Skip to content

alerte

alert, warning

noun adjective ah-LEHRT Less Common

Origin: Italian all'erta

Also means

(adjective) alert, agile

Usage Note

Alerte as a noun is a warning signal or state of readiness; donner l'alerte means 'to raise the alarm'. As an adjective (invariable in form) it means 'alert, lively, agile' and is used of both people and animals: un vieillard encore alerte ('a still-sprightly old man'). En état d'alerte means 'on alert'.

Examples

"Les secours ont donné l'alerte immédiatement."

Natural Translation

The emergency services raised the alarm immediately.

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore French by topic