NCEA Level 2 French flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Passé composé with être

A compound past tense formed with the present tense of être plus a past participle. Verbs of movement and state change, such as aller, venir, partir and naître, use être, and the participle agrees with the subject.

Imparfait endings

The imperfect takes the stem of the nous-form present minus -ons, then adds -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. It describes background, habits and ongoing states rather than completed events.

Futur proche formation

The near future is aller conjugated in the present plus an infinitive, as in je vais partir. It expresses plans and predictions close to the present and is more common in speech than the simple future.

Depuis with present tense

Depuis marks an action that began in the past and continues now, so French uses the present tense: J'habite ici depuis deux ans. Pendant with a past tense marks a finished duration.

Subjunctive triggers

Constructions such as il faut que, je veux que and bien que require the present subjunctive. Irregular forms include que je fasse, qu'il soit, qu'elle aille.

On as subject pronoun

On means one, people, we or they in a general sense. It always takes a third-person singular verb, as in on va, on peut, on a décidé.

Relative pronoun qui

Qui is a relative pronoun acting as the subject of the relative clause. In l'homme qui parle, qui is the subject of parle and cannot be omitted.

Relative pronoun que

Que is a relative pronoun acting as the direct object of the relative clause. In le livre que je lis, que is the object of lis; it elides to qu' before a vowel.

Pronoun y

Y replaces a phrase with à plus a thing or place, as in Je pense à Paris, j'y pense. It also replaces a place introduced by a preposition such as dans or sur.

Pronoun en

En replaces a noun introduced by de or a quantity, as in Tu veux du café ? J'en veux. With quantities the number stays: J'en ai trois.

False friend actuellement

Actuellement means currently or at present, not actually. The English actually is usually en fait or en réalité, a frequent source of comprehension error.

False friend éventuellement

Éventuellement means possibly or if necessary, not eventually. The English eventually is finalement or à la fin, so misreading this word changes the whole meaning.

Assister à meaning

Assister à means to attend an event, as in assister à un concert. It does not mean to assist someone, which is aider quelqu'un.

Numbers soixante-dix to quatre-vingt-dix

French counts by twenties above sixty. Soixante-dix is seventy, quatre-vingts is eighty, quatre-vingt-dix is ninety, and quatre-vingt-onze is ninety-one.

Telling time with heures

Clock time uses heure or heures: il est trois heures. Add et demie for half past, et quart for quarter past, moins le quart for quarter to, and use midi and minuit without heure.

Negation ne que

Ne que means only, not not. Je n'ai que dix euros means I have only ten euros, so the sentence is affirmative despite the ne.

Liaison after final consonant

A normally silent final consonant is pronounced before a following vowel: les_amis, nous_avons, un_petit_enfant. Liaison signals connected speech and aids listening segmentation.

Silent final consonants

Most final consonants are silent in French: petit, grand, vous, trop. Pronouncing them changes the word and marks a non-native accent in speaking tasks.

Tu versus vous

Tu addresses one familiar person such as a friend or classmate. Vous addresses strangers, elders, groups or formal situations, and its verb forms differ, as in tu parles versus vous parlez.

Meilleur versus mieux

Meilleur is the comparative of bon and modifies a noun: un meilleur film. Mieux is the comparative of bien and modifies a verb: il travaille mieux.

Adjective agreement

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun: une idée intéressante, des livres intéressants. Most add -e for feminine and -s for plural.

Beau nouveau vieux forms

Before a masculine noun beginning with a vowel or silent h, beau becomes bel, nouveau becomes nouvel and vieux becomes vieil: un bel arbre, un nouvel ami, un vieil homme.

Participle agreement with direct object

In the passé composé with avoir, the past participle agrees with a direct object pronoun placed before the verb: Je les ai vus, Je l'ai vue.

Formal letter opening

A formal French letter opens Madame, Monsieur, or Madame, Monsieur, when the name is unknown, and closes with Cordialement or Veuillez agréer mes salutations distinguées.

Informal email closing

Informal messages to friends open with Salut or Coucou and close with À bientôt, À plus or Bises. These markers signal the correct register to the assessor.

Accent pairs a and à

The verb a, meaning has, carries no accent: il a faim. The preposition à, meaning to or at, carries a grave accent: à Paris, à midi.

Passive voice with par

The passive is être plus past participle plus par: la maison a été construite par mon oncle. It shifts focus to the object and identifies the agent with par.

Comparative plus que

Comparisons use plus, moins or aussi plus an adjective or adverb plus que: elle est plus grande que moi, il court moins vite que toi.

False friend librairie

Librairie means bookshop, not library. A library lending books is une bibliothèque, so misreading librairie changes the location in a reading passage.

Time markers in narration

Sequencers such as d'abord, ensuite, puis and enfin order events. They usually pair with the passé composé for successive actions and the imparfait for background.

Expressing opinion structures

Opinions use à mon avis, je trouve que plus a clause, or je pense que. Adding a reason with parce que or car turns an opinion into a developed point.

Il faut que subjunctive

Il faut que means it is necessary that and takes the subjunctive: il faut que tu viennes, il faut qu'il fasse ses devoirs. The que clause cannot use the indicative.