Maharashtra HSC French (MSBSHSE) key terms

Past tense describing ongoing or repeated past situations and background scenes, formed from the nous-stem plus endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Contrasts with the passé composé for single completed events.

Compound past tense made of avoir or être in the present plus a past participle; être verbs (and all reflexives) trigger agreement with the subject. Used for finished actions and sequences of events.

Rule that a past participle agrees in gender and number with a preceding direct object, with the subject when conjugated with être, and never with the subject when avoir has no preceding object.

Verbs used with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se), such as se lever or s'appeler. In the passé composé they take être and the participle agrees with the subject unless a body part follows.

Object pronouns me, te, se, nous, vous, se that refer back to the subject of the verb, as in il se lave or nous nous parlons. Placed before the verb in most tenses.

Direct object pronouns le, la, les and indirect object pronouns lui, leur that replace nouns and stand before the verb; past participle agreement occurs only with a preceding COD.

y replaces a place or an à-phrase (j'y vais, je pense à lui); en replaces a quantity or a de-phrase (j'en veux deux). Both precede the verb and are obligatory in French.

Words such as qui, que, dont, où and lequel that join clauses to a noun. Qui is the subject, que the direct object, dont replaces de + noun, où marks place or time.

Mood expressing wish, doubt, necessity or emotion after expressions like il faut que, je veux que, bien que. Formed from the ils-stem plus -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent.

Tense formed from the future stem plus imperfect endings, used for polite requests, hypotheses and reported future. In si-clauses it pairs with the imparfait to express unreal situations.

Tense marking future events, built from the infinitive (or an irregular stem such as ir-, ser-, aur-) plus endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont. Often follows time expressions like demain or l'année prochaine.

Reported speech introduced by verbs like dire or demander; it shifts tenses back one step, changes pronouns and possessives, and adjusts time and place words such as demain becoming le lendemain.

Two-part construction wrapping the verb: ne ... pas, ne ... jamais, ne ... rien, ne ... personne, ne ... plus. In the passé composé the second element follows the auxiliary.

Words locating people and things: à, dans, sur, sous, devant, derrière, entre, chez, au-dessus de. Cities take à, countries take en or au, and chez applies to people.

Structures comparing qualities: plus / moins / aussi + adjective + que, and le plus / le moins for the superlative. Irregular forms include meilleur and mieux, and bon becomes meilleur.

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe, usually adding -e for feminine and -s for plural. Irregular forms include beau/belle, vieux/vieille, blanc/blanche.

Words sharing meaning (content/heureux, grand/vaste) and words of opposite meaning (grand/petit, souvent/jamais). Exam tasks ask you to match or replace words without changing the sense.

Groups of words linked by a theme, such as travel (gare, billet, quai, voyageur) or weather (pluie, nuage, orage). Identifying the field helps you guess unknown words in unseen passages.

Fixed phrases whose meaning is not literal, such as avoir le coup de foudre, coûter les yeux de la tête, or tomber dans les pommes. They must be learned whole and translated by sense.

French words resembling English but differing in meaning: actuellement means currently, not actually; éventuellement means possibly; librairie is a bookshop, not a library; blesser means to wound.

Linking words that organise ideas: d'abord, ensuite, cependant, pourtant, donc, par conséquent, en revanche. Essential for coherent written answers and for following argument in non-fiction passages.

Formal letter with sender and recipient details, a place and date, a salutation such as Madame, Monsieur, a body in two or three paragraphs, and a closing formula like Veuillez agréer, Madame, mes salutations distinguées.

Short informal message to a friend or relative describing a place, activities and impressions, using present or passé composé, informal tu, and a closing such as Bises or À bientôt.

Written conversation using dashes or guillemets, speech verbs like demander, répondre, s'exclamer, and register-appropriate tu or vous. Exam tasks may ask you to complete or build a short exchange.

Short opinion paragraph: a topic sentence, two supporting reasons with examples, and a conclusion, joined by logical connectors. Requires correct tense use and agreement throughout.

Rendering meaning between French and English while respecting tense, agreement and register rather than word-for-word substitution. Watch idioms, false friends and the French preference for nouns over English verbs.

Rewriting a sentence without changing meaning: active to passive, direct to reported speech, affirmative to negative, or replacing a noun phrase with a pronoun. The tense and sense must stay identical.

The French-speaking world beyond France, including Belgium, Switzerland, Canada (Quebec), Senegal, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Haiti and Vietnam, with French as official, administrative or cultural language.

Administrative areas such as Bretagne, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Occitanie, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Île-de-France, each with distinct landscape, food and traditions used in civilisation questions.

Celebrations such as la Fête nationale on 14 July, la Toussaint, Noël, Pâques, la Fête de la Musique and la galette des Rois, with their foods, greetings and customs.

Regional dishes and habits: baguette, croissant, fromage, ratatouille, bouillabaisse, crêpes, and the structured meal with entrée, plat and dessert. Often linked to reading passages about daily life.

School structure: école primaire, collège ending with the brevet, lycée leading to the baccalauréat, then university or grandes écoles. Useful background for passages about student life.

Everyday routines and institutions: horaires, transports en commun, marché, administration, laïcité and leisure habits. Frequently the setting of unseen prose and dialogue tasks.

Reading an unseen passage for gist, specific detail, inference and tone, then answering in French. Look for title, topic sentences, connectors and cognates before tackling unknown vocabulary.

Non-fiction passage such as an article, notice, advertisement or interview, with a headline, factual statements and sometimes figures. Questions usually test locating information and identifying purpose.

The characters and central ideas of prescribed textbook lessons and the supplementary reader, such as family, friendship, travel, environment or courage, used in short essay and extract-based questions.

A passage drawn from the prescribed textbook or supplementary reader, tested for context, speaker, main idea and sometimes moral. Revise lesson summaries, vocabulary lists and key sentences.