French Language and Communication: Precision and Register
Core knowledge required
Expect grammar, vocabulary, comprehension and short production. Revise: noun and adjective agreement (including irregular adjectives like beau, nouveau, vieux); verb conjugation in présent, imparfait, futur simple, passé composé and plus-que-parfait; agreement of the past participle with être and with a preceding direct object; pronoun objects (le, la, les, lui, leur, y, en) and their order; the difference between c'est and il est; connectives (donc, cependant, par conséquent, en effet) that carry logical meaning; and register - formal letter versus friendly message.
Typical traps
- Homophones: a/à, ou/où, son/sont, ce/se, quel/quelle/qu'elle. Test by substitution.
- Past participle versus infinitive: after a preposition or another verb, use the infinitive (il veut partir); after avoir/être as auxiliary, the participle (il est parti).
- Agreement with être: elle est venue, ils sont venus; with avoir, only a preceding direct object triggers agreement.
- False friends: actuellement means "currently", not "actually"; assister à means "to attend".
- Comprehension items: answers must come from the text, not from general knowledge.
Rule of thumb
For any doubtful sentence, reduce it to a short parallel sentence you are sure of, then transfer the pattern. For a/à: if you can put avait in place, write a.
Worked example
Choose the correct form: "Les lettres qu'il ___ (écrire) hier sont arrivées." The auxiliary is avoir; the direct object qu' (les lettres) precedes the verb, so the participle agrees: écrites. Answer: a écrites - "Les lettres qu'il a écrites hier sont arrivées."
For written production, plan three paragraphs (opening, development, closing), use two connectives per paragraph, and reread for agreement before handing in.