

SE RELEVER/ S’ARRÊTER/ S’OUBLIER & Reflexive Verbs……
ARRÊTER & S’ARRÊTER, although they look like they mean the same thing, one is a regular verb while the other is a reflexive verb. So the two ARRÊTER & S’ARRÊTER have slightly different meanings. This also applies to RELEVER & SE RELEVER as well as to OUBLIER & S’OUBLIER. For more on Reflexive verb grammar, check out the lesson at cliffnotes.

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Beginner Tip

What should a beginner do about REFLEXIVE VERBS (like S’ARRÊTER)?…
To fully understand the difference between a regular verb (ARRÊTER) & its reflexive form (S’ARRÊTER), you have to get into the grammar of Reflexive Verbs & Pronouns. Yet that’s too advanced a concept for beginner French learners. (It’s like trying to draw the Mona Lisa after finishing a paint-by-numbers picture.) As a beginner, it’s better to spend time on learning a set of usable practical words & expressions and understanding regular verbs. Then when you’ve mastered those, it’s good to go into more complicated grammar rules, like reflexive verbs. So as a beginner, for now just treat reflexive verbs like expressions. ex) ARRÊTER is a verb that means ”To stop” & S’ARRÊTER is an expression that means ”To stop oneself, to be made to end, to give up”

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TRIVIA (Culture Note)

Q) TRIVIA TRUE or FALSE? In the music video, the singer, Sidoine, became famous through the show STAR ACADEMY which is the French version of American Idol.

A) True. The singer, Sidoine, became famous in 2013 through the show STAR ACADEMY, the French version of American Idol. (One of his performances can be seen in the above video). It was after this he recorded the song, ON NE VIT QU’UNE FOIS (2013). But people say it’s his 2019 appearance on THE VOICE : LA PLUS BELLE VOIX (French version of the American show) that really showcased his great musical talent.

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C) REVIEW QUESTION

Use the clues below to guess which word from the word list is the Review Word in the article blank & blank (1). Can you also guess the Bonus word in blank (a)?

ON NE VIT QU’UNE FOIS
Review Question

Review Question Article for ON NE VIT QU'UNE FOIS

Article by Marika Simard of Salut Bonjour

Review Word (1) means “Ways, methods” and is used in its plural form in the article & song.
Word (1*) is the singular form of Review Word (1).
Bonus Word (a) means “Beverage” and rhymes with Review Word (1).