MATSEC IM French key terms

A verb mood used after expressions of doubt, necessity, emotion, or wish (for example after 'il faut que' or 'bien que'), showing that the action is subjective rather than stated as fact.

The rules governing how tenses combine within a sentence, especially the shift of a subordinate verb when the main verb is in a past tense, as in reported speech after 'il a dit que'.

Reported speech, where someone's words are integrated into a sentence with a reporting verb and conjunctions such as 'que' or 'si', requiring changes to pronouns, tenses, and time expressions.

Quoted speech reproduced exactly between quotation marks or after a dash, keeping the original speaker's pronouns, tenses, and time markers unchanged.

A compound past tense formed with an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) plus the past participle, used for completed actions and events viewed as single points in the past.

A past tense describing ongoing states, habitual actions, or background circumstances, without marking a clear beginning or end of the action.

A compound past tense formed with an auxiliary in the imperfect plus the past participle, expressing an action completed before another past action or reference point.

The rule that past participles agree in gender and number with a preceding direct object, with the subject for être verbs, and never with the subject for avoir verbs unless the object precedes.

A word such as 'qui', 'que', 'dont', or 'où' that introduces a subordinate clause and links it to a noun in the main clause, standing for that noun inside the relative clause.

An object pronoun such as 'le', 'la', 'lui', 'leur', 'y', or 'en' that replaces a noun phrase and is placed before the verb in most tenses.

The fixed sequence in which multiple object pronouns appear before a verb, for example 'me, te, se, nous, vous' before 'le, la, les' before 'lui, leur' before 'y' before 'en'.

A verb form used for commands, advice, and requests, existing in three persons (tu, nous, vous) and lacking an explicit subject pronoun.

The grammatical category reflecting the speaker's attitude towards an action, covering indicative, subjunctive, conditional, imperative, infinitive, and participle forms in French.

A verb form expressing hypothetical situations, polite requests, or unconfirmed information, often equivalent to English 'would' plus a verb.

A conditional structure pairing 'si' with an imperfect or pluperfect clause and a main clause in the conditional, expressing what would or would have happened under certain conditions.

A construction where the subject undergoes the action rather than performing it, formed with 'être' plus the past participle and optionally an agent introduced by 'par'.

The phrase introduced by 'par' or 'de' in a passive sentence that names the person or thing carrying out the action.

The default sentence pattern in which the grammatical subject is the one performing the action of the verb.

A verb form made of 'en' plus the present participle, expressing simultaneity, manner, or condition, as in 'en arrivant' or 'en travaillant'.

A verb form ending in '-ant' that behaves partly like a verb and partly like an adjective, invariable when it expresses an action rather than a quality.

An adjective derived from a verb, often ending in '-ant' or '-é', that agrees in gender and number with the noun it describes and expresses a lasting quality.

The agreement of an adjective in gender and number with the noun or pronoun it modifies, including irregular forms and special cases such as colours derived from nouns.

The position of an adjective before or after its noun, where short common adjectives tend to precede and longer or relational adjectives follow, sometimes changing meaning.

A subordinate clause expressing circumstances such as time, cause, consequence, purpose, concession, or condition, introduced by conjunctions like 'quand', 'parce que', 'pour que', or 'bien que'.

A word such as 'que', 'lorsque', 'puisque', or 'quoique' that introduces a subordinate clause and links it to a main clause, showing the logical relationship between them.

A linking word or phrase such as 'cependant', 'par conséquent', or 'en revanche' that signals the logical relationship between ideas in written discourse.

The quality of a text whose ideas follow a clear logical order and are linked by appropriate connectors, pronouns, and repetition so the reader can follow the argument.

A shortened version of a text that preserves its main ideas and order of argument while using one's own words and respecting a required word count.

Expressing the same idea in different words, using synonyms, changed sentence structure, or nominalisation, without altering the original meaning.

The set of words and expressions in a text relating to the same theme or concept, which helps identify the topic and unify the writing.

The level of formality in language use, ranging from familiar and colloquial through standard to formal and literary, chosen according to audience and situation.

A letter written in a formal register to an institution or unknown recipient, following conventions such as a subject line, formal salutation, structured body, and a set closing formula.

A conventional closing expression in French correspondence, whose wording varies with the formality of the letter and the relationship between writer and recipient.

The organised structure of an essay or written response, typically an introduction, two or three developed parts, and a conclusion, each with a clear main idea.

The system of marks such as commas, full stops, colons, and quotation marks that clarifies meaning and structure in writing, with some French conventions differing from English usage.