Praxis French: World Language flashcards

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

Liaison

In French, a normally silent final consonant is pronounced when the next word begins with a vowel or mute h, as in les amis (/le.z‿a.mi/). It never follows et and is blocked by h aspiré.

H aspiré

A word-initial h of Germanic origin that blocks elision and liaison: le hibou, les hiboux, not l'hibou or les‿hiboux. Common examples include haut, hache, honte, and Hollande.

Nasal vowel /ɑ̃/

An open back nasal vowel spelled an, am, en, or em, as in enfant, chambre, en, temps. The final n or m is not pronounced as a consonant; air passes through the nose.

Numbers 70, 80, 90

French counts by twenties: 70 soixante-dix, 71 soixante et onze, 80 quatre-vingts, 81 quatre-vingt-un (no et), 90 quatre-vingt-dix. Only quatre-vingts keeps a plural s when final.

Tu versus vous

Tu marks familiarity with peers, family, children, and pets; vous marks formality, social distance, or plurality. Using tu with a stranger or superior can cause real offense.

Dropping ne in speech

In informal spoken French the negative particle ne is routinely omitted, leaving pas, rien, jamais, or personne: Je sais pas, Il vient pas. Formal writing and careful speech retain ne.

Enchaînement

When a pronounced final consonant links to a following vowel, the words are resyllabified without adding a new sound: elle est is pronounced /ɛ.lɛ/, the /l/ moving to the next syllable.

La bise

A cheek-kiss greeting common in France and other francophone countries, usual among friends and family but not in formal or professional settings. The number of kisses varies by region.

Passé simple

A literary past tense used in novels, histories, and fairy tales for completed events. It is largely absent from speech, where the passé composé replaces it; third-person forms dominate.

Imparfait versus passé composé

The imparfait supplies background, habitual actions, and ongoing states; the passé composé presents single completed events that advance the narrative. The choice depends on aspect, not on time expressions.

Subjunctive triggers

Expressions requiring the subjunctive include il faut que, bien que, quoique, avant que, pour que, à moins que, and vouloir que. They convey necessity, concession, purpose, or doubt rather than asserted fact.

En revanche

A discourse connector meaning 'on the other hand' or 'by contrast.' It signals opposition between two ideas and is frequent in argumentative and journalistic French prose.

Par conséquent

A formal connector meaning 'consequently' or 'therefore,' introducing a logical result. Its register is written and academic; in speech, donc or du coup are more usual.

Négritude

A literary and political movement of the 1930s–40s asserting Black African cultural identity, associated with Aimé Césaire of Martinique, Léopold Sédar Senghor of Senegal, and Léon-Gontran Damas.

Régions and départements

France has 18 régions (13 metropolitan, 5 overseas), each containing départements (96 metropolitan plus 5 overseas), subdivided into communes. A prefect represents the state in each département.

Joual

A working-class variety of Québec French marked by English borrowings and relaxed pronunciation, made famous by Michel Tremblay's 1968 play Les Belles-Sœurs and central to Québec identity debates.

Past participle with avoir

With avoir, the past participle agrees in gender and number only with a direct object that precedes it: les lettres que j'ai écrites, but j'ai écrit les lettres, where the object follows.

Formal letter closing

The standard French formal closing is « Je vous prie d'agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées. » A titled recipient appears in the formula, e.g. Madame la Directrice.

Cordialement

A semi-formal closing used in emails and business correspondence, roughly 'best regards.' More formal options are Bien cordialement or the full salutations distinguées formula; informal equivalents are Amicalement and À bientôt.

Subjunctive after bien que

Bien que ('although') always takes the subjunctive: Bien qu'il soit fatigué, il travaille. The near-synonym même si takes the indicative, so the two conjunctions are not interchangeable grammatically.

Faux ami: réaliser

In French, réaliser means 'to accomplish' or 'to carry out' a project or film. To express English 'to realize' as becoming aware, use se rendre compte que or s'apercevoir que.

Accent pairs a and à

Bare a is the third-person singular of avoir (il a); à with a grave accent is the preposition 'to/at/in.' Likewise ou ('or') contrasts with où ('where'), and sur ('on') with sûr ('sure').

Writing connectors

Organizing devices for presentational writing include d'abord, en premier lieu, ensuite, en outre, de plus, par ailleurs, en revanche, and en conclusion. They make the argument's structure explicit to scorers.

Conditional for polite requests

The conditional softens requests and expresses hypotheses: Je voudrais un café; Pourriez-vous répéter ? It is more polite than je veux or pouvez-vous in formal interaction.

/y/ versus /u/

French u (/y/) is a rounded front vowel with the tongue forward, as in tu, lune, vu; ou (/u/) is a rounded back vowel, as in tout, loup, vous. Both round the lips; tongue position differs.

French word stress

French has no lexical stress; rhythmic stress falls on the final syllable of a sense group or phrase. A given word therefore shifts its stress according to its position in the utterance.

Silent final consonants

Final consonants are normally silent in French (petit, grand, vous), with exceptions such as car, avec, but, août, and œil. A silent consonant may resurface through liaison before a vowel.

Comment dit-on…?

A repair phrase meaning 'How do you say…?' used to request a missing word. Related strategies include Vous pouvez répéter ?, Plus lentement, s'il vous plaît, and Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ?

Presentational signposting

Explicit markers guide the listener: Dans un premier temps…, Ensuite…, Par ailleurs…, Pour conclure…. They signal transitions and help the examiner follow the structure of a spoken monologue.

Je voudrais + infinitive

A polite structure for making requests: Je voudrais réserver une table. The conditional of vouloir is preferred to je veux in service encounters and formal interaction; puis-je is another polite option.

Uvular French r

The French r is a voiced uvular fricative produced at the back of the mouth near the uvula, not the English alveolar approximant. It devoices after voiceless consonants and stays voiced between vowels.

Bonne continuation

A leave-taking formula meaning 'all the best with what comes next,' used when someone continues a task or course. Other leave-takings: Bonne journée, À bientôt, and formal Je vous souhaite une bonne journée.