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Core French Exam Review
A practice exam with questions from all 5 units, then the key facts from every lesson, unit by unit. For a deeper look at one unit, open its test review.
Unit test reviews
Practice exam
35 questions, the same number from each unit. Each one shows the lesson it comes from.
- Unit 1: Sounds, Accents and Linking Words1Which word means where?
- Unit 1: Nouns, Gender and Articles2Choose the article: Le matin, je mange ___ pain. (In the morning I eat bread.)
- Unit 1: The Present Tense: Regular Verbs3Nous ___ nos devoirs avant le souper. (finir)
- Unit 1: The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs4Qu'est-ce que vous ___ ce week-end? (faire)
- Unit 1: The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs5Put the words in order: 'We want to see the film.'
- 1voulons
- 2le film
- 3voir
- 4Nous
- Unit 1: Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and De6Put the words in order: 'I have a headache.'
- 1mal
- 2tête
- 3à la
- 4J'ai
- Unit 1: Asking Questions and Saying No7Put the words in order: 'He never watches TV.'
- 1la télé
- 2jamais
- 3regarde
- 4Il
- 5ne
- Unit 2: Adjective Agreement and Placement8What is the feminine singular form of heureux (happy)?
- Unit 2: Adjective Agreement and Placement9Put the steps for describing a noun with an adjective in the order this lesson's worked examples use.
- 1Write the article, noun and adjective in order
- 2Check for bel, nouvel or vieil before a masculine vowel sound
- 3Add the right ending: -e, -s, -es or a special pattern
- 4Find the noun's gender and number
- 5Decide whether the adjective is a BAGS adjective (before) or not (after)
- Unit 2: Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives10Match each English phrase to its French translation.my booksyour school (talking to a friend)their carour friendshis sister
- Unit 2: Comparing with Plus, Moins, Aussi and Meilleur11How do you say the most interesting book?
- Unit 2: Describing Where Things Are12Complete: Le restaurant est près ___ banque. (banque is feminine.)
- Unit 2: Daily Routine: Reflexive Verbs and Telling Time13Je ___ lève à sept heures.
- Unit 2: Daily Routine: Reflexive Verbs and Telling Time14Put Karim's day in a logical order.
- 1Je me couche.
- 2Je m'habille.
- 3Je m'endors.
- 4Je me réveille.
- 5Je me lève.
- 6Je me douche.
- Unit 3: The Passé Composé with Avoir15What is the past participle of prendre?
- Unit 3: The Passé Composé with Avoir16Write the passé composé of attendre (auxiliary + participle): Tu ___ le bus pendant vingt minutes.
- Unit 3: The Passé Composé with Être17A girl is speaking. Write the passé composé of rester (auxiliary + participle): Hier, je ___ à la maison.
- Unit 3: The Imparfait: Describing the Past18Write the imparfait of manger for ils: Le soir, ils ___ en famille.
- Unit 3: Talking About the Future19Write the futur simple of être for je: L'été prochain, je ___ moniteur de camp.
- Unit 3: Time Markers, Sequencing and Si Clauses20What does Je suis rentré il y a deux heures mean?
- Unit 3: Time Markers, Sequencing and Si Clauses21How do you say I'll be ready in ten minutes (ten minutes from now)?
- Unit 4: Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns22Replace the object with a pronoun: Je regarde la télé.
- Unit 4: Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns23Put the words in order: I didn't talk to her. (passé composé)
- 1pas
- 2ai
- 3parlé
- 4Je
- 5ne
- 6lui
- Unit 4: The Pronouns Y and En24Fill in the pronoun: Il a mangé beaucoup de frites. → Il ___ a mangé beaucoup.
- Unit 4: Giving Instructions: The Impératif25How do you say Look at it! to a friend (le tableau)?
- Unit 4: Linking Ideas: Qui, Que and Connectors26Fill in qui or que: C'est le garçon ___ joue au soccer avec moi.
- Unit 4: Politeness and Register: Tu, Vous and Je voudrais27Which person would you normally address with vous when you speak to them alone?
- Unit 4: Politeness and Register: Tu, Vous and Je voudrais28Put the parts of a polite email in order.
- 1Cordialement,
- 2Je vous remercie de votre temps.
- 3J'aimerais travailler dans votre épicerie cet été.
- 4Bonjour Madame Tremblay,
- 5Je m'appelle Ana Silva et j'ai quinze ans.
- Unit 5: French-Speaking Africa29What is the capital of Senegal?
- Unit 5: French-Speaking Africa30Put these events in chronological order, earliest first.
- 1Abidjan hosts the Jeux de la Francophonie (2017)
- 2Ottawa and Hull host the Jeux de la Francophonie (2001)
- 3Leaders meet in Niamey to found the agency that became the OIF (1970)
- 4France begins its rule of Algeria (1830)
- 5Senegal becomes independent, with Senghor as president (1960)
- Unit 5: French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean31Complete with the nationality adjective for a girl from Vietnam: Linh est ___.
- Unit 5: Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules32How is the price forty-five dollars and fifty cents written on a French-Canadian price tag?
- Unit 5: Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph33You are writing to your city council to ask for a new skate park. What is your main purpose?
- Unit 5: Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families34What is une librairie?
- Unit 5: Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families35Using prefix, root and suffix, what does inoubliable mean?
Key facts by unit
Unit 1: Les bases: Sounds, Nouns and the Present Tense
Sounds, Accents and Linking Words
- Accents are part of the spelling: é = 'ay', è and ê = 'eh', ç = soft 's' before a, o, u, and the tréma (ë, ï) splits two vowels.
- Accents tell twins apart: a (has) / à (to, at), ou (or) / où (where), la (the) / là (there).
- Final consonants are usually silent, except often c, r, f, l (CaReFuL) — but -er endings sound like 'ay'.
- Liaison: a silent final consonant is pronounced before a vowel sound (les amis, nous avons), never after et or before an h aspiré.
- Elision: le, la, je, ne, de, que, me, te, se drop their vowel before a vowel or silent h (l'école, j'aime); si elides only before il/ils.
Nouns, Gender and Articles
- Every noun is masculine or feminine: learn it with un or une. Endings help: -tion, -té, -ure, -ée are usually feminine; -ment, -age, -eau, -isme usually masculine.
- Definite le, la, l', les = 'the' and things in general, including after aimer, adorer, préférer, détester.
- Partitive du, de la, de l', des = 'some / any' amount: Je bois de l'eau.
- After a negative, un, une, des, du, de la, de l' become de / d': Je n'ai pas de frère. The definite article does not change: Je n'aime pas le lait.
- After a quantity (beaucoup, un peu, assez, trop, peu, combien) or a container, use de / d' alone: beaucoup d'amis, un verre de lait.
The Present Tense: Regular Verbs
- Recipe: remove -er / -ir / -re to get the stem, then add the ending for the subject.
- -er: e, es, e, ons, ez, ent (je parle, nous parlons, ils parlent).
- -ir (finir type): is, is, it, issons, issez, issent (nous finissons, ils finissent).
- -re (vendre type): s, s, —, ons, ez, ent (il vend, ils vendent).
- One present tense covers 'I play', 'I am playing' and 'I do play'; never use être + verb for '-ing'.
- On takes the il form and often means 'we'; ils covers mixed groups.
The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs
- être: suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont. avoir: ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont. aller: vais, vas, va, allons, allez, vont. faire: fais, fais, fait, faisons, faites, font.
- Only four common ils forms end in -ont: sont, ont, vont, font. Only three common vous forms end in -tes: êtes, faites, dites.
- Boot verbs change stem in je, tu, il, ils but not nous, vous: prends / prenons / prennent, viens / venons / viennent, veux / voulons / veulent.
- After vouloir, pouvoir, savoir and aller, the second verb stays in the infinitive: Je peux venir.
- Savoir + infinitive = a learned skill (Je sais nager); pouvoir = able or allowed (Je peux sortir ce soir).
Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and De
- Physical states use avoir: avoir faim, soif, chaud, froid, sommeil, peur, raison, tort; age is avoir … ans.
- avoir besoin de (to need), avoir envie de (to feel like), avoir mal à (to hurt), avoir hâte de (to look forward to).
- à + le = au, à + les = aux, de + le = du, de + les = des; la and l' never merge.
- jouer à + sport or game (au hockey); jouer de + instrument (du piano); faire de + activity (du vélo).
- assister à = to attend; répondre à, ressembler à, penser à; essayer de + infinitive. Écouter, regarder, chercher, attendre take no preposition.
Asking Questions and Saying No
- Yes/no questions: rising intonation (Tu viens?), est-ce que (Est-ce que tu viens?), or inversion (Viens-tu?).
- Question word + est-ce que + subject + verb: Où est-ce que tu habites? 'What' at the start = qu'est-ce que.
- Negation wraps the conjugated verb: ne (n') before, pas / jamais / plus / rien / personne / pas encore after.
- With a helper verb, wrap the helper: Je n'ai pas mangé, Je n'ai rien vu — but personne goes after the participle: Je n'ai vu personne.
- Answer si (not oui) to contradict a negative question.
Unit 2: Décrire: Describing People, Places and Things
Adjective Agreement and Placement
- An adjective agrees with its noun in gender and number: add -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for feminine plural (petit, petite, petits, petites).
- An adjective that already ends in an unaccented -e does not change in the feminine: jeune, rouge, facile, sympathique.
- Special feminines: -eux → -euse, -if → -ive, -en → -enne, -on → -onne, -el → -elle, -er → -ère; plurals: -s/-x stay the same, -eau → -eaux, -al → -aux.
- Most adjectives go after the noun; BAGS adjectives (beauty, age, goodness, size) go before it: une voiture rouge but une petite voiture.
- Before a masculine singular noun starting with a vowel or silent h: bel, nouvel, vieil (un bel arbre, un nouvel ami, un vieil hôtel).
- A group that includes at least one masculine noun takes the masculine plural: Paul et Julie sont contents.
Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives
- Possessives: mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes, son/sa/ses, notre/nos, votre/vos, leur/leurs.
- A possessive agrees with the thing owned, not the owner: son vélo = his bike or her bike; sa maison = his house or her house.
- Before a feminine noun starting with a vowel sound, use mon, ton, son: mon amie, ton école, son histoire.
- Demonstratives: ce (m.), cet (m. before a vowel or silent h), cette (f.), ces (plural). Add -ci / -là to contrast this and that.
- No apostrophe s in French: le sac de Karim, le chien du voisin. À qui est ce sac ? — Il est à Karim.
Comparing with Plus, Moins, Aussi and Meilleur
- plus / moins / aussi + adjective + que = more … than / less … than / as … as. The adjective agrees with the first noun: Léa est plus grande que Marc.
- After que, use stress pronouns: moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles — plus grand que moi.
- Superlative: le / la / les plus (or moins) + adjective. If the adjective follows the noun, repeat the article: le film le plus intéressant. In after a superlative = de: la plus grande ville du Canada.
- bon → meilleur → le meilleur (agrees like an adjective); bien → mieux → le mieux (never changes). Never plus bon or plus bien.
- With nouns, use plus de / moins de / autant de + noun: J'ai plus de devoirs que toi.
Describing Where Things Are
- Single-word prepositions go straight before the noun: sur (on), sous (under), dans (in), devant (in front of), derrière (behind), entre … et (between), contre (against).
- Prepositions ending in de — à côté de, en face de, près de, loin de, au-dessus de, à gauche de, à droite de — contract: de + le = du, de + les = des.
- Il y a = there is and there are. Negative: il n'y a pas de + noun (il n'y a pas de télé).
- devant / derrière describe place; avant / après describe time.
- Set phrases: par terre (on the floor), sur l'étagère (on the shelf), contre le mur (against the wall).
Daily Routine: Reflexive Verbs and Telling Time
- Reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nous, vous, se. They match the subject and go right before the verb: je me lève, nous nous levons.
- me, te, se become m', t', s' before a vowel or silent h: je m'habille, il s'appelle.
- Negative: ne + pronoun + verb + pas: Je ne me lève pas. With an infinitive, the pronoun matches the subject: Nous allons nous coucher.
- With body parts use le, la, les: Je me brosse les dents.
- Time: Il est … heure(s); et quart, et demie, moins le quart, moins + minutes; à + time = at. The 24-hour clock counts minutes forward only: 20 h 45 = vingt heures quarante-cinq.
Unit 3: Raconter: Past, Present and Future
The Passé Composé with Avoir
- Passé composé = subject + avoir in the présent (ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont) + past participle: j'ai parlé.
- Regular participles: -er → -é (parlé), -ir → -i (fini), -re → -u (vendu).
- Key irregulars: eu, été, fait, pris, mis, vu, lu, bu, dit, écrit, pu, voulu, dû, su, reçu, ouvert.
- With avoir, the participle does not agree with the subject: elles ont fini, not elles ont finies.
- Ne … pas goes around the auxiliary: je n'ai pas vu. Short adverbs sit between auxiliary and participle: j'ai déjà mangé.
- One French form covers three English ones: j'ai mangé = I ate / I have eaten / I did eat.
The Passé Composé with Être
- The house verbs use être: aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, rester, tomber, retourner, rentrer, devenir, revenir.
- Every reflexive verb uses être: je me suis levé(e), elle s'est amusée.
- With être, the participle agrees with the subject: add -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for feminine plural; a mixed group is masculine plural.
- Participles to watch in this group: né (naître), mort (mourir) and venu, devenu, revenu (the venir family); descendre is regular: descendu.
- Ne … pas wraps the auxiliary (and any reflexive pronoun): elle n'est pas venue, je ne me suis pas levé.
The Imparfait: Describing the Past
- Imparfait stem = nous form of the présent minus -ons: nous finissons → finiss-.
- Endings for every verb: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
- The only irregular stem is être → ét-: j'étais, nous étions.
- Use it for description (il faisait froid), states and feelings (j'avais peur), habits (je jouais au soccer le samedi) and actions in progress (je lisais).
- Mangeais keeps the e and commençais keeps the ç before a; étudier gives nous étudiions.
Talking About the Future
- Futur proche = aller (présent) + infinitive: je vais travailler. Negative: je ne vais pas travailler.
- Futur simple = infinitive + -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont; -re verbs drop the final e: je vendrai.
- Key irregular stems: ser- (être), aur- (avoir), ir- (aller), fer- (faire), viendr- (venir), verr- (voir), pourr- (pouvoir), voudr- (vouloir), saur- (savoir), devr- (devoir).
- Every future stem ends in r.
- After quand about the future, use the future: Quand j'aurai seize ans, je travaillerai.
- Jobs: gardien(ne) d'enfants, caissier/caissière, livreur/livreuse; qualities: disponible, responsable, débrouillard(e), honnête.
Time Markers, Sequencing and Si Clauses
- Past markers: hier, avant-hier, la semaine passée/dernière, l'année passée/dernière, il y a + time (ago). Future markers: demain, après-demain, la semaine prochaine, dans + time (from now).
- Il y a deux jours = two days ago; dans deux jours = in two days (from now); en deux jours = within two days (how long it takes).
- In a story about another day, use le lendemain (the next day) and la veille (the day before), not demain and hier.
- Sequence a story with d'abord, ensuite, puis, après, enfin.
- Real condition: si + présent → futur simple: S'il pleut, je resterai à la maison. Never put the futur right after a condition si.
- Si elides only before il and ils: s'il, s'ils, but si elle, si on.
Unit 4: Communiquer: Pronouns, Commands and Connecting Ideas
Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns
- Direct object pronouns: me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les (m', t', l' before a vowel). They replace a noun with no preposition before it.
- Indirect object pronouns: me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur. They replace à + a person. Lui = to him or to her.
- The pronoun goes in front of the conjugated verb: Je la regarde. Je ne la regarde pas.
- Passé composé: in front of the auxiliary: Je l'ai vu. Je lui ai parlé. Je ne l'ai pas vu.
- Aller + infinitive: in front of the infinitive: Je vais le voir. Je ne vais pas le voir.
- Follow the French verb: écouter, regarder, attendre, chercher take a direct object; téléphoner à, répondre à, parler à take an indirect one.
The Pronouns Y and En
- Y replaces a place (à, au, en, dans, chez + place) and means there: Je vais à Toronto → J'y vais.
- Y also replaces à + a thing or idea: Je pense à l'examen → J'y pense. For à + a person, use lui / leur.
- En replaces de + noun, including du, de la, de l', des: Tu veux du pain ? → Oui, j'en veux.
- With a number or quantity, en replaces the noun and the quantity stays after the verb: J'en ai deux. Elle en mange beaucoup.
- Y and en go in the same place as other object pronouns: Je n'y vais pas. J'en ai mangé. Je vais y aller.
Giving Instructions: The Impératif
- The impératif has three forms — tu, nous, vous — taken from the present tense without the subject: finis, finissons, finissez.
- -er verbs (and aller) drop the -s in the tu form: tu manges → Mange !, tu vas → Va ! (but Vas-y !).
- Irregular forms: être → sois, soyons, soyez; avoir → aie, ayons, ayez; savoir → sache, sachons, sachez.
- The nous form means let's: Allons au parc ! (Let's go to the park!)
- Negative: ne + verb + pas, pronoun before the verb: Ne le touche pas !
- Affirmative: pronoun after the verb with a hyphen; me / te become moi / toi: Écoute-moi ! Lève-toi !
Linking Ideas: Qui, Que and Connectors
- Qui = subject of the next verb, so it is followed directly by a verb: l'amie qui habite à Moncton.
- Que = object, so it is followed by a subject + verb: le livre que j'adore. Que → qu' before a vowel; qui never elides.
- Both qui and que work for people and things, and que can never be left out the way English drops that.
- Cause: parce que (speech, can start a sentence) and car (written, mid-sentence). Result: donc.
- Contrast: mais, cependant (however), pourtant (yet, even so). Addition: et, d'ailleurs, ainsi que.
- En effet = indeed (confirms); en fait = actually (corrects).
Politeness and Register: Tu, Vous and Je voudrais
- Tu: one friend, classmate, family member, child or pet. Vous: an adult you don't know well, anyone in a formal situation, and any group.
- When in doubt, use vous and wait for On peut se tutoyer ? Canadian French uses tu more widely than France.
- Soften requests with je voudrais, j'aimerais, pourriez-vous / pourrais-tu, and s'il vous plaît / s'il te plaît. Je veux sounds demanding to strangers.
- À tout à l'heure = later today; à tout de suite = in a moment; à bientôt = soon; à la prochaine = until next time.
- Merci → de rien / pas de quoi (casual), je vous en prie (polite), bienvenue (Québec). Je suis désolé(e) → Ce n'est pas grave.
Unit 5: La francophonie and Real-World Texts
French-Speaking Africa
- French spread in Africa through French and Belgian colonial rule; most countries became independent around 1960 and many kept French as an official language for government and schools.
- French usually lives alongside African languages (Wolof, Lingala, Kinyarwanda, Malagasy, Arabic, Tamazight): most people are multilingual.
- In the Maghreb (Maroc, Algérie, Tunisie) French is widely used but not official; in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger it is now a working language.
- Léopold Sédar Senghor: poet, first president of Senegal (1960–1980), co-founder of la Négritude and one of the founders of la Francophonie.
- To / in a place: à + city, en + feminine country, au + masculine country, aux + plural country. From: de / d', du, des.
French in Asia, the Middle East and the Indian Ocean
- Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia formed French Indochina until 1953–1954; today French survives mostly among older people, in some schools and in traces like the bánh mì and cà phê.
- Lebanon (le Liban): French mandate 1920–1943. Arabic is official; French is widely used, and many people speak Arabic, French and English.
- Indian Ocean: French is official in the Seychelles and La Réunion (part of France); Mauritius names no official language, but English and French are both used.
- The OIF began in Niamey in 1970; its leaders meet at the Sommet de la Francophonie, and 20 mars is the Journée internationale de la Francophonie. Canada, Québec and New Brunswick all belong.
- Masculine countries take au / du (au Vietnam, au Cambodge, du Liban); aux for plurals (aux Seychelles); à for cities and islands without an article (à Beyrouth, à Maurice).
Reading Real Texts: Forms, Features and Schedules
- Each text form has a layout: an invitation answers Qui ? Quoi ? Où ? Quand ? plus R.S.V.P.; an ad shows a slogan, commands, prices and a deadline; an email has an Objet line, a greeting and a closing.
- 24-hour clock: 13 h 40 = treize heures quarante = 1:40 p.m. Subtract 12 for afternoon and evening hours.
- Durée = arrivée − départ. Count up to the next full hour, add the whole hours, then the leftover minutes; an hour has 60 minutes.
- Prices: a comma for cents, a space for thousands, the dollar sign after the number: forty-five dollars fifty is written 45,50 then the sign, and read quarante-cinq dollars cinquante.
- Deux cents but deux cent cinquante; mille never takes -s (deux mille).
- Informal email: Salut ... À bientôt, tu. Formal: Bonjour Madame / Madame, Monsieur ... Cordialement, vous.
Writing in French: From Ideas to a Polished Paragraph
- Five stages: planifier, rédiger un brouillon, réviser, corriger, publier — and go back as often as needed.
- Before writing, decide your purpose (informer, raconter, décrire, convaincre, divertir) and your audience (tu or vous).
- Opinion openers: À mon avis, Selon moi, Personnellement, Pour ma part, Quant à moi, followed by a comma and your sentence (no que).
- Il est important de + infinitive (d' before a vowel); il faut + infinitive; je pense / je crois que + sentence.
- Paragraph: opinion sentence → arguments with examples (D'abord, De plus) → the other side (Par contre, Cependant) → conclusion (Pour conclure, En résumé).
- Réviser = improve the ideas and organisation; corriger = fix agreement, accents, verb tenses and spelling.
Cracking New Words: Cognates, Faux Amis and Word Families
- Cognates (mots apparentés) share a root and a meaning: la nation, la musique, important. Patterns: é- = s- (école), circumflex = lost s (forêt), -eux = -ous, -té = -ty.
- Faux amis: librairie = bookstore, assister à = attend, attendre = wait for, actuellement = currently, sensible = sensitive, rester = stay.
- Prefixes: re- (again, back), dé- / dés- (undo), in- / im- / il- / ir- (not), pré- (before).
- Suffixes: -tion (feminine nouns), -ment (adverb from the feminine adjective: lentement), -eur / -euse (a person), -té (= -ty).
- Unknown word? Ask what kind of word it is (verb, noun, adjective) and what would make sense in context before reaching for the dictionary.
- Dictionary: check the part of speech and gender (n.m., n.f., v.), read all meanings and examples, and check backwards.