GCSE-readyKS3 French: common mistakes
The wrong answers students pick most often in our French questions, and why they are wrong. Read these before a test, then open the lesson for anything that surprises you.
All about me
- Greetings and introductions
- Not “Je suis onze ans”. French uses avoir, not être, for age.
- Not “J'ai onze”. You need ans (years) at the end.
- The alphabet, accents and sounds
- Not “accent grave”. The accent grave slopes the other way: è.
- Numbers, days, months and birthdays
- Not “le un mai”. For the 1st, French says premier, not un.
- Numbers to 100 and prices
- Not “soixante-dix-un”. French counts 60 + 11, not 70 + 1.
- Not “quatre-vingt-dix-cinq”. After 80, French adds 15, not 10 + 5.
- Not “quatre-vingt-onze”. Quatre-vingt-onze is 91.
Family and friends
- My family and pets: avoir and possessives
- Not “sont”. Sont is from être (they are).
- Describing people: être and adjectives
- Not “Elle a les yeux marrons”. Marron does not add -s.
School life
- Classroom language: the imperative
- Not “Regardes !”. In the imperative, -er verbs lose the -s of the tu form.
- Not “Nous travaillons !”. With nous, it is a statement (we work), not let's.
- Not “Que veut dire ruler ?”. Que veut dire ... ? asks what a French word means.
Letters and messages
- Writing to a penfriend: letters and emails
- Not “Cher Chloé,”. Cher is for a male.
- Not “Bisous,”. Bisous (kisses) is only for close friends and family.
Home and town
- My town and directions
- Not “a bookshop”. A bookshop is une librairie.
Food and verbs
- Direct object pronouns: le, la, les
- Not “Je regarde la.”. The pronoun goes before the verb, not after it.
Weather, opinions and shopping
- Weather and seasons
- Not “en printemps”. Spring takes au, not en.
- This and these: ce, cet, cette, ces
- Not “Ce”. Before a vowel, ce becomes cet.
Health, festivals and culture
- The body and health: avoir mal à
- Not “Je suis soif”. French says I have thirst, with avoir.
- Not “J'ai faim”. J'ai faim = I am hungry.
- Festivals and celebrations in France
- Not “a crown”. The crown is worn by the person who finds the charm; it is not inside the cake.
Holidays and the past
- The imperfect tense: describing the past
- Not “J'ai regardé la télé quand le téléphone sonnait.”. This swaps the tenses: the interruption should be in the perfect tense.
Daily life and technology
- Technology and media: comparisons
- Not “plus bon que”. French does not say plus bon; it uses meilleur.
Relationships and wider issues
- Friends and relationships: qui and que
- Not “s'entendent”. S'entendent is the ils / elles form.
- Not “le livre il lit”. French cannot leave out que.
Looking ahead to GCSE
- Jobs and future plans
- Not “Ma mère est une professeure”. French leaves out un / une with jobs.
- Not “infirmiere”. It needs a grave accent: infirmière.
- The future tense: what will happen
- Not “visiterais”. Visiterais is the conditional (would visit).
- Not “ét-”. Ét- is the imperfect stem (j'étais).
- Not “restera”. Restera is the il / elle form.