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← Unit 1: Les bases: Sounds, Nouns and the Present Tense

FSF1D · Unit 1 test review

Les bases: Sounds, Nouns and the Present Tense: Test Review

Everything for the Unit 1 test on one page: the key facts from all 6 lessons, the mistakes that cost the most marks, and a practice test that points you back to the lessons you need.

Key facts

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.

Where marks get lost

  • Writing Je vais a l'école — 'to' is the preposition à with an accent: Je vais à l'école. Without the accent, a means 'has'. (Sounds, Accents and Linking Words)
  • Writing Tu habites ou? for 'Where do you live?' — 'where' is où: Tu habites où? Without the accent, ou means 'or'. (Sounds, Accents and Linking Words)
  • Forgetting elision: je aime, le école, je ne ai pas — always j'aime, l'école, je n'ai pas. (Sounds, Accents and Linking Words)
  • Pronouncing every final letter: saying the t in petit, the s in vous, or the -ent in ils parlent. These are silent unless a liaison or CaReFuL applies. (Sounds, Accents and Linking Words)
  • Writing garcon or francais without the cédille — without it, c before a or o sounds like 'k', so the word is misspelled and mispronounced. (Sounds, Accents and Linking Words)
  • Keeping un after a negative: Je n'ai pas un chien. After ne… pas, un/une/des become de: Je n'ai pas de chien. (Nouns, Gender and Articles)
  • Dropping the article as in English: J'aime chocolat or Je mange pain. French needs J'aime le chocolat and Je mange du pain. (Nouns, Gender and Articles)
  • Using the partitive after verbs of liking: J'aime du fromage. Likes and dislikes take the definite article: J'aime le fromage. (Nouns, Gender and Articles)
  • Writing beaucoup des devoirs — quantity words take plain de: beaucoup de devoirs. (Nouns, Gender and Articles)
  • Changing a definite article after a negative: Je n'aime pas de café. Only 'some/a' articles shrink; le stays: Je n'aime pas le café. (Nouns, Gender and Articles)
  • Translating '-ing' with être: Je suis joue au hockey. The plain present already means 'I am playing': Je joue au hockey. (The Present Tense: Regular Verbs)
  • Dropping the -iss- of finir-type verbs: nous finons, ils choisent. The plural forms are nous finissons, ils choisissent. (The Present Tense: Regular Verbs)
  • Pronouncing the -ent of ils parlent — it is silent, so ils parlent sounds exactly like il parle. (The Present Tense: Regular Verbs)
  • Forgetting elision: je écoute, je habite. Write j'écoute, j'habite. (The Present Tense: Regular Verbs)
  • Adding the English preposition: J'écoute à la radio or Je cherche pour mon sac. Écouter and chercher already include it: J'écoute la radio, Je cherche mon sac. (The Present Tense: Regular Verbs)
  • Writing vous faisez or vous disez — these are two of the three -tes verbs: vous faites, vous dites (and vous êtes). (The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs)
  • Regularizing the -ont group: ils allent, ils faisent, ils êtent. The forms are ils vont, ils font, ils sont. (The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs)
  • Forgetting the boot change: ils prendent, ils venent, ils voulent. Write ils prennent, ils viennent, ils veulent. (The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs)
  • Conjugating both verbs: Je veux vais au cinéma. Only the first verb changes: Je veux aller au cinéma. (The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs)
  • Writing je peus or tu veus — pouvoir and vouloir end in -x with je and tu: je peux, tu veux. (The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs)
  • Saying Je suis quinze ans — age uses avoir and needs ans: J'ai quinze ans. (Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and De)
  • Saying Je suis faim or Je suis froid — feelings of hunger, thirst, heat and cold use avoir: J'ai faim, J'ai froid. (Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and De)
  • Writing J'attends un concert for 'I'm attending a concert' — that means 'I'm waiting for a concert'. 'To attend' is assister à: J'assiste à un concert. (Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and De)
  • Writing à le parc or de le magasin — these must merge: au parc, du magasin. (Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and De)
  • Writing Je joue le piano or Je joue au piano — instruments take jouer de: Je joue du piano. (Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and De)
  • Leaving out ne in writing: Je mange pas de viande. Speech often drops it, but written French needs Je ne mange pas de viande. (Asking Questions and Saying No)
  • Putting pas before the verb: Je ne pas mange. The sandwich wraps the verb: Je ne mange pas. (Asking Questions and Saying No)
  • Placing rien and personne the wrong way round: Je n'ai vu rien, Je n'ai personne vu. Correct: Je n'ai rien vu, Je n'ai vu personne. (Asking Questions and Saying No)
  • Stacking negatives: Je ne mange pas rien. Rien replaces pas, so they never appear together: Je ne mange rien. (Asking Questions and Saying No)
  • Writing Quoi est-ce que tu fais? — 'what' at the start of a question is qu'est-ce que: Qu'est-ce que tu fais? (Asking Questions and Saying No)

Practice test

24 questions from across the unit. Each one shows the lesson it comes from.

  1. Sounds, Accents and Linking Words
    1
    Which word means where?
  2. Sounds, Accents and Linking Words
    2
    In which phrase is there a liaison?
  3. Sounds, Accents and Linking Words
    3
    Fill in the blank with ou or où: Tu habites ___? (Where do you live?)
  4. Sounds, Accents and Linking Words
    4
    Put the words in order to say 'I don't like hockey'.
    1. 1n'aime
    2. 2le hockey
    3. 3pas
    4. 4Je
  5. Nouns, Gender and Articles
    5
    Choose the article: Le matin, je mange ___ pain. (In the morning I eat bread.)
  6. Nouns, Gender and Articles
    6
    Choose the article: Ce n'est pas ___ problème. (It's not a problem.)
  7. Nouns, Gender and Articles
    7
    Complete with the article and noun together: Je n'ai pas ___. (I don't have any money; money = l'argent, m.)
  8. Nouns, Gender and Articles
    8
    Put the words in order: 'I don't eat meat.'
    1. 1de
    2. 2pas
    3. 3viande
    4. 4Je
    5. 5ne
    6. 6mange
  9. The Present Tense: Regular Verbs
    9
    Nous ___ nos devoirs avant le souper. (finir)
  10. The Present Tense: Regular Verbs
    10
    What can je regarde la télé mean?
  11. The Present Tense: Regular Verbs
    11
    Conjugate choisir for elles: Elles ___ un film.
  12. The Present Tense: Regular Verbs
    12
    Order the steps for conjugating a regular verb.
    1. 1Remove the ending to find the stem
    2. 2Check whether je needs to elide to j'
    3. 3Add the ending that matches the subject
    4. 4Identify the group from the infinitive ending (-er, -ir or -re)
  13. The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs
    13
    Qu'est-ce que vous ___ ce week-end? (faire)
  14. The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs
    14
    Which verb is not conjugated like prendre?
  15. The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs
    15
    Conjugate écrire for nous: Nous ___ un courriel.
  16. The Present Tense: Essential Irregular Verbs
    16
    Put the words in order: 'We want to see the film.'
    1. 1voulons
    2. 2le film
    3. 3voir
    4. 4Nous
  17. Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and De
    17
    How do you say 'I'm cold' (you feel cold)?
  18. Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and De
    18
    Which sentence means 'I'm attending a hockey game'?
  19. Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and De
    19
    Complete with one word: Je pense ___ vacances. (à + les)
  20. Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and De
    20
    Put the words in order: 'I have a headache.'
    1. 1mal
    2. 2tête
    3. 3à la
    4. 4J'ai
  21. Asking Questions and Saying No
    21
    Which question is neutral and correct in any situation for 'Do you like pizza?'
  22. Asking Questions and Saying No
    22
    Which sentence correctly says 'I didn't see anybody'?
  23. Asking Questions and Saying No
    23
    Complete with one word: Je ne joue ___ au hockey. (I don't play hockey anymore.)
  24. Asking Questions and Saying No
    24
    Put the words in order: 'He never watches TV.'
    1. 1la télé
    2. 2jamais
    3. 3regarde
    4. 4Il
    5. 5ne

Endless drill

Fresh numbers every time, for the calculation questions in this unit.

Endless drillnew numbers every time

Generating a problem…

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