Language and Linguistics
Domain 1 tests how French works as a system: phonology and orthography, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and sociolinguistic variation. Questions ask you to analyze forms, state rules, compare French with English, and explain learner errors without relying on translation alone.
Core rules and concepts
- Phonology: French has four nasal vowels (/ɑ̃/, /ɛ̃/, /ɔ̃/, /œ̃/), silent final consonants, and syllable-timed rhythm. Liaison is obligatory in some contexts (les amis → [lezami]), optional in others, and forbidden after et or before h aspiré (les héros). Elision removes a final vowel before a vowel (le + ami → l'ami).
- Morphology: verbs carry tense, mood, person, and number; participles agree under specific rules. Gender and number mark nouns, adjectives, and determiners.
- Syntax: object pronouns follow a fixed order: me/te/se/nous/vous → le/la/les → lui/leur → y → en. Negation ne...pas surrounds the conjugated verb and its pronouns. Questions use intonation, est-ce que, or inversion.
- Pragmatics: tu/vous encodes solidarity vs. distance; discourse markers (donc, alors, en fait) manage stance.
Worked example
Analyze “Je les lui ai donnés.” The direct object les precedes the indirect object lui because the order places le/la/les before lui/leur. The auxiliary ai carries tense; donné agrees in gender and number with the preceding direct object les, so donnés. Translation: “I gave them to him/her.”
Traps that cost marks
Forgetting participle agreement with a preceding direct object; making liaison before h aspiré; mixing pronoun order; using the subjunctive after espérer (which normally takes the indicative or conditional); treating French cognates as exact equivalents.