Punjab PSEB Matric French cheat sheet

Question stems in PSEB papers are usually in French: « Vrai ou faux ? », « Répondez aux questions », « Complétez », « Choisissez la bonne réponse ». Answer in the language the question uses.

Scan for the question's key word first (a name, a date, a place), then read the sentence containing it; the answer is usually in that sentence or the next one.

Vrai/Faux items: a statement is false if any single detail (number, gender, tense, negation) differs from the text, even when the rest matches.

Negation flips meaning: ne… pas, ne… jamais, ne… rien, ne… personne, ne… plus. A sentence with « ne… que » means only/just, not a negative.

Numbers and dates: watch for quatre-vingt(s), soixante-dix, quatre-vingt-dix, mille vs cent, and premier/première (1er/1re) versus deuxième.

Pronoun reference: le, la, les, lui, leur, y, en point back to a noun already mentioned. Identify that noun before translating the sentence.

Time markers order a narrative: d'abord, puis, ensuite, enfin, le lendemain, la veille, autrefois, de nos jours. They often carry the answer to sequencing questions.

For a short notice, menu, timetable or classified ad, locate the practical data (price, hour, day, place) rather than translating every word.

Formal letter layout: place and date top right, sender's name/address, then « Cher Monsieur / Chère Madame » or « Monsieur, Madame, », body paragraphs, and a closing formula such as « Veuillez agréer, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées. »

Informal letter to a friend: « Mon cher ami / Ma chère amie » or « Salut … », tu-form throughout, and a closing like « Amicalement » or « À bientôt, je t'embrasse. »

Postcard/email register: keep it short; greeting, two or three sentences on place, weather, activities, and a closing line with the sender's name.

Narrative (récit) tense: passé composé for completed actions on the timeline, imparfait for description, weather, habits and background. Do not mix them randomly.

Agreement rules that examiners check: passé composé with être agrees with the subject (elle est allée, ils sont partis); with avoir it agrees only with a preceding direct object (les lettres que j'ai écrites).

Connectors raise the mark: d'abord, ensuite, de plus, cependant, donc, enfin, par exemple, c'est pourquoi. One connector per idea is enough.

Message/dialogue tasks: keep the required number of words (often 30–50 or 50–80), answer every bullet of the prompt, and use the tu/vous form the prompt implies.

Description tasks: place adjectives after the noun (une robe rouge), make them agree in gender and number, and use il y a / c'est / ce sont for presentation.

Articles: un/une/des (indefinite), le/la/les (definite), du/de la/des (partitive for mass nouns). After a negation, un/une/des and du/de la/des usually become de/d'.

Contractions are obligatory: à + le = au, à + les = aux, de + le = du, de + les = des. With a person's name no article is used (chez Marie).

Present tense endings: -er verbs (-e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent); -ir verbs of the finir type (-is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent); irregulars être, avoir, aller, faire, venir, prendre, pouvoir, vouloir, savoir, dire.

Passé composé = avoir or être in the present + past participle. The être list includes aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, rester, tomber, retourner.

Futur proche = aller + infinitive (je vais partir); futur simple endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont added to the infinitive or irregular stem (ser-, aur-, ir-, fer-, pourr-, viendr-).

Adjective agreement and position: add -e for feminine, -s for plural; beau/nouveau/vieux become bel/nouvel/vieil before a vowel or mute h; grand, petit, jeune, joli, bon, mauvais precede the noun.

Question formation: intonation (Tu viens ?), est-ce que (Est-ce que tu viens ?), inversion (Viens-tu ?). With inversion use a hyphen and -t- before il/elle/on (Vient-il ?).

Comparatives: plus … que, moins … que, aussi … que; irregulars meilleur (better), mieux (better as adverb), pire. Superlative: le/la/les plus … / le/la/les moins ….

Pronouns: direct le/la/les, indirect lui/leur, y replaces à + place/thing, en replaces de + noun or a quantity. They go before the verb (Je le vois) and before the auxiliary (Je l'ai vu).

France is a republic with a president elected for five years; the Parliament has two chambers, the Assemblée nationale and the Sénat. The national day is 14 July (la fête nationale).

Paris landmarks and their facts: la tour Eiffel (built for the 1889 Exposition), le Louvre (home of the Mona Lisa / La Joconde), Notre-Dame on the Île de la Cité, l'Arc de Triomphe, le Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre.

The French education system: école primaire (6–11), collège (11–15) ending in the brevet, lycée (15–18) ending in the baccalauréat.

French meals and food vocabulary: le petit déjeuner (croissant, tartine, café au lait), le déjeuner, le goûter, le dîner; staples baguette, fromage, crêpes, quiche.

Currency is the euro; the motto is « Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité »; the flag is blue, white and red (bleu, blanc, rouge).

Regions and cities often tested: Paris on the Seine, Marseille on the Mediterranean, Lyon at the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône, Bordeaux in wine country, Strasbourg in Alsace.

Festivals and calendar: le Nouvel An (1 January), la Fête du Travail (1 May), la Fête de la Musique (21 June), la Toussaint (1 November), Noël (25 December).

Francophone world: French is official in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada (Quebec), Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and others; the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre are in Paris, not in Versailles.

Question stems in PSEB papers are usually in French: « Vrai ou faux ? », « Répondez aux questions », « Complétez », « Choisissez la bonne réponse ». Answer in the language the question uses.

Scan for the question's key word first (a name, a date, a place), then read the sentence containing it; the answer is usually in that sentence or the next one.

Vrai/Faux items: a statement is false if any single detail (number, gender, tense, negation) differs from the text, even when the rest matches.

Negation flips meaning: ne… pas, ne… jamais, ne… rien, ne… personne, ne… plus. A sentence with « ne… que » means only/just, not a negative.

Numbers and dates: watch for quatre-vingt(s), soixante-dix, quatre-vingt-dix, mille vs cent, and premier/première (1er/1re) versus deuxième.

Pronoun reference: le, la, les, lui, leur, y, en point back to a noun already mentioned. Identify that noun before translating the sentence.

Time markers order a narrative: d'abord, puis, ensuite, enfin, le lendemain, la veille, autrefois, de nos jours. They often carry the answer to sequencing questions.

For a short notice, menu, timetable or classified ad, locate the practical data (price, hour, day, place) rather than translating every word.

Formal letter layout: place and date top right, sender's name/address, then « Cher Monsieur / Chère Madame » or « Monsieur, Madame, », body paragraphs, and a closing formula such as « Veuillez agréer, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées. »

Informal letter to a friend: « Mon cher ami / Ma chère amie » or « Salut … », tu-form throughout, and a closing like « Amicalement » or « À bientôt, je t'embrasse. »

Postcard/email register: keep it short; greeting, two or three sentences on place, weather, activities, and a closing line with the sender's name.

Narrative (récit) tense: passé composé for completed actions on the timeline, imparfait for description, weather, habits and background. Do not mix them randomly.

Agreement rules that examiners check: passé composé with être agrees with the subject (elle est allée, ils sont partis); with avoir it agrees only with a preceding direct object (les lettres que j'ai écrites).

Connectors raise the mark: d'abord, ensuite, de plus, cependant, donc, enfin, par exemple, c'est pourquoi. One connector per idea is enough.

Message/dialogue tasks: keep the required number of words (often 30–50 or 50–80), answer every bullet of the prompt, and use the tu/vous form the prompt implies.

Description tasks: place adjectives after the noun (une robe rouge), make them agree in gender and number, and use il y a / c'est / ce sont for presentation.

Articles: un/une/des (indefinite), le/la/les (definite), du/de la/des (partitive for mass nouns). After a negation, un/une/des and du/de la/des usually become de/d'.

Contractions are obligatory: à + le = au, à + les = aux, de + le = du, de + les = des. With a person's name no article is used (chez Marie).

Present tense endings: -er verbs (-e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent); -ir verbs of the finir type (-is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent); irregulars être, avoir, aller, faire, venir, prendre, pouvoir, vouloir, savoir, dire.

Passé composé = avoir or être in the present + past participle. The être list includes aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, rester, tomber, retourner.

Futur proche = aller + infinitive (je vais partir); futur simple endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont added to the infinitive or irregular stem (ser-, aur-, ir-, fer-, pourr-, viendr-).

Adjective agreement and position: add -e for feminine, -s for plural; beau/nouveau/vieux become bel/nouvel/vieil before a vowel or mute h; grand, petit, jeune, joli, bon, mauvais precede the noun.

Question formation: intonation (Tu viens ?), est-ce que (Est-ce que tu viens ?), inversion (Viens-tu ?). With inversion use a hyphen and -t- before il/elle/on (Vient-il ?).

Comparatives: plus … que, moins … que, aussi … que; irregulars meilleur (better), mieux (better as adverb), pire. Superlative: le/la/les plus … / le/la/les moins ….

Pronouns: direct le/la/les, indirect lui/leur, y replaces à + place/thing, en replaces de + noun or a quantity. They go before the verb (Je le vois) and before the auxiliary (Je l'ai vu).

France is a republic with a president elected for five years; the Parliament has two chambers, the Assemblée nationale and the Sénat. The national day is 14 July (la fête nationale).

Paris landmarks and their facts: la tour Eiffel (built for the 1889 Exposition), le Louvre (home of the Mona Lisa / La Joconde), Notre-Dame on the Île de la Cité, l'Arc de Triomphe, le Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre.

The French education system: école primaire (6–11), collège (11–15) ending in the brevet, lycée (15–18) ending in the baccalauréat.

French meals and food vocabulary: le petit déjeuner (croissant, tartine, café au lait), le déjeuner, le goûter, le dîner; staples baguette, fromage, crêpes, quiche.

Currency is the euro; the motto is « Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité »; the flag is blue, white and red (bleu, blanc, rouge).

Regions and cities often tested: Paris on the Seine, Marseille on the Mediterranean, Lyon at the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône, Bordeaux in wine country, Strasbourg in Alsace.

Festivals and calendar: le Nouvel An (1 January), la Fête du Travail (1 May), la Fête de la Musique (21 June), la Toussaint (1 November), Noël (25 December).

Francophone world: French is official in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada (Quebec), Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire and others; the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre are in Paris, not in Versailles.