Sorting game
Spoken or written French? Sort everyday words by register
Ouais, genre, du coup, bref vs néanmoins, toutefois, par conséquent, en outre: sort sixteen French words into speech and formal writing.
- B1
- 16 words to sort
- 2 boxes
- Tap to play
- Learn this in the B1 notebook →
In short
Spoken French is full of fillers and short forms (ouais, genre, du coup, bref, en fait, quoi). Formal writing prefers precise connectors (néanmoins, toutefois, par conséquent, en outre, ainsi). Using the right ones makes you sound natural in speech and serious on paper.
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Tap a word, then the box it belongs in.
How do you tell spoken from written French?
| Spoken | Written |
|---|---|
| du coup | par conséquent, ainsi |
| mais bon | néanmoins, toutefois |
| en plus | en outre, de plus |
| pour | afin de |
| bref | en résumé, en somme |
Mixing registers is the giveaway of a learner: du coup in a DELF essay or néanmoins in a text to a friend both sound odd. In exams, a few formal connectors (certes… néanmoins…) structure an argument and earn marks.
- Ami
Du coup, on fait quoi ce soir ?
So, what are we doing tonight?
- Toi
Bref, je suis crevé, mais bon… on va au ciné ?
Anyway, I'm shattered, but hey… cinema?
- Ami
Ouais, genre un film pas trop long, quoi.
Yeah, like a not-too-long film, you know.
- Du coup, il convient de souligner que…Par conséquent, il convient de souligner que…
Formal sentence, formal connector.
- Néanmoins, on va au ciné ? (texto)Mais bon, on va au ciné ?
Formal words sound odd in a text.