Languages
GCSE French
Speaking, listening, reading and writing across themes. On GCSE.es you can see what's in the course, log every result and get practice on the topics you find hardest.
Your exam board
Overview
Qualification
GCSE
Exam boards
AQA · Edexcel
Main topics
2 areas
For parents: Pearson Edexcel writes your child's French course and exams. Pearson Edexcel is one of the three main English exam boards. Many schools choose it for Maths and the Sciences; papers follow Edexcel's own specification and question style.
Topics
French key terms
Original definitions for core course vocabulary, informed by the references below. Not an official or exhaustive board-specific glossary.
40 of 40 terms
- Grammatical gender
- French nouns are masculine or feminine: le livre means the book; la table means the table.
- Nouns and sentence building
- Definite article
- Le, la, l’ or les means the: l’école means the school; les livres means the books.
- Nouns and sentence building
- Indefinite article
- Un and une mean a or an; des introduces an unspecified plural: des pommes means some apples.
- Nouns and sentence building
- Partitive article
- Du, de la or de l’ expresses an unspecified amount: du pain means some bread.
- Nouns and sentence building
- Adjective agreement
- French adjectives usually match the noun's gender and number: une petite maison, des petites maisons.
- Nouns and sentence building
- Possessive adjective
- A form such as mon, ma or mes agrees with what is possessed: mon frère, ma sœur.
- Nouns and sentence building
- Negation with ne…pas
- Ne and pas surround a finite verb in standard written French: je ne mange pas means I do not eat.
- Nouns and sentence building
- Question with est-ce que
- Placing est-ce que before a statement makes a question: est-ce que tu viens ? means are you coming?
- Nouns and sentence building
- Contracted article
- À and de combine with le or les: au collège means at school; du village means of the village.
- Nouns and sentence building
- Direct object pronoun
- Le, la and les can replace direct objects before the verb: je la vois means I see her or it.
- Nouns and sentence building
- Present tense
- A tense for current or habitual actions: je joue means I play or I am playing.
- Verbs and time
- Passé composé
- A past tense formed with avoir or être and a past participle: j’ai mangé means I ate.
- Verbs and time
- Imperfect tense
- A past tense for background, ongoing situations or habits: je jouais means I was playing or used to play.
- Verbs and time
- Near future
- Aller in the present plus an infinitive expresses a future plan: je vais partir means I am going to leave.
- Verbs and time
- Simple future
- A future stem plus endings expresses what will happen: je partirai means I will leave.
- Verbs and time
- Conditional
- A form commonly expressing would: je voudrais means I would like.
- Verbs and time
- Reflexive verb
- A verb used with a pronoun referring back to its subject: je me lave means I wash myself.
- Verbs and time
- Infinitive after a modal
- The main verb stays in its infinitive after verbs such as pouvoir: je peux venir means I can come.
- Verbs and time
- Imperative
- A verb form used for commands or advice: écoute ! means listen!
- Verbs and time
- Past participle agreement with être
- With a non-reflexive être verb, the participle agrees with the subject: elles sont parties means they left.
- Verbs and time
- la famille
- The family.
- People, school and leisure
- les amis
- Friends; les means the when referring to a particular group.
- People, school and leisure
- les devoirs
- Homework; normally plural in this meaning in French.
- People, school and leisure
- une matière
- A school subject; also a material in other contexts.
- People, school and leisure
- le collège
- A lower secondary school in France, not a university college.
- People, school and leisure
- le lycée
- An upper secondary school in France.
- People, school and leisure
- les loisirs
- Leisure activities or free-time pursuits.
- People, school and leisure
- faire du sport
- To do sport or take part in sporting activities.
- People, school and leisure
- se détendre
- To relax or unwind.
- People, school and leisure
- un emploi
- A job or employment.
- People, school and leisure
- les vacances
- Holidays; normally a plural noun in French.
- Travel, health and environment
- un billet
- A ticket for transport or an event; also a banknote in other contexts.
- Travel, health and environment
- la gare
- The railway station.
- Travel, health and environment
- le logement
- Accommodation or housing.
- Travel, health and environment
- avoir mal à
- To have pain in a body part: j’ai mal à la tête means I have a headache.
- Travel, health and environment
- la santé
- Health; a feminine noun. En bonne santé means in good health.
- Travel, health and environment
- les déchets
- Waste or rubbish.
- Travel, health and environment
- le réchauffement climatique
- Global warming.
- Travel, health and environment
- les transports en commun
- Public transport.
- Travel, health and environment
- économiser l’énergie
- To save energy.
- Travel, health and environment
Exams
AQA
The largest GCSE board in England, used by most state schools.
Pearson Edexcel
Widely used for GCSE Maths, Sciences and Humanities.
Add your exam dates in My Exams and see a countdown for every paper on your dashboard.
Revision
Tell GCSE.es which French topics feel weak. Your dashboard then picks a short, timed next step — learn the key idea, check yourself, review mistakes.
How revision worksPractice
- ✓ Key terms you tap to reveal
- ✓ Quick multiple-choice quizzes
- ✓ 3, 6, 9 and 12-mark exam-style questions
- ✓ Marking with feedback and a model answer
Available free inside your GCSE journey. Questions are written by GCSE.es, not taken from real past papers.
Resources
Short, focused tasks for the French topics you find hardest — learn the key idea, check yourself, then try a marked exam-style question.
Try a 10-minute task