Plus grand est l'obstacle, et plus grande est la gloire de le surmonter. <-> The greater the obstacle, the greater the glory in overcoming it.
Molière
I can remember how, simply by walking, I mastered French conjugation. One footfall stood for the pronoun and the other, the verb: je suis, tu est, il et...
I was but a little thing when my family moved to France. Not knowing the first French word but destined to attend French school in just a month, it was imperative that we master at least the basic French verbs and how to conjugate them. Hence, every activity included some aspect of learning French.
Hopefully, you're not under such pressure.
You've probably had plenty of time to get acquainted with French verbs and their tenses. In fact, as you're preparing to sit GCSE French, you've likely been practising French for years - and not just simple verb conjugation, either. Hopefully, you're well-versed in the following:
| Tense/Aspect/Mood | Construction |
|---|---|
| Perfect tense: used to describe completed actions | Auxiliary verb + past participle |
| Imperfect tense: used to describe things that happened regularly | verb root + imperfect endings |
| Pluperfect tense: used to describe the distant past | Imperfect of avoir or être + past participle form of main verb |
| Conditional tense: what might or would happen | a future time + verb root + imperfect endings |
| The Imperative communicates demands, requests, suggestions and instructions | 1. Use present tense with no pronoun 2. Use present tense with a hyphenated (stressed) pronoun after the verb |
| Negations: | ne (verb) pas ne (verb) jamais ne (verb) rien ne (verb) que ne (verb) personne ne (verb) ni... ni |
If this table doesn't make things perfectly clear just yet, read on. We're about to make French verbs so much easier to use and understand.
If you're still struggling with grammar you can also think about taking French lessons with a private tutor!
An Overview of The French GCSE
Proficiency in French can open up career opportunities in the social fields, such as politics, diplomacy or international business. GCSE French helps you develop valuable language skills with the main goal not only being communicating with French-speaking countries but also understanding other Romance languages and strengthen your general knowledge in History or Literature.
GCSE French is important for those who:
🎓 Value language learning, cultural understanding, and that are already targeting the potential academic and career benefits that come with proficiency in one of the most spoken languages in Europe.
💯 Want to achieve a good grade in GCSE French considering its benefits if their plan is to continue studying the social subjects in higher education
📝 Want to ensure and advantage on university applications that put high value on language skills and cultural mindset
The main directives around GCSE French that you need to master are:
Conjugation of these two verbs is the basis of the French Language. The perfect use of "avoir" and "être" as auxiliary verbs and how to conjugate them correctly in the Passé Composé will make you excel on the test and will help you understanding more quickly other french verb tenses.
You’ll be asked plenty of examples of these. They both help to form various french tenses. With Regular Verbs (parler, manger) you talk about daily routines, hobbies, and preferences and they’re also helpful to form the past (passé composé), future, and conditional. With the irregulars (être, avoir, aller) you’ll be able to get a better grade, because they are more difficult to learn and act as proof of fluency and more complex understanding of the french verbs.
You’ll be asked to tell on the basic structure of Passé Composé, having to provide sentences for this french tense using regular and irregular verbs.
Know the French Auxiliary Verbs
Like English, the French language has a handful of auxiliary verbs but - again, as in English, only two are frequently used. Avoir and être, 'to have' and 'to be', respectively, spend a lot of time supporting the sentence's action verb, which is usually written in past tense.
Note that, although there are some similarities between French and English auxiliary verbs, they are not used in the same way.
For instance, while an English speaker might say 'I am done with my homework', a French speaker would say 'I have finished my homework.' (J'ai fini mes devoirs).
Translating the English version of that sentence would yield a frightening disclosure: Je suis fini(e) generally means 'I'm done for.'. Not the outcome you would want from a simple homework assignment!
Another, less dramatic example of the difference between French and English uses of 'to have' and 'to be': when describing your age. In French, you would say 'I have 15 years.' (J'ai quinze ans.). In English, your age becomes a part of your identity: 'I am 15 (years old)'.
Many qualities make up a person's identity: their name (Je suis Marie), their social status (Je suis étudiante) and their current mood (Je suis ravie), but never make your age a part of your ID. In French, 'Je suis quinze ans' simply doesn't fly.
We could cite a few more humorous examples of French auxiliary verb misuse - I am hunger/I have hunger, for one, but it's time to move on, to explore modal verbs: pouvoir, devoir, vouloir.
When used as a verb, 'pouvoir' conveys the ability to do something; it means 'can'. It's the verb you'd use to say 'I can go to the cinema because I finished my homework.' (Je peux aller au ciné car j'ai fini mes devoirs.) Note that 'pouvoir' is also a noun, meaning power.
Do you have pouvoir on your GCSE French vocabulary list?
You might understand 'devoir's meaning from earlier usage (as homework); it means duty - something you have to or must do. For instance, if your friend hurt herself while rollerskating, you might say 'Elle doit aller à l’hôpital!' (she has to go to the hospital).
Finally, vouloir accords with desire. If you want something, you would say 'Je veux... ' or, more civilly: 'Je voudrais' (I would like).
'Je voudrais en savoir plus sur l’examen de français GCSE' (I would like to know more about GCSE French exam), for example.
The auxiliary verbs are essential for forming french verb tenses like the passé composé (perfect tense) and the near future tense (futur proche).
Use this table to start your practice on GCSE French, as it’s something you’ll find for sure on the test.
| Auxiliary Verb | Infinitive | Present Tense (Je) | Past Participle | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To be | Être | Je suis | Été | Je suis allé(e) (I went) |
| To have | Avoir | J'ai | Eu | J'ai mangé (I ate) |
| To go | Aller | Je vais | Allé | Je vais partir (I am going to leave) |
| To do | Faire | Je fais | Fait | J'ai fait mes devoirs (I did my homework) |
| To come | Venir | Je viens | Venu | Je suis venu(e) (I came) |
Practice conjugation with exercises starting on a simple basis, for example, before trying with an auxiliary, try with the present tenses :
Find more French courses and learn the tenses in French here on Superprof.
Get Familiar with the Most Frequently Used Tenses
You'll find avoir, être and faire liberally sprinkled throughout your GCSE French papers, all in a variety of tenses and moods.
Note that faire - to do, is often used in contexts different than the ones typically used in English. We might say 'I do the dishes' or 'She did her hair' but you'll never hear a native English speaker say 'Je fais le cheval' (lit. 'I do the horse', meaning 'I ride horses') or 'Elle fait les magasins.' (lit. 'She does the stores', meaning 'She goes shopping.').
Particularities aside, what tenses are most often used in French?
- Present tense
- present participle tense
- Perfect tense
- Imperfect tense
- Pluperfect tense
- Future tense
- Conditional
Which are the equivalents of the French tenses in English?
| French Tense | Name in French | English Equivalent | Example in French | Example in English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present Tense | Présent | Present Simple | Je mange | I eat / I am eating |
| Imperfect Tense | Imparfait | Past Continuous / Imperfect | Je mangeais | I was eating / I used to eat |
| Future Tense | Futur Simple | Future Simple | Je mangerai | I will eat |
| Near Future Tense | Futur Proche | Going to (Future) | Je vais manger | I am going to eat |
| Perfect Tense | Passé Composé | Present Perfect / Simple Past | J'ai mangé | I have eaten / I ate |
| Pluperfect Tense | Plus-que-parfait | Past Perfect | J'avais mangé | I had eaten |
| Conditional Present | Conditionnel Présent | Present Conditional | Je mangerais | I would eat |
| Conditional Past | Conditionnel Passé | Past Conditional | J'aurais mangé | I would have eaten |
| Subjunctive Present | Subjonctif Présent | Present Subjunctive | Que je mange | That I eat |
Of these, the imperfect and pluperfect tenses stand out; the rest are used pretty much as the equivalent English tenses are used. For instance, we use the present tense only to relate things that are generally true (I am a student), or we include a time reference to indicate the action is regular and ongoing (I go to school every day.).
The imperfect tense could be considered similar to the English simple past tense because it relates to things that happened in the past: 'Il y avait une foule dans les rues!'.
You can also use the imperfect tense to describe things that used to be constant,
as long as you use a time reference
Find more online French courses here on Superprof.
To relay second-hand information, always use the pluperfect tense.
The pluperfect tense is a bit more complex. You would use it to talk about things that happened in the distant past (J'avais déjà choisi mes amis quand... ) or to relay second-hand information (Elle m'avait dit que...).
To build either of these grammatical constructions, you have to know the imperfect forms of auxiliary verbs and affix the proper ending to the root of the action verb in question.
In general, verb infinitives have one of three endings:
- er
- ir
- re
Each has its specific imperfect endings. You might get some GCSE reading practice by researching them and making yourself a handy chart.
Start with a basic revision of the 6 main french tenses here:
How to learn the Passé Composé for Your French GCSE
Passé Composé is knwon as Perfect Tense in English, dominating it is crucial for effective communication and mastering the french tenses parts of the GCSE.
This French verb tense, shows when an action is finished and its composed by three parts:
Je, Tu,Il, Vous... Not always a pronoun, but also a name is possible; is the person doing the action
The use of the auxiliary être or avoir in the present tense.
And the past participle of the verb (past form of the verb)
What You Should Know About Reflexive Verbs
When introducing yourself, would you say 'I call myself Mary.'? If you were speaking French, you would. Indeed, 'Je m'appelle Marie' is one of the easiest ways to make sense of reflexive verb usage in French.
Any action you take upon yourself calls for a reflexive verb construction. If you seat yourself on the couch, you would say 'Je m'assois sur the divan.' If you're combing your hair, you would say 'Je me peigne les cheveux.' and so on. You could even beg your mate to not be angry with you: 'Ne m'en veux pas!'
The infinitive form of reflexive verbs is se + infinitive of the action verb.
To use them correctly, you have to know how to conjugate them: the 'se' changes to reflect the desired pronoun. If you're doing the action onto yourself, change 'se' to 'me'; if everyone takes part, 'se' becomes 'nous' - 'Nous nous nourrirons ensemble'.
You might chant the timeless French children's song 'Je te tiens, tu me tiens par la barbichette / Je te tiens, tu me tiens et tu n'en fais rien!' - not only as a good way to cement correct reflexive verb use, but to give you speaking practice ahead of your GCSE French speaking test.
All About Impersonal Verb Usage
Have you ever given impersonal verb usage in English any thought? It's raining. It's hard to see how French verbs can be so difficult. It's better to have love and lost...
These types of sentences do not relate to a specific subject; they are generalities. And, admittedly, this construction is far more common in French than in English.
The most frequent usage calls for an auxiliary verb - avoir, être or faire, used in the third person singular and preceded by 'il'. And then, simply state the condition: Il fait froid, for example. Or Il faut se laver les mains - a highly appropriate phrase in these times.
Note that, if you're using avoir, you will have to also use 'y': Il y a du vent ce soir (there's some wind tonight).
As this type of verb usage is far more common in French, you'll see far more examples of it throughout your GCSE French revision. Make note that there doesn't always have to be an auxiliary verb involved. For instance, 'Il pleut' (it rains) delivers enough information without the extra verb - but you can't say 'Il chaud'. That doesn't make any sense. You have to follow 'il' with a verb.
Some phrases are more complex. Il vaut mieux (lit. 'It value more') conveys the idea that whatever follows that phrase must have more benefit than any other condition.
To prove that point, we'll translate an earlier quote: Il vaut mieux d'avoir aimé et perdu que de n'avoir jamais aimé du tout.
Find French lessons London here on Superprof.
How to Ask Questions in French
How many ways can you think of to ask a question ? In our native language, there are two: reversing the subject and verb, or simply finishing the statement with a rising tone. There are other ways to formulate queries but they are pretty archaic: 'Could it be that you have hunger?', as an example.
That old, formal pattern is the closest word-for-word translation of the most common way to ask questions in French: Est-ce que tu as faim?
If you were speaking French in an official capacity - say in a government office or on your GCSE French exam, more often than not, this formal version would prevail. But if you're just talking with your mates, you could get by with the standard subject-verb reversal, albeit with a hyphen in between: As-tu faim?
Though difficult to demonstrate in writing, maybe we can show you how a rising final tone can also convey a question: 'You have hunger, yes?' Now, translate that into French, word for word, and substitute no for yes: 'Tu as faim, non?' - and, there, you have a grammatically correct question in French.
You may even drop then 'non' at the end.
Like so many other languages, French is full of irregular verbs but, once you nail the pattern - the ends, the gendered pronouns and accords and the archaic phraseology, mastering French verbs is not that difficult.
And, once you do, you'll be ready to write your response to the 150-word question...
Essentials to learn the verb tenses for the French GCSE
Pouvoir, aller, valoir, faire, pouvoir, savoir, dire, vouloir: these french verbs must be memorized one by one as they do not follow standard conjugation patterns. It does not help just to know the verb, take the root and add the corresponding endings; but you have to know the different varieties of that root (which varies depending on the person and the verb tense) and then add the ending.
Create a routine of speech practising through voice recording on your phone. Use as many resources as possible (memory cards with phrases, french verbs, conjugation games) to practice out loud your skills, giving place to correct your mistakes with patience and structure.
Talking directly to a native tutor will take out the fear of speaking and will confirm everything that we could previously memorise. A tutor at Superprof can help you to
understand better the basic structures and avoid mistakes at the time of the examination. Constant contact with a tutor can also help to increase your vocabulary, connect better with the culture and give you the right motivation if there is any barrier or challenge in your learning.
Studying French at GCSE level exposes you to French-speaking cultures, enhancing your global cultural knowledge and acquiring a new approach to all types of social matters.
Which is the right structure to build the Passé Composé:
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