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Common French Commands and Pronunciations


Formez les rangs (“formay lay rawng”) :  Line up
Garde-a-vous (“gard ah voo”) :  Come to attention
Alignez (________) : Straighten the ranks
A droiute, tournez (“ ah drwaht toornay”) : Right face
A gauche, tournez (“ah go sh toornay”) : Left face
Demi-tour, a droite (“duh mee toor ah drwaht”) : Turn completely around to right
Demi-tour, a gauche (“duh mee toor ah go sh”) : Turn completely around to left
Ouvrez les rangs (“oovray lay rangs”) : Open ranks
Serrez les rangs (“sayray lay rangs”) : Close ranks
En avant-marche (“on avawn march”) : Forward march
A droite, marche (“ah drwaht, marsh”) : Column right, march
A gauche, marche (“ah go sh, marsh”) : Column left march
Conversion a droite, marche (“kon vair zee on ah drwaht, marsh”) : Right wheel
Conversion a gauche, marche (“ kon vair zee on ah go sh, marsh”) : Left wheel
Marquez le pas (“markey luh pah”) : March in place
Arretez (“ah ret tay”) : Stop
Hautes les armes (“ot lay zarm”) : Port arms
Haute les fusils (“ot lay fewzee”) : Port musket without bayonet
Portez vos armes (“portay vo zarm”) : Shoulder arms
Portez vos fusils (“portay vo fewzee”) : Shoulder musket without bayonets
Presentez les armes (“presentay lay zarm”) : Present arms
Presentez les fusils (“presentay lay fewzee”) : Present muskets without bayonets
Passaez le fusil du cote l’epee (“passay luh fewzee du coatay laypay”) :
    Place the musket to the side of the sword
Mettez le bayonette au bout du canon (“mettay luh bayownet oh boo do can no”) :
    Fix bayonet
Remettez le bayonette en son lieu (“ray mettay luh bayownet on sewn luhr”) :
    Replace bayonet
Posez le fusi (“posay luh fewzee ah tair”) : Gound musket
Reprenez le fusil (“rupprinay luh fewzee”) : Recover musket
Genoux en terre (“juh noo on tair”) : Step back and place right knee on ground
Levez-vous (“luh vay voo”) : Get up
Reposez (“ruh poh”) : Rest
Rompez les rangs (“rom pay lay rawngs”) : Dismissed; break ranks
Appretez (“ah pratay”) : Ready arms—full cock
En joue (“own juu”) : Take aim
Feu (“foo”) : Fire

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