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🌍 French Language · subject
French Language Reading and Writing Syllabus
Every chapter and topic of Reading and Writing examined in French Language — 4 chapters, 13 topics, plus 50 flashcards written against it.
Reading and Writing syllabus — full chapter and topic list
Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Reading and Writing in French Language, not a summary of it.
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Spelling and Orthography
3 topics- Sound-to-Spelling Correspondences
- Common Spelling Pitfalls and Homophones
- Capitalization and Punctuation Rules
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Reading Comprehension
3 topics- Reading Strategies (Skimming and Scanning)
- Understanding Authentic Texts
- Inferring Meaning from Context
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Sentence Construction
3 topics- Word Order and Syntax
- Coordinating and Subordinating Conjunctions
- Complex and Compound Sentences
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Written Expression
4 topics- Writing Emails and Letters
- Connectors and Logical Linking Words
- Argumentative and Descriptive Writing
- Summarizing and Paraphrasing
Reading and Writing flashcards for French Language
24 of 50 cards from the Reading and Writing deck — real questions with worked answers.
In French, which combination of letters produces the sound /o/ as in "eau"?
The letter groups "eau" and "au" both produce /o/ (e.g., "eau" = water, "aussi" = also), as does a final "-o".
What sound do the French nasal vowels "an", "am", "en", "em" all typically represent?
They represent the nasal vowel /ɑ̃/ (as in "grand", "champ", "vent", "temps"). The 'm' spelling is used before 'b' or 'p'.
How is the French letter combination "ou" pronounced, and how does it differ from "u"?
"ou" is pronounced /u/ (as in "vous", like English 'oo'), while "u" alone is /y/, a rounded front vowel (as in "tu") with no English equivalent.
What is the general rule for pronouncing a final consonant in a French word?
Final consonants are usually silent (e.g., "petit", "grand"), except for the letters in the mnemonic C-a-R-e-F-u-L (c, r, f, l), which are often pronounced (e.g., "sac", "mer", "neuf", "sel").
In French, when does the letter "c" make a soft /s/ sound versus a hard /k/ sound?
"c" is soft /s/ before e, i, y (e.g., "ceci"); it is hard /k/ before a, o, u or a consonant (e.g., "car"). A cedilla "ç" forces the /s/ sound before a, o, u (e.g., "garçon").
What sound does the digraph "ch" normally make in French, and give an example.
"ch" normally makes the /ʃ/ sound (like English 'sh'), as in "chat" (cat) and "chercher" (to look for).
How do the French letter groups "ai" and "ei" sound?
Both are pronounced as the open /ɛ/ sound (like the 'e' in English 'bet'), as in "maison", "lait", and "neige".
What is a French homophone, and give the classic example set for the /sõ/ sound.
A homophone is a word that sounds identical to another but is spelled differently and has a different meaning. Example: "sont" (are), "son" (his/her/sound) share the sound /sɔ̃/.
Distinguish the French homophones "a" versus "à".
"a" (no accent) is the verb form (avoir) meaning "has"; "à" (with grave accent) is the preposition meaning "to/at". Test: if you can replace it with "avait" (had), use "a".
Distinguish the French homophones "ou" versus "où".
"ou" (no accent) means "or" (a conjunction); "où" (grave accent) means "where" (place or relative). Test: if it can be replaced by "ou bien", use "ou".
Distinguish the French homophones "et" versus "est".
"et" means "and" (conjunction, final t silent); "est" is the verb être meaning "is". Test: if you can replace it with "était" (was), use "est".
Distinguish the French homophones "ce" versus "se".
"ce" is a demonstrative ("this/it") used before a noun or être ("ce livre", "c'est"); "se" is a reflexive pronoun used before a verb ("il se lave").
What is the difference between "leur" and "leurs" in French?
As a possessive adjective, "leur" (their) agrees in number with the noun: singular "leur livre", plural "leurs livres". As an indirect object pronoun ("to them"), "leur" is invariable and never takes an -s.
State the French rule for capitalizing days of the week, months, and languages.
Unlike English, French does NOT capitalize days (lundi), months (janvier), or languages (le français). They are written in lowercase.
How are nationalities capitalized in French depending on their grammatical role?
The noun (a person) is capitalized: "un Français"; the adjective and the language are lowercase: "un livre français", "il parle français".
What are the French "guillemets" and what are they used for?
Guillemets are the angle quotation marks « » used to enclose direct/reported speech and quotations, replacing English " ". A non-breaking space is placed inside: « bonjour ».
Which French punctuation marks require a space before them, unlike English?
The "double" punctuation marks require a (non-breaking) space before: the semicolon (;), colon (:), question mark (?), and exclamation mark (!). The comma and period do not.
Define skimming as a reading strategy and state its purpose.
Skimming is reading quickly over a text (titles, first/last sentences, keywords) to grasp the general idea or gist. Its purpose is to understand the main topic without reading every word.
Define scanning as a reading strategy and contrast it with skimming.
Scanning is searching a text rapidly to locate specific information (a name, date, number). Unlike skimming (gist of the whole text), scanning targets one particular detail while ignoring the rest.
What are "mots apparentés" (cognates) and why are they useful for reading French?
Cognates are words that look similar and share meaning across languages (e.g., "nation", "important", "animal"). They help readers infer meaning quickly, though "faux amis" (false friends like "librairie" = bookshop) must be watched for.
When reading an authentic French text, name three paratextual clues that help predict content before reading.
The title/subtitle, images or illustrations, and the layout/source (e.g., menu, ad, article) plus typography like headings and bold words help predict the topic and text type.
What does "inferring meaning from context" mean when reading French?
It means deducing the meaning of an unknown word from surrounding clues—the sentence, cognates, word family (root/prefix/suffix), and logical sense—rather than looking it up in a dictionary.
How can the prefix "in-/im-" help you infer the meaning of a French word?
The prefix "in-/im-" usually signals negation/opposite (e.g., "possible" → "impossible", "utile" → "inutile" = useless), letting you infer the meaning from the known root.
What is the basic (canonical) word order of a French declarative sentence?
Subject–Verb–Object (SVO), e.g., "Marie (S) mange (V) une pomme (O)".
Planning Reading and Writing for French Language
Reading and Writing is about 12% of the French Language syllabus by topic count — 13 of 108 topics, spread over 4 chapters. At roughly 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic, a first pass runs to about 10 hours.
The heaviest chapters are Written Expression (4 topics), Spelling and Orthography (3 topics), Reading Comprehension (3 topics) . Front-load those while your energy is high; the short chapters are better revision filler later.
Work top-down: read the chapter, then tick topics off individually rather than marking the whole chapter done. Sub-topics are where silent gaps hide.
Reading and Writing (French Language) FAQ
What is in the French Language Reading and Writing syllabus?
Reading and Writing is split into 4 chapters — Spelling and Orthography, Reading Comprehension, Sentence Construction and Written Expression, containing 13 topics and 0 sub-topics in total.
How many chapters are there in Reading and Writing for French Language?
4 chapters. Reading and Writing accounts for about 12% of the topics in the whole French Language syllabus (13 of 108).
How long should I spend on Reading and Writing for French Language?
Budget around 10 hours for a first pass through Reading and Writing — about 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic across its 13 topics. Add revision cycles on top.
Are there flashcards for French Language Reading and Writing?
Yes — a 50-card Reading and Writing deck. Sample cards are printed on this page, and the full deck is free in the Examius app with spaced repetition scheduling.