Vocabulaire et expressions / Vocabulary and Expressions
What the section tests
JCE French vocabulary and expressions checks whether you can choose the word that fits the context: thematic lexis (school, travel, health, environment, media, work), collocations, register and common idioms. It is not a dictionary test; the exam usually gives a sentence or short exchange and asks for the best equivalent or the missing word.
Core rules
- Learn words in chunks, not alone: prendre rendez-vous, faire les courses, passer un examen (take an exam) vs réussir un examen (pass it).
- Register matters: tu forms and slang belong in informal messages; vous and full forms in formal writing. Boulot is informal for travail; bouffer is slang for manger.
- Watch faux amis: actuellement = currently, not actually; éventuellement = possibly; librairie = bookshop (not library); assister à = attend.
- Use word families to infer meaning: développer → développement; employer → emploi.
- Idioms are fixed: avoir le cafard = feel low; coûter les yeux de la tête = cost a fortune; tomber dans les pommes = faint.
Worked example
« Pour le stage, il faut ___ un dossier avant vendredi. » Options: déposer / poser / mettre / donner. Reasoning: Dossier collocates with déposer in administrative French (déposer un dossier, déposer une candidature). Poser needs a physical object; mettre is too general; donner suggests handing something to a person. The correct choice is déposer.
Traps
- Translating idioms word for word: J'ai froid is temperature; J'ai du froid is not standard.
- Confusing near-synonyms: entendre (hear) vs écouter (listen); savoir (know a fact) vs connaître (be acquainted with).
- Missing negative context: je ne trouve rien needs rien, not personne.
- False friends in formal texts, especially formation (training), stage (internship), manifestation (protest).