| Term | Definition |
| marquer | to mark, to write down |
| la classe sociale | social class |
| avoir tendance | tend to |
| grâce à | thanks to |
| une échelle | a ladder |
| un cadre | an executive |
| les professions libérales | a professional |
| une entreprise | a firm, a business |
| constituer | to form |
| se reconnaître | to be recognized by |
| la réussite | the success |
| un fonctionnaire | a government office worker |
| un technicien | a technician |
| un employé de bureau | an office worker |
| la moitié | half |
| la population active | the active population |
| la classe ouvrière | the working class |
| manuel | by hand |
| à peu près | nearly, practically |
| appartenir | to belong to |
| grandir | to grow |
| un milieu | an environment |
| la honte | the shame |
| un roman | a novel |
| son enfance | once's childhood |
| pendant | during |
| avoir honte de | to be ashamed |
| devenir | to become |
| les lettres | French (subject at the university) |
| un romancier | a novelist |
| à succès | successful |
| publier | to publish |
| intituler | to call, to name |
| recevoir | to receive |
| se rappeller | to remember |
| un agriculteur | a farmer |
| puis | then |
| un propriétaire | an owner |
| un quartier | a district |
| un coutume | a custom |
| un valeur | a value |
| un goût | a taste |
| relier | to link together |
| le guidon | the handlebar (bicycle) |
| déjouer | to evade |
| en parcourant des yeux | to glance over |
| en haut de | on top of |
| par la naissance | by birth |
| le pouvoir | the power |
| regrouper | to group together, to bring together,to pool |