357 pages
Grammar & usage
Build sentences that make sense: articles, negation, pronouns, word order and agreement.
Verb drillA2
French invitation drill: suggest a day with on peut and parce que
Build French invitations from availability cues: on peut, a specific day and a reason with parce que. Practise 12 complete suggestions with answers.
Cheat sheetB1
Notamment and par exemple: a French example-marker cheat sheet
Use notamment to highlight and par exemple to illustrate. Compare noun phrases, full sentences and article choices, then practise with four questions.
ArticleB2
French nominalisation: turn an action into a noun phrase
Turn les prix augmentent into l’augmentation des prix. Compare full sentence rewrites, keep time and certainty clear, and try three short questions.
Gap-fillA1
Un, une, des: describe a new flat in French
Introduce furniture with un, une and des in a moving-in story. Practise noun gender, plural articles and de after an ordinary negative.
Verb drillA2
French negation with object pronouns: a word-order drill
Practise je ne le vois pas, je ne lui ai pas répondu and je ne vais pas le lire. Ten gaps help you place pronouns, ne and pas around the right verb.
Cheat sheetA2
De after French negation: pas de, pas d’ and the exceptions
Learn when un, une, des and partitives become de after negation. A compact rule sheet contrasts absence, definite articles, être, quantities and only.
ArticleC1
Ne…point in French: read the negative and hear the tone
Compare ne…point with everyday ne…pas, locate point in simple and compound tenses, and distinguish the negative word from the noun.
Gap-fillA2
French A2 cause and contrast gap-fill: the picnic moved indoors
Complete twelve gaps with cause, result and contrast links as rain moves a picnic indoors. Includes picturecards, an English translation and a short quiz.
Verb drillB1
French adjective complements drill: prêt à, content de, utile pour
Complete practical descriptions with prêt à, content de and utile pour. Choose infinitives and noun phrases, including du, de la and d’, in 15 items.
Cheat sheetB1
Chacun and chacune: each one, with singular agreement
Use chacun and chacune for each member of a group. Compare chaque, singular and plural subjects, and possessives, then practise six common traps.
ArticleB1
Ce qui or ce que? Find the subject before you choose
Choose ce qui for what acts and ce que for what someone does something to. Worked contrasts, a short exchange and five questions on roles and elision.
Gap-fillB1
En résumé or en conclusion? Practise closing a French paragraph
Distinguish a short summary from a final judgement. Read paired endings, then fill six connector gaps in short French paragraphs with English support.
Verb drillA2
French adjective drill: make contrasting product descriptions
Combine paired product facts into contrasting French sentences. Use opposite adjectives, accurate agreement and phrases such as le bleu to avoid repeating nouns.
Cheat sheetC1
Aussi convient-il: a cheat sheet for formal “therefore”
Read and write formal consequential aussi with inversion: convient-il, devons-nous and a-t-elle. Compare the everyday meaning “also” and test four choices.
ArticleA2
Chez or à? Visit a person’s place or name the building
Say chez Nora, chez le médecin and à la pharmacie. Explore a neighbourhood, compare the patterns and practise the pronouns and contractions.
Gap-fillA1
French A1 gap-fill: breakfast for two different tastes
A short French story with gaps: Paul and Mia want very different breakfasts. Fill in du, de la, des, le, la and simple adjectives, then check.
Verb drillB2
Ce livre, je l’aime: practise French left and right dislocation
Move a French topic to the start or end of a sentence, keep its referring pronoun, and practise le, la, les, en and y in context.
Cheat sheetA2
French adjective agreement and position: an eight-rule cheat sheet
Match French adjectives to gender and number, place BAGS adjectives, and choose beau, bel or belle. Eight rules, clear examples and a short quiz.
ArticleB2
Pour autant: "that doesn't mean…" in French
Pour autant means "for all that", "that doesn't mean": Il est riche ; il n'est pas heureux pour autant. Learn its meaning, position and register with examples.
Gap-fillB1
French B1 gap-fill: reported questions and route instructions
Complete 12 reported questions and commands as a guide compares two walking routes. Practise si, ce que and de plus an infinitive, with a translation.
Verb drillA2
French direct-object pronouns: practise le, la, l’ and les
Replace known people and things with le, la, l’ or les, then practise their position in negatives, the passé composé and infinitive phrases.
Cheat sheetB2
Le recours à: French action nouns and their prepositions
Keep à in le recours à and de in la mise en œuvre de. Compare complete noun frames, practise contractions and choose the right complement.
ArticleA1
Why French says j’aime le café: articles after aimer
Use le, la, l’ and les for general likes, compare liking food with taking some, and practise with eight food picture cards.
Verb drillB2
Peut-être viendra-t-elle: practise inversion in a statement
Turn peut-être que into formal French statements with inversion. Study hyphens, noun subjects and negative word order, then complete eight transformations.
Cheat sheetB2
Ne… guère in French: hardly, not much, not often
A compact reference for ne… guère: amount, frequency and degree, word order in two tenses, everyday paraphrases and a four-question meaning check.
ArticleB1
Malgré or bien que? Despite a noun, although a clause
Compare malgré la fatigue with bien que je sois fatigué. See matched examples, follow a short exchange and choose the right French concession frame.
Verb drillB2
French avoir beau drill: express effort that fails to change the result
Rewrite unsuccessful-effort situations with avoir beau plus an infinitive. Practise present, past and background effort while retaining the outcome.
Cheat sheetB2
French percentage agreement: 30 % des personnes ont or a?
Choose French verb agreement after percentages, distinguish personnes from population and le taux, and complete data statements with a clear reference.
ArticleC1
Dans la mesure où: “insofar as”, a condition or a reason?
Read dans la mesure où through three short contexts: limited support, conditional agreement and an established reason. Compare paraphrases and test your reading.
Verb drillB1
Avant de and après avoir: practise putting two actions in order
Use avant de, après avoir and après être to connect two French actions. Compare the order, check the auxiliary and complete eight sentences with hints.
Cheat sheetA1
French questions cheat sheet: est-ce que, inversion and question words
Build French questions with eight clear rules, from everyday intonation to est-ce que, inversion, qui, quoi, quel and combien de, with a quiz.
ArticleA1
Il y a in French: there is, there are and there isn’t
Describe a flat with il y a, ask what is there and make negatives with pas de or pas d’. Compare introducing a thing with saying where it is.
Verb drillA2
French verb prepositions: practise the whole pattern
Practise French verbs with à, de or a direct object. Twelve gaps test people, topics and activities after the verb, with a reference table first.
Cheat sheetB1
Bien que + subjunctive: a French concession cheat sheet
Use bien que to mean although: six concise rules, common subjunctive forms, contrasts with malgré and même si, and four questions with explanations.
ArticleB2
Faire + infinitive: have something done in French
Say who arranges a repair, who carries it out and what is repaired. Compare faire + infinitive with doing the job yourself, then try four questions.
Verb drillB2
Au point de + infinitive: practise saying “so much that”
Turn French degree-and-result sentences into au point de + infinitive. Compare au point que, place negatives and practise eight sentence completions.
