MTEL French (26) key terms

A verb mood expressing doubt, desire, necessity, emotion, or unreal situations, usually introduced by que. Forms derive from the third-person plural present stem plus endings -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent, with irregular stems for verbs like être, avoir, aller, faire, and pouvoir.

The verb mood used for statements presented as factual or real: present, imperfect, future, conditional (as a tense in French grammars), and compound tenses. It contrasts with the subjunctive, which marks non-asserted or subjective content.

A past tense marking ongoing, habitual, or background actions and descriptions. Endings attach to the nous-stem of the present: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. It contrasts with the passé composé, which presents bounded, completed events.

A compound past tense formed with avoir or être plus a past participle, used for completed actions. With être verbs and pronominal verbs, the participle agrees with the subject; with avoir it agrees with a preceding direct object.

Rules governing past-participle agreement. With être it agrees with the subject; with avoir it agrees only with a preceding direct object; pronominal verbs follow special rules depending on whether the reflexive pronoun is direct or indirect.

A compound past tense formed with the imperfect of avoir or être plus a past participle. It expresses an action completed before another past action or reference point, equivalent to English 'had done'.

A compound tense formed with the conditional of avoir or être plus a past participle. It expresses unreal past outcomes, regrets, or reported future-in-the-past, as in 'j'aurais voulu' or 'il aurait dit que'.

Conditional sentences pairing a si-clause with a main clause. Present plus future states real conditions; imperfect plus conditional states hypothetical ones; plus-que-parfait plus conditionnel passé states unreal past conditions. No future or conditional appears directly after si.

The French rules for shifting tenses in reported speech and subordinate clauses. A past main verb typically triggers imperfect or plus-que-parfait in the subordinate clause, and the subjunctive shifts from present to imperfect depending on the main verb's tense.

Reported speech, introduced by verbs such as dire, demander, or affirmer. It requires tense shifts, pronoun changes, and adjustments to time and place expressions, e.g., 'demain' becomes 'le lendemain' after a past reporting verb.

Object pronouns replacing nouns: direct le, la, les; indirect lui, leur; and y and en. Their order before the verb is fixed (me, te, se, nous, vous before le, la, les before lui, leur before y before en), and past-participle agreement interacts with them.

Words linking a relative clause to its antecedent: qui (subject), que (direct object), dont (de + object), où (place or time), and lequel forms after prepositions. Compound forms agree in gender and number with the antecedent.

A construction where the direct object becomes subject, formed with être plus past participle plus par or de for the agent. Only verbs taking a direct object can normally be passivized, and the participle agrees with the subject.

Verbs conjugated with a reflexive pronoun matching the subject, such as se laver, s'asseoir, or se souvenir. Meanings range from reflexive to reciprocal to idiomatic, and most take être in compound tenses with agreement rules.

The classification of French nouns as masculine or feminine, affecting articles, adjectives, and pronouns. Gender is largely lexical and must be learned with each noun; some suffixes reliably predict gender, such as -tion and -té for feminine.

Adjective agreement in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Most adjectives add -e for feminine and -s for plural, with irregular patterns such as beau/belle, vieux/vieille, and adjectives already ending in -s or -x staying unchanged in the masculine plural.

The position of adjectives relative to nouns. Short, frequent adjectives of beauty, age, goodness, and size usually precede the noun, while most others follow it; some adjectives change meaning depending on position, e.g., 'un grand homme' versus 'un homme grand'.

Determiners introducing nouns. Definite articles (le, la, les) mark specific or known referents and contract with à and de; indefinite articles (un, une, des) introduce non-specific referents and become de in negative constructions.

The article du, de la, de l', or des used for unspecified quantities of mass nouns, as in 'du pain' or 'de l'eau'. In negation it usually becomes de, and it contrasts with definite articles for general statements.

Constructions expressing negation, typically ne plus a second element: pas, jamais, rien, personne, plus, aucun, or ni. Compound tenses place the second element after the auxiliary, and informal spoken French often drops ne.

The pronunciation of a normally silent final consonant before a following vowel or mute h within a rhythmic group, as in 'les amis'. It is obligatory in some contexts, optional in others, and forbidden after et or before certain words.

The dropping of a final vowel before a word beginning with a vowel or mute h, marked by an apostrophe, as in l'ami, j'aime, or qu'il. It applies to articles, pronouns, and short forms such as ce and que.

The linking of a pronounced final consonant to a following vowel within the same rhythmic group, as in 'avec elle'. Unlike liaison, the consonant is already pronounced in the isolated word, so no change in spelling pronunciation is involved.

Vowels produced with air passing through the nasal cavity, written with a vowel plus n or m in French: /ɛ̃/ (vin), /ɑ̃/ (an), /ɔ̃/ (on), and /œ̃/ (un). The nasal quality is lost when a vowel or nasal consonant follows.

Vowels produced with air passing only through the mouth, contrasted with nasal vowels. French has a rich inventory including front rounded vowels /y/ (tu) and /ø/ (deux), which are challenging for English speakers and central to pronunciation instruction.

A standardized symbol system for representing speech sounds. French teachers use it to transcribe distinctions such as /y/ versus /u/, nasal vowels, and the uvular /ʁ/, helping learners connect spelling to pronunciation.

French rhythm groups words into units ending in a stressed syllable, with the final syllable of a group carrying the primary stress. Individual words lack lexical stress, and rhythm is marked by syllable timing and group boundaries rather than by English-style stress.

The level of formality in language use: soutenu (formal), courant (standard), and familier (informal). Register affects vocabulary, syntax, and pronunciation, such as dropping ne in casual speech or using 'bouffer' instead of 'manger'.

Informal, often group-specific vocabulary used to mark identity or familiarity, such as verlan and slang terms for money, work, or police. It differs from standard register variation and is frequently tied to youth culture and urban communities.

The global community of French-speaking countries and regions, including France, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, and numerous African and Caribbean nations. It encompasses diverse varieties of French and is a common theme in cultural and sociolinguistic exam questions.

Words that look similar in French and English but differ in meaning, such as 'actuellement' (currently, not actually), 'éventuellement' (possibly), and 'librairie' (bookstore). They are a frequent source of translation errors.

Words sharing a common origin and similar form across languages, such as French 'nation' and English 'nation'. Many are transparent, but partial cognates and false friends require careful attention in reading and translation tasks.

Discourse markers signaling relationships between ideas: addition (de plus), contrast (cependant), cause (puisque), consequence (donc), and concession (bien que). They organize written and spoken argument and often govern mood choice, as with bien que plus subjunctive.

The skill of extracting meaning from written French texts, including main ideas, details, inferences, and author stance. Exam tasks may involve authentic materials such as articles, literary excerpts, and advertisements, requiring vocabulary and discourse awareness.

The skill of composing coherent written French, including formal and informal correspondence, narratives, and argumentative texts. Assessment typically weighs task completion, organization, grammatical accuracy, vocabulary range, and register appropriateness.

The skill of understanding spoken French from recordings or live speech, including main ideas, specific details, and speaker intent. It requires handling liaison, reduced forms, regional accents, and varying speech rates.

The skill of speaking French comprehensibly and appropriately, including pronunciation, fluency, grammar, vocabulary, and interaction strategies. Tasks may include describing, narrating, persuading, or responding to prompts in real time.