General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Modern Foreign Language (French) Syllabus

How do you say 'We must protect the environment' in French?

« Il faut protéger l'environnement. » 'Il faut' + infinitive = 'it is necessary to / we must'; 'protéger' = to protect.

Give the French for: pollution, recycling, and 'to save energy'.

Pollution = « la pollution »; recycling = « le recyclage »; to save energy = « économiser l'énergie ».

In Travel and tourism, how do you say 'I would like to book a room' in French?

« Je voudrais réserver une chambre. » 'Je voudrais' (I would like) is the polite conditional of 'vouloir'; 'réserver' = to book.

What is the French for 'the seaside', 'abroad', and 'a return ticket'?

The seaside = « le bord de la mer / la plage »; abroad = « à l'étranger »; a return ticket = « un billet aller-retour ».

How do you say 'Last summer I went to Spain' in French (past tense)?

« L'été dernier, je suis allé(e) en Espagne. » Uses the passé composé of 'aller' with être; add an extra 'e' if the speaker is female.

In School and education, give the French for: a subject, timetable, headteacher.

A subject = « une matière »; timetable = « l'emploi du temps »; headteacher = « le directeur / la directrice » (or « le proviseur » for a lycée).

How do you say 'My favourite subject is history because it is interesting'?

« Ma matière préférée est l'histoire parce qu'elle est intéressante. » 'préféré(e)' = favourite; 'parce que' = because.

What is the French for 'I have to wear a uniform' and what verb structure is used?

« Je dois porter un uniforme. » It uses 'devoir' (to have to / must) + infinitive 'porter' (to wear).

In Future plans, how do you say 'I would like to go to university' in French?

« Je voudrais aller à l'université. » Alternatively « J'aimerais faire des études supérieures » (I'd like to do higher education).

Translate: 'In the future I will travel the world.'

« À l'avenir, je voyagerai dans le monde entier. » 'voyagerai' is the future tense of 'voyager'; 'à l'avenir' = in the future.

How do you express 'I am going to take a gap year' using the near future?

« Je vais prendre une année sabbatique. » The near future (futur proche) = 'aller' (conjugated) + infinitive.

In Jobs and work, give the French for: a job, a part-time job, work experience.

A job = « un emploi / un travail / un métier »; a part-time job = « un travail à temps partiel »; work experience = « un stage ».

How do you say 'I would like to become a doctor' in French, and what's notable about the job noun?

« Je voudrais devenir médecin. » After 'devenir/être' + profession, French omits the article: 'devenir médecin', not 'devenir un médecin'.

Give the French for three professions: teacher, nurse, engineer.

Teacher = « un professeur / une professeure »; nurse = « un infirmier / une infirmière »; engineer = « un ingénieur ».

Name the three main French past/present/future tense building blocks tested at GCSE and what each expresses.

Présent (present, ongoing/habitual actions), passé composé (completed past actions), and futur (future actions). The imparfait (ongoing/background past) and conditionnel (would) are also required.

How is the passé composé formed in French, and which two auxiliary verbs are used?

Auxiliary 'avoir' or 'être' (present tense) + past participle. Most verbs use 'avoir'; movement/reflexive verbs (the MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs) use 'être', and their participle agrees with the subject.

State the rule for which French verbs take être in the passé composé and give the agreement rule.

The ~16 'MRS VANDERTRAMP' verbs (movement/state-change, e.g. aller, venir, partir, arriver, rester, devenir) plus all reflexive verbs take être. The past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject (e.g. « elle est allée », « ils sont partis »).

What does the imparfait express, and how do you say 'I used to play' (jouer)?

The imparfait describes ongoing, habitual or background past actions ('used to / was -ing'). 'I used to play' = « je jouais ». It's formed from the nous-present stem + endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

How do you form the simple future of regular -er/-ir verbs, e.g. 'I will speak' (parler)?

Take the infinitive as the stem and add -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont. 'I will speak' = « je parlerai ». For -re verbs, drop the final 'e' first (vendre → je vendrai).

What is the French definite article in all four forms, and when is each used?

« le » (masculine singular), « la » (feminine singular), « l' » (before a vowel/silent h), « les » (plural). They mean 'the' and also appear with nouns used in a general sense.

Give the French indefinite and partitive articles and what the partitive expresses.

Indefinite: « un » (m), « une » (f), « des » (plural) = a/some. Partitive: « du » (m), « de la » (f), « de l' », « des » = 'some/any' of an uncountable thing, e.g. « du pain », « de l'eau ».

State the general rule for adjective agreement and position in French.

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun: add -e (feminine), -s (plural), -es (feminine plural). Most follow the noun (« une voiture rouge »), but BAGS adjectives (Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size) usually precede it (« un grand jardin »).

How do you make most French nouns plural, and name two common exceptions.

Add -s (« le chat » → « les chats »). Exceptions: nouns ending in -eau/-eu add -x (« un gâteau » → « des gâteaux »); many ending in -al become -aux (« un cheval » → « des chevaux »).

List the French subject pronouns for all persons.

« je » (I), « tu » (you, informal), « il/elle/on » (he/she/one-we), « nous » (we), « vous » (you, formal/plural), « ils/elles » (they m/f).

What are the French direct object pronouns, and where do they go?

« me, te, le/la, nous, vous, les ». They go directly before the conjugated verb, e.g. « Je le vois » (I see him/it), « Elle nous aime » (She loves us).

Give five common French connectives used to extend answers in writing and speaking.

« et » (and), « mais » (but), « parce que » (because), « cependant » (however), « donc » (so/therefore). Also « car » (for/because), « puis » (then), « par contre » (on the other hand).

In the Listening exam, what should you do with distractors and numbers, and which question word is which: 'quand' vs 'où'?

Listen past distractors (wrong options mentioned then corrected) and note numbers/times exactly. « quand » = when; « où » = where. Don't answer on the first key word you recognise.

In the Speaking exam, what is a 'role-play' and what tip helps with the unexpected question?

The role-play is a short scripted scenario (e.g. at a hotel) with prompts including an exclamation mark '!' for an unprepared question and a '?' where you must ask a question. Tip: form a question with « est-ce que » or rising intonation, and keep answers short but full sentences.

In the Reading exam, how do you handle the translation into English and unknown words?

Translate accurately keeping tense and detail (don't omit small words like negatives or 'ne...jamais'). For unknown words, use cognates and context; never leave gaps. Check verb tenses to translate time correctly.

In the Writing exam, name three things that raise marks for the higher writing task.

Use a range of tenses (past, present, future), include opinions with justifications (« à mon avis... parce que... »), and use connectives plus varied vocabulary and complex structures (e.g. « il faut », « je voudrais », qui/que clauses).