French on Point

Part 02 · Exam tips

Grammar, vocab & pronunciation. The cheat sheet.

The grammar behind Units 3–4, the errors examiners flag most, what actually earns extra points and the sounds that trip people up.

Grammar recap

Unit 3. New grammar

  • ·Conjunctions (car, sinon, malgré, puisque, pendant, dès que, vu que…)
  • ·Relative pronouns: qui / que / dont / lequel and ce qui / ce que / ce dont
  • ·Conditional perfect. J’aurais donné, j’aurais fini
  • ·Subjunctive present & perfect. Il faut que je fasse, bien qu’il ait fait
  • ·Active voice

Unit 4. New grammar

  • ·Si-clauses: pluperfect / conditional perfect. Si j’avais su, je serais venu(e)
  • ·Implied future. Quand il neigera, nous ferons du ski
  • ·Past historic. Recognition only, you won’t produce it
  • ·Pronominal verbs: reciprocal (s’écrire), passive (se vendre), causative (se faire couper les cheveux)
  • ·Passive voice. Recognition only

Vocabulary, topic by topic

Each topic has its own free prep sheet. Vocab, up-to-date facts, videos and real examiner questions. Open any of the six:

UnitTopicFree sheet
3Technology and meOpen →3Film and musicOpen →3In the mediaOpen →4Planning my futureOpen →4Migrant experiencesOpen →4Youth issuesOpen →
📄 Prefer it all in one file?Download the free 6-Topics prep sheets. Every topic's vocab, facts and examiner questions in one doc.Download →

The errors examiners flag most

Error✕ Wrong✓ Right
Contracted prepositions
✕à le, à les, de le, de les
✓au, aux, du, des
Adjective / past-participle agreement
✕les pommes qu’il a mangé
✓les pommes qu’il a mangées
Literal translation
✕word-for-word from French
✓translate the overall meaning
Two conjugated verbs in a row
✕je veux voyagerai
✓je veux voyager
Register slip
✕tu / ouais with the examiner
✓vous / oui. Always formal
Negation beyond ne…pas
✕forgetting ne…plus, ne…rien, ne…personne exist
✓learn and use complex negatives
Preposition + verb
✕wrong preposition after a verb
✓learn verb+preposition pairs as chunks (décider de, réussir à…)
Tense mismatch
✕answering in a different tense than the question
✓mirror the question's tense
📄 The contracted-prepositions slip (à le → au) is the #1 flagged error. Grab the free one-page reference and never lose that mark again.Download the sheet →

What actually earns extra points

Tick these off as you build each answer. They're what pushes a good response into a top one.

✓

Idioms used correctly in context. se vider la tête, brûler la chandelle par les deux bouts, un chemin semé d’embûches. Used naturally, not forced in.

✓

A genuine range of connectors. Not just et / mais on repeat. Par ailleurs, en outre, cependant, tout de même.

✓

Tense variety. Mixing past / present / future / conditional accurately shows real control, not just correct grammar.

✓

Precise numbers & quantifiers. "nearly", "more than", "next". Small words examiners specifically look for.

✓

Spontaneous, non-memorised responses. In the oral. The single biggest jump from a C to a B/A.

✓

Matching the text type's conventions. A formal letter that actually looks like one (date, address, greeting, sign-off) scores higher than good French in the wrong format.

Pronunciation. Sounds that trip people up

The classics examiners call out directly, then the ones that quietly cost you.

Sound / ruleCommon mistakeFix
Final "t", "s"pronouncing themstay silent, unless a liaison applies
"-tion"said like English "-shun", or like "-see-on"soft "s" + short "ohn". Closer to na-syo(n)
"ch"said like English "ch" (as in "chair")always soft "sh" (chat = "sha")
French "r"English hard "r" or a rolled Spanish "r"back-of-throat, gentle. Practise with rouge, France
"u" vs "ou"mixing up tu and tout"u" = rounded lips + tongue forward; "ou" = rounded lips + tongue back
Nasal vowels (an/en, on, in/ain, un)pronouncing the "n"the “n” is never pronounced. It’s a nasal vowel, not consonant + vowel
"gn"said as hard "g" + "n"one soft sound, like "ny" in canyon (montagne)
"eu" / "œu"said like English "you" or "oo"rounded lips, mid-open mouth (peu, sœur)
Liaisonskipping it, or adding it where it doesn't belonglearn liaisons as chunks (les amis = "lay-zami"), don’t guess
H aspiré vs H muettreating every silent "h" the samel’homme (muet, elides) vs le héros (aspiré, no elision). A handful to memorise

Practice tip. record yourself reading a past-exam listening transcript out loud, then compare to the official audio. It's the fastest way to catch your own patterns.

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