HSC French Beginners cheat sheet

To introduce yourself: Je m'appelle + name; J'ai + number + ans; Je suis + nationality or profession (no article after être for professions).

Family vocabulary: le père, la mère, le frère, la sœur, les parents, les grands-parents; possessive adjectives agree with the noun: mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes, son/sa/ses, notre/nos, votre/vos, leur/leurs.

Daily routine verbs (se lever, se coucher, s'habiller, se laver) are pronominal; conjugate with reflexive pronoun matching subject: je me lève, tu te lèves, il/elle se lève, nous nous levons, vous vous levez, ils/elles se lèvent.

Telling time: Il est + hour + heure(s) + minutes; use et quart (15), et demie (30), moins le quart (45); midi = noon, minuit = midnight; 24-hour clock common for schedules.

Likes/dislikes: aimer, adorer, préférer, détester + noun (with article) or + infinitive; use beaucoup for 'a lot' (J'aime beaucoup le sport), but not with détester.

Describing personality: adjectives must agree in gender and number: gentil/gentille, travailleur/travailleuse, timide (invariable), intelligent/intelligente, sympathique/sympathique.

School subjects and opinions: la matière, les maths, l'anglais, le français, l'histoire, la géographie, les sciences; opinion phrases: à mon avis, je pense que, je trouve que + subject + verb.

House and home: il y a + indefinite article (il y a un jardin); prepositions of place: dans, sur, sous, devant, derrière, à côté de, en face de, près de, loin de.

France has 13 metropolitan regions plus 5 overseas regions (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, La Réunion, Mayotte); Paris is the capital and largest city.

Other countries with French as an official language include Belgium, Switzerland, Canada (Quebec), Haiti, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, and Madagascar; French is spoken on five continents.

La Francophonie is the international organisation of French-speaking countries; its motto is 'égalité, complémentarité, solidarité'; 20 March is Journée internationale de la Francophonie.

Cultural symbols of France: la Marseillaise (national anthem), le 14 juillet (Bastille Day), la devise 'Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité', le coq gaulois, la baguette, le fromage, le vin.

Key French-speaking cities: Montréal and Québec (Canada), Genève (Switzerland), Bruxelles (Belgium), Dakar (Senegal), Port-au-Prince (Haiti), Papeete (Tahiti).

Festivals and traditions: la Fête de la Musique (21 June), la Fête nationale (14 July), le Carnaval de Nice, la Fête des Lumières in Lyon, le Nouvel An (1 January).

Transport and geography vocabulary: la gare (train station), l'aéroport, le métro, le TGV (high-speed train), la mer, la montagne, la campagne, la ville.

Currency and practical facts: France uses the euro (€); Switzerland uses the Swiss franc; Canada uses the Canadian dollar; plug types C and E in France; emergency numbers: 15 (ambulance), 17 (police), 18 (fire).

Listen for context words first: bonjour/bonsoir (greeting), au revoir (farewell), s'il vous plaît (request), merci (thanks), excusez-moi (apology) signal the type of exchange.

Numbers and prices are frequent distractors: distinguish deux/deuxième, six/sixième, and prices like 'trois euros cinquante' (€3.50); listen for 'cent' (100) vs 'sans' (without).

Time and date cues: 'à quelle heure?' asks time; 'quel jour?' asks day; listen for 'demain' (tomorrow), 'hier' (yesterday), 'aujourd'hui' (today), 'la semaine prochaine' (next week).

Negation is often missed: listen for ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...rien, ne...personne; these reverse the meaning of the sentence.

Question forms to recognise: Est-ce que...? Qu'est-ce que...? Où...? Quand...? Comment...? Combien...? Qui...? Pourquoi...? Each expects a different answer type.

Common liaison and elision can obscure words: 'les amis' sounds like 'lé-zami'; 'il y a' often pronounced 'ya'; 'je suis' → 'chui' in casual speech.

Responding appropriately: match register (tu vs vous); 'Comment ça va?' → 'Ça va bien, merci'; 'Tu veux...?' → 'Oui, je veux bien' or 'Non, merci'.

Transcript strategy: note key words (names, places, times, numbers) while listening; the answer often repeats or paraphrases one of these details.

Skim for text type first: une annonce (advertisement), un courriel (email), une lettre (letter), un menu, un horaire (schedule), un panneau (sign) - each has predictable layout and vocabulary.

Cognates and near-cognates help: restaurant, menu, train, taxi, sport, film, musique, téléphone; but watch false friends: actuellement = currently (not actually), éventuellement = possibly, librairie = bookshop (not library).

Scan for specific details: dates (le 3 mai), prices (15 €), times (à 14h30), addresses (12 rue Victor Hugo), and names; underline these before answering questions.

Question words guide the answer: 'Qui?' → person; 'Où?' → place; 'Quand?' → time/date; 'Combien?' → number/price; 'Pourquoi?' → because (parce que/car).

Verb tense signals meaning: présent (habits, current facts), passé composé (completed past: j'ai mangé), futur proche (aller + infinitive: je vais manger), imparfait (ongoing past: il faisait beau).

Negation and restriction: ne...que means 'only'; ne...plus means 'no longer'; ne...rien means 'nothing'; these change the correct answer.

Inference from context: use surrounding words to guess unfamiliar vocabulary; e.g., 'boulangerie' near 'pain' indicates a bakery.

Responding in French: answer in complete sentences when required, reuse the verb and subject from the question, and check gender/number agreement in your reply.

Text types and conventions: une carte postale (postcard) includes greeting, body, closing; un courriel (email) includes objet (subject), salutation, corps, formule de politesse; une invitation includes date, time, place, RSVP.

Formal vs informal register: use vous with strangers/teachers (Comment allez-vous?); use tu with friends/family (Comment vas-tu?); closing: 'Cordialement' (formal) vs 'À bientôt' / 'Bises' (informal).

Sentence structure: Subject + Verb + Object; adjectives usually follow the noun (une voiture rouge) but common short adjectives (grand, petit, beau, joli, jeune, vieux, bon, mauvais) precede it.

Agreement rules: adjectives agree with noun in gender/number (un ami français → une amie française); past participle with être agrees with subject (elle est allée), with avoir does not agree with subject (elle a mangé).

Connectors to link ideas: et, mais, parce que, car, donc, alors, ensuite, d'abord, enfin, cependant; use them to reach the required word count naturally.

Word count and task completion: check the required length (e.g., 50–80 words), include all bullet points from the prompt, and count words (articles and prepositions count).

Common writing errors to avoid: missing accents (é vs e), confusing a/à, ou/où, son/sont, ce/se, la/là; verify verb endings (-er, -ir, -re) and subject-verb agreement.

Useful phrases for messages: 'Je t'écris pour...' (I'm writing to you to...), 'J'ai le plaisir de...' (I am pleased to...), 'Réponds-moi vite' (reply soon), 'Je t'invite à...' (I invite you to...).