NZ Scholarship French cheat sheet

Scholarship audio is played at near-native speed, often once only: train on unscripted francophone radio (France Inter, RFI, Radio-Canada) rather than textbook dialogues.

Register markers to catch: "du coup", "en fait", "bref" (spoken/informal) versus "par conséquent", "toutefois", "en revanche" (formal/written register read aloud).

Negation in speech is usually reduced: "je sais pas", "y a pas", "t'as qu'à" - do not misread the missing "ne" as an affirmative.

Connected speech rules: liaison ("les_amis", "quand_il"), enchaînement, and elision ("j'sais", "chuis") change word boundaries; transcribe by sound group, not by word.

Numbers and dates are common traps: "soixante-dix / quatre-vingt-dix", "quatre-vingt-un", and "le deux mille vingt-cinq" versus "vingt-cinq".

Distinguish reported speech from assertion: "il paraît que", "on dit que", "semble-t-il" signal unverified information the question may test.

Discourse connectors carry the argument: "d'une part… d'autre part", "certes… mais", "non seulement… mais encore"; note which side the speaker endorses.

Listen for stance intonation: a rise-fall on "vraiment ?" or "c'est ça" can turn a statement into irony or challenge.

In note-taking tasks, record speaker, topic, position, and one supporting example per segment; answers usually hinge on the speaker's conclusion, not the preamble.

Authentic genres to expect: press editorial (Le Monde, Le Devoir), literary extract, administrative text, blog/tweet, and essay; each has distinct conventions of stance and structure.

Passé simple and imperfect together signal literary narrative: passé simple = foreground events, imperfect = background description.

Subjunctive triggers in argument: "il faut que", "bien que", "quoique", "pour que", "avant que", "à condition que", "il est essentiel que".

Nominalisation is a formal-register marker: "la mise en œuvre", "le développement", "la prise de conscience" - unpack to a verb to find the agent.

Identify the thesis by locating concession structures: "sans doute… mais", "il est vrai que… cependant" - the claim after the concession is the author's.

Pronoun chains: "celui-ci / celle-là / en / y" refer back; track the nearest compatible antecedent, not the nearest noun.

Titles and headlines often use ellipsis (no verb) and wordplay; the body text, not the headline, carries the tested meaning.

Lexical traps: "actuellement" = currently (not actually); "éventuellement" = possibly; "assister à" = to attend; "sensible" = sensitive; "formidable" = tremendous.

For inference items, reject options that are true in the real world but not stated or implied in the passage.

Scholarship writing tasks typically require an argumentative or discursive essay: introduction with problématique, two or three developed parts, and a conclusion that answers the question.

A working essay skeleton: accroche → problématique → annonce du plan; then thèse / antithèse / synthèse or thematic parts; conclusion = bilan + ouverture.

Connector inventory by function: addition (de plus, par ailleurs), cause (en raison de, étant donné que), consequence (par conséquent, d'où), concession (bien que + subj., malgré + noun), illustration (ainsi, notamment).

"Malgré" takes a noun, "bien que" takes the subjunctive, "même si" takes the indicative - mixing them is a frequent accuracy error.

Register control: avoid "on" for "nous" in formal prose, avoid "il y a" where "existe" or "se trouve" fits, and avoid contractions like "y a".

Agreement rules that examiners check: past participle with avoir agrees only with a preceding direct object; with être it agrees with the subject; pronominal verbs need case-by-case handling.

Text cohesion: vary sentence length, use anaphora (celui-ci, ce dernier), and avoid repeating the same connector within a paragraph.

Word-count discipline: plan roughly 25% introduction, 60% development, 15% conclusion; an unbalanced essay loses structure marks regardless of language quality.

Interaction tasks test turn-taking: use "je vous rejoins sur… mais", "permettez-moi d'ajouter", "qu'entendez-vous par… ?" to manage the exchange.

Buy planning time naturally: "alors, si je comprends bien…", "c'est une question intéressante, car…", "laissez-moi réfléchir un instant".

Hedging and nuance: "il me semble que", "j'aurais tendance à dire que", "dans une certaine mesure", "nuance", "certes".

Conditional for politeness and hypothesis: "je dirais que", "on pourrait soutenir que", "si l'on considérait…".

Spoken accuracy markers: correct liaison in "nous avons", "ils ont"; avoid dropping the "ne" in formal registers; keep /y/ versus /u/ distinct ("tu" vs "tout").

Structure a monologue: annonce du plan ("d'abord… ensuite… enfin"), one example per point, then a closing position statement.

If a word is missing, paraphrase rather than switch to English: "c'est-à-dire…", "en d'autres termes…", "une sorte de…".

Pronunciation traps: silent final consonants, "-ent" verb endings are silent, "plus" pronounced /plys/ when meaning "more" and /ply/ when negative.

Self-correction is acceptable if fluent: "ou plutôt", "je me corrige", "ce que je veux dire, c'est que…".

False friends to police: "actuellement" = currently; "éventuellement" = possibly; "assister à" = attend; "demander" = ask; "sensible" = sensitive; "librairie" = bookshop.

French nominal style versus English verbal style: "la mise en place du dispositif a permis de…" → "introducing the scheme made it possible to…".

French uses "on" where English prefers passive or generic "you/we"; choose the English subject deliberately rather than translating "on" as "one".

Tense mapping: French imparfait often becomes English simple past or "used to"; passé composé can be present perfect or simple past depending on context.

Subjunctive has no English inflection: render "bien qu'il soit" as "although he is", not with a marked form.

Mediation is not literal: summarise the function of the source (inform, persuade, warn) and preserve register, not word order.

Idioms do not transfer: "avoir le coup de foudre" = to fall head over heels; "poser un lapin" = to stand someone up; "tomber dans les pommes" = to faint.

Formal correspondence conventions: "Madame, Monsieur", "Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées" - English uses "Yours faithfully/sincerely".

Numbers, dates and punctuation shift: French decimal comma (3,5), spaces before ; : ! ?, and "le 5 mai 2024" versus "5 May 2024".

France is a secular republic (laïcité, 1905 law separating church and state); the principle shapes debates on veiling, schooling and public space.

Fifth Republic institutions: directly elected president (since 1962 referendum), Assemblée nationale and Sénat, Conseil constitutionnel; cohabitation is a recognised constitutional scenario.

Decentralisation and overseas territories: DROM-COM include Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, La Réunion, Mayotte, Polynésie française, Nouvelle-Calédonie - each with distinct legal status.

Francophonie: OIF counts over 80 member states; French is an official language in Canada (Quebec, New Brunswick), Belgium, Switzerland, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC and others.

Quebec's Charter of the French Language (Bill 101, 1977) governs language use; the 1980 and 1995 referendums on sovereignty both failed.

Postcolonial memory: 1960 "année de l'Afrique" independence wave; Algerian War 1954–62 and the 1962 Évian Accords; memorial debates over colonisation remain live.

Cultural policy: exception culturelle, quotas for francophone music on radio, and subsidies for cinema reflect state intervention in culture.

Social debates likely to appear: immigration and integration, banlieues and territorial inequality, retirement reform, secularism, and climate policy.

Literary and intellectual reference points: négritude (Césaire, Senghor), existentialism (Sartre, Beauvoir), the nouveau roman, and contemporary voices such as Annie Ernaux (Nobel 2022).

Subjunctive after conjunctions: bien que, quoique, pour que, avant que, à moins que, à condition que, jusqu'à ce que; indicative after parce que, puisque, tandis que.

Past participle agreement: with avoir only when the direct object precedes ("les lettres que j'ai écrites"); with être agree with subject; pronominal verbs agree unless a direct object follows.

Relative pronouns: "dont" replaces de + noun; "où" for place and time; "lequel" with prepositions; "ce qui/ce que" for unspecified antecedents.

Si-clause tense pairing: si + présent → futur; si + imparfait → conditionnel présent; si + plus-que-parfait → conditionnel passé. Never "si + conditionnel".

Register markers: formal = nous, passé simple, subjunctive, nominalisation; informal = on, contractions, dropped "ne", "ça".

Verbal constructions without preposition: "aider quelqu'un", "regarder quelque chose"; with de: "essayer de", "décider de", "oublier de"; with à: "réussir à", "penser à", "s'attendre à".

Gender traps: "un problème", "un système", "un programme", "une analyse", "une espèce", "un esprit" - Greek -ma nouns are masculine.

Accent and spelling accuracy counts: distinguer "a/à", "ou/où", "ce/se", "la/là", and the circumflex in "dû", "mû", "sûr" versus "sur".

Range scoring rewards varied structures: one conditional, one subjunctive, one passive, and one comparative per extended response is a practical minimum.

Scholarship audio is played at near-native speed, often once only: train on unscripted francophone radio (France Inter, RFI, Radio-Canada) rather than textbook dialogues.

Register markers to catch: "du coup", "en fait", "bref" (spoken/informal) versus "par conséquent", "toutefois", "en revanche" (formal/written register read aloud).

Negation in speech is usually reduced: "je sais pas", "y a pas", "t'as qu'à" - do not misread the missing "ne" as an affirmative.

Connected speech rules: liaison ("les_amis", "quand_il"), enchaînement, and elision ("j'sais", "chuis") change word boundaries; transcribe by sound group, not by word.

Numbers and dates are common traps: "soixante-dix / quatre-vingt-dix", "quatre-vingt-un", and "le deux mille vingt-cinq" versus "vingt-cinq".

Distinguish reported speech from assertion: "il paraît que", "on dit que", "semble-t-il" signal unverified information the question may test.

Discourse connectors carry the argument: "d'une part… d'autre part", "certes… mais", "non seulement… mais encore"; note which side the speaker endorses.

Listen for stance intonation: a rise-fall on "vraiment ?" or "c'est ça" can turn a statement into irony or challenge.

In note-taking tasks, record speaker, topic, position, and one supporting example per segment; answers usually hinge on the speaker's conclusion, not the preamble.

Authentic genres to expect: press editorial (Le Monde, Le Devoir), literary extract, administrative text, blog/tweet, and essay; each has distinct conventions of stance and structure.

Passé simple and imperfect together signal literary narrative: passé simple = foreground events, imperfect = background description.

Subjunctive triggers in argument: "il faut que", "bien que", "quoique", "pour que", "avant que", "à condition que", "il est essentiel que".

Nominalisation is a formal-register marker: "la mise en œuvre", "le développement", "la prise de conscience" - unpack to a verb to find the agent.

Identify the thesis by locating concession structures: "sans doute… mais", "il est vrai que… cependant" - the claim after the concession is the author's.

Pronoun chains: "celui-ci / celle-là / en / y" refer back; track the nearest compatible antecedent, not the nearest noun.

Titles and headlines often use ellipsis (no verb) and wordplay; the body text, not the headline, carries the tested meaning.

Lexical traps: "actuellement" = currently (not actually); "éventuellement" = possibly; "assister à" = to attend; "sensible" = sensitive; "formidable" = tremendous.

For inference items, reject options that are true in the real world but not stated or implied in the passage.

Scholarship writing tasks typically require an argumentative or discursive essay: introduction with problématique, two or three developed parts, and a conclusion that answers the question.

A working essay skeleton: accroche → problématique → annonce du plan; then thèse / antithèse / synthèse or thematic parts; conclusion = bilan + ouverture.

Connector inventory by function: addition (de plus, par ailleurs), cause (en raison de, étant donné que), consequence (par conséquent, d'où), concession (bien que + subj., malgré + noun), illustration (ainsi, notamment).

"Malgré" takes a noun, "bien que" takes the subjunctive, "même si" takes the indicative - mixing them is a frequent accuracy error.

Register control: avoid "on" for "nous" in formal prose, avoid "il y a" where "existe" or "se trouve" fits, and avoid contractions like "y a".

Agreement rules that examiners check: past participle with avoir agrees only with a preceding direct object; with être it agrees with the subject; pronominal verbs need case-by-case handling.

Text cohesion: vary sentence length, use anaphora (celui-ci, ce dernier), and avoid repeating the same connector within a paragraph.

Word-count discipline: plan roughly 25% introduction, 60% development, 15% conclusion; an unbalanced essay loses structure marks regardless of language quality.

Interaction tasks test turn-taking: use "je vous rejoins sur… mais", "permettez-moi d'ajouter", "qu'entendez-vous par… ?" to manage the exchange.

Buy planning time naturally: "alors, si je comprends bien…", "c'est une question intéressante, car…", "laissez-moi réfléchir un instant".

Hedging and nuance: "il me semble que", "j'aurais tendance à dire que", "dans une certaine mesure", "nuance", "certes".

Conditional for politeness and hypothesis: "je dirais que", "on pourrait soutenir que", "si l'on considérait…".

Spoken accuracy markers: correct liaison in "nous avons", "ils ont"; avoid dropping the "ne" in formal registers; keep /y/ versus /u/ distinct ("tu" vs "tout").

Structure a monologue: annonce du plan ("d'abord… ensuite… enfin"), one example per point, then a closing position statement.

If a word is missing, paraphrase rather than switch to English: "c'est-à-dire…", "en d'autres termes…", "une sorte de…".

Pronunciation traps: silent final consonants, "-ent" verb endings are silent, "plus" pronounced /plys/ when meaning "more" and /ply/ when negative.

Self-correction is acceptable if fluent: "ou plutôt", "je me corrige", "ce que je veux dire, c'est que…".

False friends to police: "actuellement" = currently; "éventuellement" = possibly; "assister à" = attend; "demander" = ask; "sensible" = sensitive; "librairie" = bookshop.

French nominal style versus English verbal style: "la mise en place du dispositif a permis de…" → "introducing the scheme made it possible to…".

French uses "on" where English prefers passive or generic "you/we"; choose the English subject deliberately rather than translating "on" as "one".

Tense mapping: French imparfait often becomes English simple past or "used to"; passé composé can be present perfect or simple past depending on context.

Subjunctive has no English inflection: render "bien qu'il soit" as "although he is", not with a marked form.

Mediation is not literal: summarise the function of the source (inform, persuade, warn) and preserve register, not word order.

Idioms do not transfer: "avoir le coup de foudre" = to fall head over heels; "poser un lapin" = to stand someone up; "tomber dans les pommes" = to faint.

Formal correspondence conventions: "Madame, Monsieur", "Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées" - English uses "Yours faithfully/sincerely".

Numbers, dates and punctuation shift: French decimal comma (3,5), spaces before ; : ! ?, and "le 5 mai 2024" versus "5 May 2024".

France is a secular republic (laïcité, 1905 law separating church and state); the principle shapes debates on veiling, schooling and public space.

Fifth Republic institutions: directly elected president (since 1962 referendum), Assemblée nationale and Sénat, Conseil constitutionnel; cohabitation is a recognised constitutional scenario.

Decentralisation and overseas territories: DROM-COM include Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane, La Réunion, Mayotte, Polynésie française, Nouvelle-Calédonie - each with distinct legal status.

Francophonie: OIF counts over 80 member states; French is an official language in Canada (Quebec, New Brunswick), Belgium, Switzerland, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC and others.

Quebec's Charter of the French Language (Bill 101, 1977) governs language use; the 1980 and 1995 referendums on sovereignty both failed.

Postcolonial memory: 1960 "année de l'Afrique" independence wave; Algerian War 1954–62 and the 1962 Évian Accords; memorial debates over colonisation remain live.

Cultural policy: exception culturelle, quotas for francophone music on radio, and subsidies for cinema reflect state intervention in culture.

Social debates likely to appear: immigration and integration, banlieues and territorial inequality, retirement reform, secularism, and climate policy.

Literary and intellectual reference points: négritude (Césaire, Senghor), existentialism (Sartre, Beauvoir), the nouveau roman, and contemporary voices such as Annie Ernaux (Nobel 2022).

Subjunctive after conjunctions: bien que, quoique, pour que, avant que, à moins que, à condition que, jusqu'à ce que; indicative after parce que, puisque, tandis que.

Past participle agreement: with avoir only when the direct object precedes ("les lettres que j'ai écrites"); with être agree with subject; pronominal verbs agree unless a direct object follows.

Relative pronouns: "dont" replaces de + noun; "où" for place and time; "lequel" with prepositions; "ce qui/ce que" for unspecified antecedents.

Si-clause tense pairing: si + présent → futur; si + imparfait → conditionnel présent; si + plus-que-parfait → conditionnel passé. Never "si + conditionnel".

Register markers: formal = nous, passé simple, subjunctive, nominalisation; informal = on, contractions, dropped "ne", "ça".

Verbal constructions without preposition: "aider quelqu'un", "regarder quelque chose"; with de: "essayer de", "décider de", "oublier de"; with à: "réussir à", "penser à", "s'attendre à".

Gender traps: "un problème", "un système", "un programme", "une analyse", "une espèce", "un esprit" - Greek -ma nouns are masculine.

Accent and spelling accuracy counts: distinguer "a/à", "ou/où", "ce/se", "la/là", and the circumflex in "dû", "mû", "sûr" versus "sur".

Range scoring rewards varied structures: one conditional, one subjunctive, one passive, and one comparative per extended response is a practical minimum.