Punjab PSEB Matric French key terms

A past tense made of an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) plus the past participle, as in j'ai mangé or elle est partie. It describes finished actions and is the first past tense learned in the PSEB textbook.

The helping verb avoir used before a past participle in the passé composé for most verbs, for example j'ai fini. It never agrees with the subject, but it agrees with a direct object placed before it.

The helping verb être used with a small group of movement and reflexive verbs in the passé composé, for example elle est allée. With être the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

The verb form used after an auxiliary, such as mangé, fini, vendu or parti. Regular forms end in -é, -i or -u; irregular forms must be memorised because they appear constantly in reading passages and writing tasks.

The rule that a past participle changes to match gender and number. It agrees with the subject after être and with a preceding direct object after avoir, but stays unchanged after avoir when the object follows.

A past tense describing ongoing situations, habits and background description, formed from the nous-stem plus endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. It contrasts with the passé composé, which reports single completed events.

A tense for future plans and predictions, built by adding -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont to the infinitive, with irregular stems such as ir-, ser- and aur-. Common in letters and short compositions about holidays.

A form using the future stem plus imparfait endings, used for polite requests, wishes and hypothetical situations, as in je voudrais or il pourrait. It softens statements and appears in formal letters and dialogues.

The basic tense for current actions, general truths and near future. Regular -er, -ir and -re verbs follow fixed ending patterns, while frequent irregulars such as être, avoir, aller and faire must be learned by heart.

The unconjugated dictionary form of a verb, ending in -er, -ir or -re. It appears after another verb, after prepositions and in instructions, for example je veux partir or il faut écouter.

The stem of a verb to which endings are attached, found by removing the infinitive ending. Irregular verbs may change stem across forms, so recognising the stem helps when choosing the correct tense ending.

Verbs accompanied by a reflexive pronoun, such as se lever, s'habiller or se coucher, describing actions done to oneself or to each other. They use être as auxiliary in the passé composé, as in je me suis levé.

The noun or pronoun receiving the verb's action without a preposition, answering qui or quoi, as in il lit un livre. Recognising it matters for pronoun replacement and for past participle agreement.

A short pronoun replacing a noun object: le, la, les for direct objects and lui, leur for indirect ones, placed before the verb. Correct placement is tested in transformation and dialogue-completion items.

Words such as qui, que, où and dont that join two clauses. Qui is the subject of the relative clause, que is the direct object, où marks place or time, and dont replaces de plus a noun.

Definite articles le, la, l' and les point to known things; indefinite articles un, une and des introduce new ones. Choosing correctly depends on gender, number and whether the noun has already been mentioned.

The form du, de la, de l' or des used for an unspecified quantity of something, especially food and drink, as in je mange du riz. In negative sentences it usually becomes de, as in je ne bois pas de lait.

The classification of every French noun as masculine or feminine, which controls article, adjective and pronoun agreement. Endings such as -tion and -té are usually feminine, while -ment and -age are usually masculine.

A describing word that agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies, for example une belle ville or des livres intéressants. Most add -e for feminine and -s for plural, with irregular forms like beau, vieux and blanc.

Most French adjectives follow the noun, as in une maison blanche. A short group covering beauty, age, goodness and size, such as beau, jeune, bon and grand, comes before it, and some adjectives change meaning with position.

The two-part structure ne ... pas, ne ... jamais, ne ... rien or ne ... plus wrapped around the verb, as in je ne fume pas. In the passé composé the second element follows the auxiliary, and in the infinitive both parts come before the verb.

Question formation in three registers: rising intonation in speech, est-ce que in neutral style, and inversion in formal style, as in parlez-vous français? Question words such as où, quand and pourquoi come first or take que at the end.

The level of formality in a text: familier for casual speech, courant for neutral standard French, and soutenu for formal writing. Reading tasks often ask you to identify who is speaking and in what situation from these clues.

Reading a passage quickly for its main idea before looking at details, using the title, layout and repeated words. This first pass helps candidates answer general questions and predict what specific questions will ask.

Careful reading to locate precise information such as names, times, prices and reasons, then matching them to the question wording. Answers usually appear in the text in slightly different words, so paraphrasing must be recognised.

A common exercise type in which statements about a text are judged correct or incorrect and the supporting line is quoted. Marks are usually lost when the justification is missing or copied without the exact phrase.

The sentence copied from the text that proves a true-or-false answer. It should be short, exact and directly relevant, without added explanation, because examiners check that the quoted words really support the statement.

An important word in a question or text that carries the main meaning, such as a date, place or verb. Underlining key words before reading helps candidates scan efficiently and avoid answering a different question.

An informal written message to a friend or relative, opening with Cher or Chère and closing with a friendly formula such as bises or à bientôt. It uses tu, the present and passé composé, and follows a clear greeting, body and sign-off structure.

The conventional opening and closing phrases of a letter or message, chosen to match the relationship and register. Formal letters end with expressions like Cordialement or Je vous prie d'agréer mes salutations distinguées, while friendly ones use amitiés or bises.

A writing task describing a person, place or scene using adjectives, position words and the present or imparfait. Good answers organise details logically, vary sentence length and agree every adjective with its noun.

A short narrative about past events, mixing passé composé for the actions that move the story forward with imparfait for background and description. Connectives such as d'abord, ensuite and enfin give the account clear order.

Linking words that organise ideas and show relationships: d'abord, ensuite, puis, enfin for sequence; mais, cependant for contrast; donc, par conséquent for result. Using them raises marks for coherence in written expression.

A sentence containing more than one verb, joined by coordination with et, mais, ou, or by subordination with parce que, quand, si or qui. Varying simple and complex sentences improves the quality of a composition.

Everyday activities from waking to sleeping, described with reflexive verbs and time expressions such as se lever, se laver, déjeuner and se coucher. It is a standard textbook topic for both reading passages and short writing tasks.

Telling time with il est plus the hour, using et quart, et demie and moins le quart, and the 24-hour clock in timetables. Questions in reading tasks often require converting between the two systems.

Cardinal numbers used for prices, dates, ages and times, including tricky forms such as soixante-dix, quatre-vingts and quatre-vingt-dix. Correct spelling matters in writing tasks involving shopping or schedules.

The twelve months and four seasons, written with lower-case letters in French, used with en for seasons and months, as in en été or en janvier. They appear in weather, holiday and festival passages.

Weather vocabulary such as il fait beau, il pleut, il neige and il y a du vent, often paired with seasons and temperature. Weather reports are frequent short reading texts with matching or true-or-false questions.

Food and drink vocabulary and the language of meals, including le petit déjeuner, le déjeuner and le dîner, plus ordering phrases such as je voudrais and l'addition. This topic supports both menu-reading tasks and dialogue writing.

Kinship words such as le père, la mère, le frère, la sœur, l'oncle and la cousine, used with possessive adjectives like mon, ma and mes. Family descriptions are a staple of textbook reading and writing exercises.