NCEA L1 French key terms

A greeting used when meeting someone during the day, roughly meaning 'good day'. It is the default polite hello in shops, classrooms, and formal encounters, and the expected opening in spoken tasks and letters.

An informal hello or goodbye used with friends, classmates, and people your own age. Avoid it with teachers, shopkeepers, or adults you do not know, where bonjour is safer.

A standard farewell meaning 'until we see each other again'. It suits almost any situation, formal or casual, and typically closes a spoken exchange or a written message.

The polite phrase for 'please' when addressing one or more people formally, or anyone you do not know well. Use s'il te plaît instead with friends, family, and classmates.

The word for 'thank you', used after receiving help, a gift, or information. Add beaucoup for extra warmth, and reply de rien when someone thanks you.

A polite way to get attention, apologise for a small mistake, or ask someone to move aside. It opens a request politely, especially before asking a stranger a question.

The phrase used to state your name, literally 'I call myself'. It is followed by your first name and is a staple of the self-introduction expected in speaking assessments.

The structure for stating your age, literally 'I have ... years'. French uses avoir here, not être, so 'I am fifteen' becomes j'ai quinze ans.

Means 'I come from' or 'I have just', depending on what follows. With a place it states origin; with an infinitive it expresses a recently completed action.

The irregular verb 'to be', one of the two most important French verbs. It is used for identity, description, location, and as an auxiliary for forming the passé composé of movement and reflexive verbs.

The irregular verb 'to have', used for possession, age, and as the main auxiliary in the passé composé. Its forms include j'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont.

The irregular verb 'to go', often followed by a place or by an infinitive to express near future. Its forms include je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont.

The irregular verb 'to do' or 'to make', used for activities, sports, weather, and household tasks. Common patterns include faire du sport, faire les courses, and il fait beau.

The irregular verb 'to come', used for origin, arrival, and with de plus an infinitive for recent past. Its forms include je viens, tu viens, il vient, nous venons, ils viennent.

The main past tense for completed actions, formed with a present-tense auxiliary (avoir or être) plus a past participle. Most verbs take avoir; movement and reflexive verbs take être.

The near-future construction made from the present tense of aller plus an infinitive, as in je vais manger. It expresses plans and predictions about the immediate future and is common in speech.

The present tense, used for current actions, habits, and general truths. Regular verbs follow patterns by ending group, while common verbs such as être, avoir, aller, and faire are irregular.

The past participle form of a verb, such as parlé, fini, or pris. It combines with an auxiliary in the passé composé and also serves as an adjective that agrees in gender and number.

The definite article le, la, l', or les, meaning 'the'. It agrees with the noun's gender and number, and l' replaces le or la before a vowel or silent h.

The indefinite article un, une, or des, meaning 'a', 'an', or 'some'. Un goes with masculine nouns, une with feminine nouns, and des with plurals, though des often becomes de after a negative.

The grammatical category of nouns as masculine or feminine. Gender affects articles, adjectives, and pronouns, and must be learned with each noun since it is often not predictable from meaning.

Agreement between words in gender and number, especially between a noun and its article or adjective. It also applies to past participles and to verbs agreeing with their subject.

A describing word that gives a quality to a noun, such as grand, rouge, or intéressant. Most French adjectives follow the noun and agree with it in gender and number.

The way French forms negative sentences, usually by wrapping the verb in ne ... pas. Other pairs include ne ... jamais, ne ... plus, and ne ... rien, and the article changes from un or une to de.

A sentence that asks something, formed in French by rising intonation, by est-ce que, or by inversion of subject and verb. Question words such as où, quand, comment, and pourquoi come first.

A question word such as où, quand, comment, pourquoi, qui, or combien. It introduces the question and usually appears at the start of the sentence in formal and neutral styles.

The rise or fall of the voice across a sentence. In spoken French, a rising intonation at the end turns a statement into a yes-or-no question without changing word order.

The linking of a normally silent final consonant to the vowel that begins the next word, as in les amis or vous avez. It affects listening comprehension because words blend together in fast speech.

The dropping of a final vowel before a word beginning with a vowel or silent h, marked by an apostrophe. Examples include l'école, j'ai, and c'est, and it changes how words are written and heard.

The grammatical category of singular versus plural. It affects articles, nouns, adjectives, and verbs, and plural nouns usually add -s or -x, which is often silent in speech.

A verb used with a reflexive pronoun such as me, te, se, nous, or vous, as in se lever or s'appeler. It describes actions done to oneself and takes être as its auxiliary in the passé composé.

The word for 'hour' or 'time' when telling the clock, as in quelle heure est-il. Answers use il est plus a number, with expressions such as et quart, et demie, and moins le quart.

The word for 'price', needed when shopping, reading menus, or understanding announcements about costs. It is masculine and appears in questions such as c'est combien or quel est le prix.

A route or set of directions from one place to another. In listening and reading tasks it involves landmarks, turns such as à gauche and à droite, and prepositions of place.

A place or location, expressed with prepositions such as à, dans, sur, sous, devant, and derrière. Recognising place words helps you follow directions and understand where events happen.

A linking word such as mais, parce que, donc, ensuite, or however in English equivalents. Connecteurs join ideas and signal contrast, cause, or sequence, which improves coherence in writing and listening.

A rough draft written before the final version. In writing tasks it lets you plan ideas, check verb tenses and agreements, and correct spelling before producing the polished answer.