BGCSE French 0520 key terms

A standard daytime greeting used when meeting someone or starting a conversation. It is polite in most situations and is often the first word exchanged in a listening dialogue or oral test.

An informal greeting meaning hello, used among friends, classmates, or people of similar age. It can also serve as a casual goodbye. Recognising its register helps you judge the relationship between speakers.

A standard farewell meaning goodbye, suitable in formal and neutral situations. It commonly closes a conversation, a phone call, or a shop exchange, so it often signals the end of a listening passage.

The polite phrase for please when addressing one or more people formally. It appears constantly in requests, directions, and service situations, and its presence usually signals that a favour or order is being asked.

The everyday word for thank you, used after receiving help, goods, or information. A short reply such as de rien or je vous en prie often follows, which is a useful cue in listening tasks.

A fixed expression meaning my name is, used to introduce yourself. It is normally followed by a first name. Candidates need it for oral introductions and for identifying speakers in recorded dialogues.

An informal question asking someone's name, used with people you address as tu. The formal version is comment vous appelez-vous. Recognising both forms is essential for listening and for oral exchanges.

The familiar singular pronoun for you, used with friends, family, children, and peers. Choosing between tu and vous depends on social distance, and getting it wrong can sound rude in speaking tasks.

The pronoun for you used either as a polite singular or as a plural. It is required with strangers, adults, and in service contexts. Listening questions often test whether a speaker is being formal or addressing several people.

The conditional form meaning I would like, used to make polite requests when ordering food, buying tickets, or asking for something. It is softer than je veux and is expected in shop and restaurant role-plays.

A question asking how much something costs. It appears in shopping dialogues and in reading texts such as menus or adverts. The answer usually contains a number and a currency word like euros.

The number system from zero upwards, including the irregular forms soixante-dix, quatre-vingts, and quatre-vingt-dix. Numbers carry prices, times, dates, and quantities, so mishearing one often means losing the answer in listening tasks.

The word for time in the sense of clock time, and also for hour. Telling the time uses phrases such as il est trois heures et quart. Timetables and appointments in listening passages depend on this vocabulary.

The word for day, used in dates, schedules, and opening hours. Days of the week such as lundi and samedi are masculine and normally written without capital letters in French, unlike English practice.

The calendar date, expressed with a number and a month, for example le cinq mai. French uses the first of the month with premier rather than un. Dates appear in invitations, forms, and announcements.

The topic of family, covering words such as le père, la mère, le frère, and la sœur. Family descriptions are a common listening and reading theme, often combined with age, jobs, and where people live.

Free-time activities such as sport, music, reading, and going out. Texts about hobbies usually include opinions and frequency words, so linking an activity to a like or dislike is often the tested skill.

The word for school and the vocabulary of school life: subjects, timetables, teachers, and homework. School contexts are frequent in listening passages, especially dialogues between students about classes and exams.

A school subject such as les maths, l'histoire, or la biologie. Texts often state which subject a speaker likes or finds difficult, so matching a subject to an opinion is a typical comprehension question.

Homework or tasks set by teachers. The word is always plural in this sense. It appears in dialogues about evening plans and in written messages explaining why someone cannot go out.

Holidays or vacation time, including travel, accommodation, and activities. The topic supports both reading and listening tasks, often with past tenses describing where someone went and what they did.

Expressions for liking, disliking, and judging, such as j'aime, je préfère, je déteste, and à mon avis. They carry the main idea in many texts, so identifying the attitude of a speaker is a core reading and listening skill.

Language for describing people and places: physical appearance, personality, size, and colour. Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun, which is a frequent accuracy point in written production.

The rule that adjectives must match the noun they describe in gender and number, for example un petit garçon and une petite fille. Most adjectives add e for feminine and s for plural, but some are irregular.

The present tense, used for current actions, habits, and general truths. Regular verbs follow patterns by ending group, while common verbs such as être, avoir, aller, and faire are irregular and must be memorised.

The main past tense for completed actions, formed with a present-tense helper verb plus a past participle. Most verbs use avoir, movement verbs often use être, and the participle then agrees with the subject.

A past tense describing ongoing situations, habits, and background detail rather than single completed events. It contrasts with the passé composé, and choosing between them is a common accuracy issue in narratives.

The near future, formed with a present-tense form of aller plus an infinitive, as in je vais partir. It expresses plans and predictions and is simpler to use accurately than the full future tense.

The formation of plural nouns and articles, usually by adding s, with irregular patterns such as -al becoming -aux. Articles must agree, so les replaces le and la. Spelling accuracy here affects written marks directly.

The small words placed before nouns: definite forms le, la, les, indefinite un, une, des, and partitive du, de la. Choosing correctly depends on gender, number, and whether the quantity is specific.

Linking words and phrases such as d'abord, ensuite, puis, however, and finally that organise ideas. They make written work coherent and also help listeners follow the order of events in a recording.

A formal or informal letter, a frequent written task. It needs a greeting, an opening, a body with linked ideas, and a closing formula, with formal letters using vous and informal ones using tu.

A short written communication such as a note, text message, or email to a friend. It usually states a purpose, gives practical details, and ends briefly, so clarity and correct verb forms matter more than length.

How words are spoken, including silent final consonants, nasal vowels, and liaison between words. Clear pronunciation supports intelligibility in oral tasks, and recognising it helps decode fast speech in listening tests.

The rise and fall of the voice that signals questions, statements, and emphasis. French questions often rely on rising intonation rather than word order, so it is a key clue when listening for meaning.

The linking of a normally silent final consonant to the vowel that begins the next word, as in les amis. It affects how spoken French sounds and can make familiar words hard to recognise in recordings.

A request for information, formed in French by rising intonation, by inversion, or with est-ce que. Recognising the type of question tells you what kind of answer to expect in a listening or speaking exchange.

A short, friendly reply meaning you're welcome, used after merci in informal situations. More formal alternatives include je vous en prie. Knowing these replies helps you follow the flow of a short dialogue.