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How to Write The Perfect French Essay For Your Exam

November 16, 2014 by Jessica 3 Comments

Here are tips to help you write a great French essay with exam requirements in mind. Once you’re done, I strongly suggest you proofread your text using my checklis t.

Note: if you’re preparing for the French VCE, there is an updated version of these exam tips in my guide  “How to Prepare for the French VCE & Reach your Maximum Score” .

While supervising exams or tutoring for exam preparation, I’ve seen too many students writing straight away on their exam copies. Stop! Resist the urge to jump on your pen and take a step back to make sure that you will be addressing all the exam requirements or you may be shooting yourself in the foot and lose precious points.

I recommend that you train with exam sample questions so that you set up good working habits and respect the required length of the essay, as well as the timing (allow at least 10 minutes for proofreading).

Crafting your French Essay

1. identify the situation: preparation work.

•   Read the topic carefully, slowly and at least twice to absorb every information/detail.
• Underline/highlight/jot down any piece of information that you are expected to reuse:
• What type of text do you need to write? (a journal entry? A formal letter? A speech? Etc). Note to VCE French exam students : refer to page 13 of the VCE French Study Design for more information about the different types of texts.
• Who are you in the situation? (yourself? A journalist? etc)
• Who are you addressing? (a friend? A large audience? Etc) à adjust the degree of formality to the situation (for example by using the “tu”/”vous” form, a casual or formal tone/register, etc)
• What are the characteristic features of the type of text you need to write? (eg a journal entry will have the date, a formal letter will start and end with a formal greeting, etc)
• What is your goal ? What are you expected to talk about / present / defend / convey?
• What are the length requirements for your French essay ? Respect the word count (there’s usually a 5% or so tolerance. Check the requirements specific to your exam)

Tip : when you practice at home, count how many words in average you fit on a line. This will give you a good indication of how many lines your text should be.

Ex: You write an average of 15 words per line. If you are required to write a 300-word French essay, you should aim for:

300 words / 15 words per line = 20 lines total.

2. Draft the outline of your essay

•  An essay typically has an introduction, a body with 2 or 3 distinct parts and a conclusion . (See if that outline is relevant to the type of text you are expected to write and adjust accordingly.)
• Use bullet points to organize your ideas.
• Don’t remain too general. A good rule is to use one main idea for each part and to back it up/reinforce in/illustrate it with one concrete example (eg. data).
• Brainstorming about things to say will also help you use a wider range of vocabulary , which will get noticed by the examiner. Are there some interesting/specific words or expressions that you can think of using in your text (example: if you are writing about global warming, brainstorm the vocab related to this topic. Brainstorm expressions to convince or disagree with something, etc)?
• Make sure you have reused every point identified in part 1 .

 3. Write your essay

•  It’s better if you have time to write or at least draft a few sentences on your draft paper rather than writing directly because:
• You want to meet the word count requirements
• You don’t want multiple words to be barred cross crossed-out and your page looking messy and great anything but neat!
• you don’t want to have to rush so much that your handwriting is really unpleasant to read (or worse, impossible to read…)
• So… monitor your time carefully!

  Structuring your text

• Visually, the eye should instantly be able to see the structure of your French essay: make paragraph and skip lines so that it doesn’t look like an unappealing large block of text.
• Use connectors/link words to structure your text and make good transitions.

4. Proofread, proofread, proofread!

•   It’s important that you allow at least 10 minutes for proofreading because there most likely are a few mistakes that you can fix very easily. It would therefore be a shame not to give yourself your best chances of success! Check out my Proofreading Checklist.

Bonne chance!

If you need any help with your essay, you can submit it to me there.

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How to Write an Excellent French Essay (Resources Included)

Tips to write an excellent french essay.

Writing essays is challenging enough, but when you are asked to write a French essay, you are not only being asked to write in a foreign language, but to follow the conventions of another linguistic and literary tradition. Like essay-writing in any language, the essential part of writing a French essay is to convey your thoughts and observations on a certain topic in a clear and concise manner. French essays do come out of a certain tradition that is part of the training of all students who attend school in France – or at least secondary school – and when you are a French essay, it is important to be aware of this tradition.

The French philosopher Michel de Montaigne is credited with popularizing the essay form as a literary genre. His work, Essais, first published in 1580, and undergoing several subsequent publications before his death in 1592, covers a wide breadth of topics, ranging from “amitié” to “philosopher c’est apprendre à mourir”, and includes many literary references, as well as personal anecdotes. The name for this genre, essai, is the nominal form of the verb essayer, “to attempt”. We have an archaic English verb essay, meaning the same thing. The limerick that includes the phrase, “... when she essayed to drink lemonade ...” indicates an attempt to drink a beverage and has nothing to do with writing about it. But the writing form does illustrate an attempt to describe a topic in depth with the purpose of developing new insights on a particular text or corpus.

French instructors are very specific about what they would like when they ask for an essay, meaning that they will probably specify whether they would like an explication de texte, commentaire composé, or dissertation. That last essay form should not be confused with the document completed for a doctorate in anglophone countries – this is called a thèse in French, by the way. There are different formats for each of these types of essay, and different objectives for each written form.

Types of Essay

1. l’explication de texte.

An explication de texte is a type of essay for which you complete a close reading. It is usually written about a poem or a short passage within a larger work. This close reading will elucidate different themes and stylistic devices within the text. When you are completing an explication de texte, make sure to follow the structure of the text as you complete a close examination of its form and content. The format for an explication de texte consists of:

i. An introduction, in which you situate the text within its genre and historical context. This is where you can point out to your readers the general themes of the text, its form, the trajectory of your reading, and your approach to the text.

ii. The body, in which you develop your ideas, following the structure of the text. Make sure you know all of the meanings of the words used, especially the key terms that point to the themes addressed by the author. It is a good idea to look words up in the dictionary to find out any second, third, and fourth meanings that could add to the themes and forms you describe. Like a student taking an oral examination based on this type of essay writing, you will be expected to have solid knowledge of the vocabulary and grammatical structures that appear in the text. Often the significance of the language used unfolds as you explain the different components of theme, style, and composition.

iii. A conclusion, in which you sum up the general meaning of the text and the significance of the figures and forms being used. You should also give the implications of what is being addressed, and the relevance of these within a larger literary, historical, or philosophical context.

NB: If you are writing about a poem, include observations on the verse, rhyme schemes, and meter. It is a good idea to refer to a reference work on versification. If you are writing about a philosophical work, be familiar with philosophical references and definitions of concepts.

Caveat: Refrain from paraphrasing. Instead show through careful analysis of theme, style, and composition the way in which the main ideas of the text are conveyed.

2. Le commentaire composé

A commentaire composé is a methodologically codified commentary that focuses on themes in a particular text. This type of essay develops different areas of reflection through analytical argument. Such argumentation should clarify the reading that you are approaching by presenting components of the text from different perspectives. In contrast to the explication de texte, it is organized thematically rather than following the structure of the text to which it refers. The format for a commentaire composé consists of:

i. An introduction, in which you present the question you have come up with, often in relation to a prompt commenting on a thematic or stylistic aspect of the text, such as “Montrez en quoi ce texte évoque l’amour courtois” or “Qu’apporte l’absence de la ponctuation dans ce texte ?” In this section, you will be expected to delineate your approach to the text and illustrate the trajectory of your ideas so that your readers will have a clear idea of the direction these ideas will take.

ii. A tripartite body, in which you explore the question you have come up with, citing specific examples in the text that are especially pertinent to the areas of reflection you wish to explore. These citations should be explained and connected to the broad themes of your commentary, all the while providing details that draw the readers’ attention to your areas of inquiry. These different areas of inquiry may initially seem disparate or even contradictory, but eventually come together to form a harmonious reading that addresses different aspects of the text. The more obvious characteristics of the text should illuminate its subtler aspects, which allows for acute insight into the question that you are in the process of exploring.

iii. A conclusion, in which you evaluate your reading and synthesize its different areas of inquiry. This is where you may include your own opinions, but make sure that the preceding sections of your commentaire remain analytical and supported by evidence that you find in the text.

NB: Looking at verb tenses, figures of speech, and other aspects that contribute to the form of the text will help situate your reader, as will commenting on the register of language, whether this language is ornate, plain, reflects a style soutenu, or less formal patterns of speech.

Caveat: Quotations do not replace observations or comments on the text. Explain your quotations and situate them well within your own text.

3. La dissertation

The dissertation is a personal, organized, and methodical reflection on a precise question that refers to a corpus of writing. Referring to this corpus, you may be asked questions along the lines of “Que pensez-vous de l’équivalence entre l’amour et la chanson exprimée dans ces textes ?” or “Est-ce que la sagesse et la folie ont les mêmes sources?” This type of essay allows for an exploration of a question through knowledge of a corpus as well as through an individual’s cultural knowledge. The format for a dissertation consists of:

i. An introduction, in which you present the topic addressed, the significance of your argument, and the trajectory of your ideas.

ii. The body which, like a commentaire composé, consists of a tripartite development of your argument. This can follow any one of the following structures: a dialectical schema, organized into thèse, antithèse, and synthèse – an argument, its counter-argument, and its rebuttal; an analytical schema, consisting of the description of a situation, an analysis of its causes, and commentary on its consequences; a thematic schema, which consists of a reflection on a topic which you proceed to examine from different angles in an orderly fashion.

iii. A conclusion, in which you address the different ways in which you have approached the question at hand and how this deepens your insights, while placing the question within a broader context that shows room for expansion. The conclusion can open up the topic addressed to show its placement within a literary movement, or in opposition to another literary movement that follows it, for example.

NB: Approach the question at hand with as few preconceptions as possible. If you are writing on a quotation, gather all of your knowledge about its author, the work in which it appears, and the body of literature with which it is associated.

Caveat: Even for a personal reflection, such as a dissertation, avoid using the first person pronoun je. Nous or on are preferable. It is advisable not to switch from one to the other, though.

For each of these essay forms, it is a good idea to make an outline to which you can refer as you write. As your writing progresses, things may shift a bit, but having a structure on which you can rely as you gather your various ideas and information into a coherent argument provides solid foundation for a clear and well-developed essay. This also facilitates smooth transitions from one section of your essay to the next.

During your reading, you may encounter a problem, a contradiction, or a surprising turn of phrase that is difficult to figure out. Such moments in a text give you the opportunity to delve into the unique characteristics of the text or corpus to which you are referring, to propose different solutions to the problems you encounter, and to describe their significance within a larger literary, philosophical, and historical context. Essay writing allows you to become more familiar with French works, with their cultural significance, and with the French language. You can refer to the following resources to guide you in this endeavor:

Auffret, Serge et Hélène. Le commentaire composé. Paris: Hachette, 1991. Dufau, Micheline et Ellen D'Alelio. Découverte du poème: Introduction à l'explication de textes. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1967. Grammont, Maurice. Petit traité de versification française. Paris: A. Colin, 2015. Huisman, Denis et L. R. Plazolles. L’art de la dissertation littéraire : du baccalauréat au C.A.P.E.S. Paris : Société d’édition d’enseignement supérieur, 1965.

The French newspaper Le Monde also has good articles on these essay forms that prepare French students for the baccalauréat exam: CLICK HERE

This is also a website with thorough information on essay writing techniques that prepare students for the baccalauréat exam: CLICK HERE

In addition, the University of Adelaide has tips for general essay writing in French: CLICK HERE

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Write an essay in French

Beyond the fact that writing an essay in French can be a good practice to improve your writing, you may also be asked to write one during your schooling. So, it is important to study the topic of French essay writing and get some useful tips..

» Tips and tricks for your French essay » The structure of a French essay » Sample French Essay

Tips and tricks for your French essay

When writing a French essay for school, you should always use a structured approach and good French skills to present your arguments in a focused way. Beyond French skills, there are also important formal requirements for a successful French essay. We will come back to this in detail later. First, you will find some useful tips and tricks that will help you write more compelling and better French essays in the future.

• Have a clear thesis and structure
• Do sufficient research and use reliable sources
• Use examples and arguments to support your thesis
• Avoid plagiarism and cite correctly
• Always check structure, grammar and spelling

When you write your essay at school or university, you need to make sure that the general structure of your essay, the presentation of the arguments and, above all, your French language skills play a role in the mark you will get. This is why you should definitely take a closer look at the structure of an essay as well as the most important grammar rules and formulations for French essays.

The structure of a French essay

In an essay, you deal at length and in detail with a usually given topic. When you write an essay in French, you must follow a certain structure. Below we show you what this structure looks like and give you some tips for writing the most important parts of your essay.

The Introduction

The introduction prepares the main body of your essay. You think of a meaningful title for your essay, you describe your thesis or your question, you give general information on the subject and you prepare your argument by giving an overview of your most important arguments.

Below are examples and phrases that you can use to write the introduction to your essay in French.

The title should be meaningful, concise and reflect the content of the essay.

Introductory paragraph

The first paragraph of your French essay should briefly introduce the topic and engage the reader. Here are some examples to help you write your essay:

Proposal or question

The central proposition or question of your French essay should be a clear and concise definition of the purpose of the essay. Use these examples to get a clearer idea of ​​how to write theses in French:

Overview of Arguments and Structure

At the end of your introduction, describe the structure of the main part of your essay (your outline) and outline your argument. Here are some French expressions that will certainly help you write your essay:

The body of your essay

The main part of your French essay deals with the given topic in detail. The subject is studied from all angles. The main body of your essay follows a thread of argument and discusses in detail the main arguments of your thesis previously made in the introduction.

In the body of the text, you should discuss the subject of your essay in clear and concise language. To achieve this, we give you some wording aids as well as vocabulary and phrases that you can use to write your essay in French.

Formulation tools:

French vocabulary for essays.

In the conclusion of your French essay, you address the thesis of your essay, summarize the main points of your discussion in the main body, and draw a conclusion. On the basis of the arguments and the resulting conclusions, you formulate in the conclusion of your dissertation final thoughts and suggestions for the future. It is important that you do not add new information or new arguments. This should only be done in the body of your text.

Here are some wording guides to help you write your essay in French:

Sample French Essay

Les avantages des voyages linguistiques

Malgré les difficultés potentielles, les voyages linguistiques offrent aux apprenants une occasion unique d'améliorer leurs compétences linguistiques et de découvrir de nouvelles cultures, ce qui en fait un investissement précieux pour leur développement personnel et académique.

Les séjours linguistiques sont des voyages organisés dans le but d'améliorer les compétences linguistiques des participants. Ces voyages peuvent se dérouler dans le pays ou à l'étranger et durer d'un week-end à plusieurs semaines. L'un des principaux avantages des séjours linguistiques est l'immersion. Entourés de locuteurs natifs, les apprenants sont contraints de pratiquer et d'améliorer leurs compétences linguistiques dans des situations réelles.Il s'agit d'une méthode d'apprentissage beaucoup plus efficace que le simple fait d'étudier une langue dans une salle de classe.

Un autre avantage des séjours linguistiques est l'expérience culturelle. Voyager dans un nouveau pays permet aux apprenants de découvrir de nouvelles coutumes, traditions et modes de vie, et de se familiariser avec l'histoire et la culture du pays. Cela enrichit non seulement l'expérience d'apprentissage de la langue, mais contribue également à élargir les horizons et à accroître la sensibilisation culturelle.

Cependant, les séjours linguistiques peuvent également présenter des inconvénients. Par exemple, le coût du voyage et de l'hébergement peut être élevé, en particulier pour les séjours de longue durée. En outre, les apprenants peuvent être confrontés à la barrière de la langue ou à un choc culturel, ce qui peut être difficile à surmonter. Le coût et les difficultés potentielles des séjours linguistiques peuvent sembler décourageants, mais ils offrent des avantages précieux en termes d'épanouissement personnel et scolaire.

Les compétences linguistiques et les connaissances culturelles acquises peuvent déboucher sur de nouvelles opportunités d'emploi et améliorer la communication dans un cadre professionnel. Les bourses et les aides financières rendent les séjours linguistiques plus accessibles. Le fait d'être confronté à une barrière linguistique ou à un choc culturel peut également être l'occasion d'un développement personnel. Ces avantages l'emportent largement sur les inconvénients et font des séjours linguistiques un investissement qui en vaut la peine.

En conclusion, malgré les difficultés potentielles, les séjours linguistiques offrent aux apprenants une occasion unique d'améliorer leurs compétences linguistiques et de découvrir de nouvelles cultures, ce qui en fait un investissement précieux pour le développement personnel et académique. Qu'il s'agisse d'un débutant ou d'un apprenant avancé, un voyage linguistique est une expérience à ne pas manquer.

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Writing an essay- guidance

As and a level french, essay writing.

As a rough guide you should spend about 10 minutes planning your essay, 45 minutes writing it and 5 minutes checking it.

I. Planning your essay:

It is important to plan your essay well. Make points clearly and logically so that the examiner can follow your argument. Take time to devise a plan before you start writing. This avoids rambling account and allow a structure which is easy to follow. You might find that the following points help you to plan your essay well:

· Read the question carefully. Make sure you have understood what you are being asked to do (the question may be in two parts)

· If you are completing an AS examination, the question will also have a list of bullet points to help you focus on the question. Make sure you engage with this guidance points BUT be aware that they do not in themselves give you the structure of the essay!

· It is sensible to plan your essay in French. This will prevent you writing ideas you are not able to express in the target language.

· Focus on the key words. For example, you may be asked to analyse, evaluate, explore or explain.

· Select the main point you want to make in your essay and then break this down into 3 or 4 sub-sections. They will become your paragraphs.

· Choose relevant information only!

· Decide on the order of your paragraphs. It might be a good idea to keep your strongest idea for your last paragraph. Note down linking words or phrases you can use between paragraphs to make your essay flow as a coherent and logical argument.

· Select one or two relevant and concise quotations which you can use to illustrate some of the points you make.

· Think about the suggested word count for the essay. It should always be possible to write a meaningful essay within the allocated number of words. So try to answer concisely.

· Think about how to introduce and conclude your essay, ensuring that you have answered the question set.

You might find the following template helpful to plan your essay:

II. Writing the essay:

· Remember that you are writing for a person who is reading your essay: the content should be interesting and should communicate your meaning with clarity and coherence.

· Stick to your plan and do not get side tracked into developing an argument or a point that is not relevant to the question set.

Introduction:

· It should be a single paragraph (approx. 5 lines)

· You can use a short sentence to introduce the film or the text you have studied.

· Show your understanding of the question: you should explain to your reader what you understand the question to mean, identify the issue it raises and how you are going to tackle them.

Question: Examinez le personnage de Saïd dans le film La Haine.

Introduction :

Development :

· This part will be divided into a number of interconnected paragraphs, each of which will pick up and develop the points raised in your introduction.

· Each paragraph should be introduced with a sentence stating what the paragraph is about.

· Make sure you are following a clear pathway through your paragraphs leading to your conclusion. You should move from one facet of your argument to the next, linking them conceptually by, for example, contrast, addition or comparison.

· Each paragraph must have an internal logic whereby you examine a separate point, making your argument, supporting it with evidence and possibly quotations and drawing conclusions.

· Try to have balanced paragraphs (with about the same amount of content).

Example (last paragraph):

Conclusion :

· Read through what you have written again and THEN write your conclusion.

· It should summarise your arguments succinctly

· Be careful not to simply lift passages from your development!

III. Check your work :

· Review your essay carefully and check for errors of: grammar, punctuation, accents and spelling.

· Check especially: verb endings, tenses and moods, and adjectival agreements.

· You should employ a good range of vocabulary and include terminology related to film and literature.

Published on October 6th, 2023 | by Adrian Lomezzo

How to Write an Essay in French Without Giving Yourself Away as a Foreigner

Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-a-quote-on-a-paper-5425603/

Bienvenue! Do you dream of unleashing your inner French literary genius, but worry that your writing might inadvertently reveal your foreign roots? Fret not, mes amis, as we have the ultimate guide to help you master the art of essay writing en Français!

Within these pages, we’ll navigate the intricate waters of linguistic nuances, cultural subtleties, and grammatical finesse, allowing you to exude the aura of a native French speaker effortlessly. Many students like you have embarked on this journey, seeking academic assistance from platforms like  https://paperwritten.com/  to conquer their writing pursuits.

From crafting a compelling introduction to fashioning impeccable conclusions, we’ll unveil the secrets that will leave your professors applauding your newfound linguistic prowess. So, bid adieu to those awkward linguistic giveaways and embrace the sheer elegance of French expression – all while keeping your foreign identity beautifully concealed! Let’s embark on this adventure together and unlock the true essence of writing like a native French virtuoso.

1.   Mastering French Grammar and Vocabulary: Building a Strong Foundation

To create a compelling French essay, it’s essential to lay a solid groundwork. Ensure that your French grammar is accurate and that you possess a rich vocabulary. Avoid relying on online translators, as they may yield awkward or incorrect sentences. Instead, embrace reputable dictionaries and language resources to enhance your language skills effectively.

2.   Mimic Sentence Structures: The Art of Authentic Expression

To truly immerse yourself in the French language, observe and mimic the sentence structures used by native speakers. Analyzing essays written by experienced writers can prove invaluable in grasping the authentic style required to compose a captivating essay.

3.   Use Transition Words: Crafting a Smooth Flow of Ideas

In French essays, the use of transition words and phrases plays a pivotal role in connecting ideas seamlessly. Incorporate expressions like “de plus,” “en outre,” “en conclusion,” “tout d’abord,” and “par conséquent” to add coherence and elegance to your writing.

4.   Embrace French Idioms and Expressions: Unveiling Cultural Fluency

Demonstrate a deeper understanding of the French language and culture by incorporating idioms and expressions where appropriate. However, remember to use them sparingly to avoid overwhelming your essay.

5.   Pay Attention to Formality: Striking the Right Tone

Tailor the formality of your writing to suit the context of your essay. Whether you are crafting an academic piece or a more personal creation, be mindful of your choice of vocabulary and sentence structures to match the required tone.

6.   Research Cultural References: The Power of In-depth Knowledge

If your essay touches upon French culture, history, or literature, extensive research is key. Delve into your subjects to avoid mistakes and showcase your genuine interest in the matter at hand.

7.   Avoid Direct Translations: Let French Be French

To avoid awkward phrasing, strive to think in French rather than translating directly from your native language. This will lead to a more natural and eloquent essay.

8.   Practice Writing Regularly: The Path to Proficiency

Mastering the art of French writing requires regular practice. Embrace writing in French frequently to grow more comfortable with the language and refine your unique writing style.

9.   Read French Literature: A Gateway to Inspiration

Explore the world of French literature to expose yourself to diverse writing styles. This practice will deepen your understanding of the language and immerse you further in French culture and history.

10.   Connect with French Culture: Bridges of Cultural Resonance

Incorporate cultural references that resonate with French readers, such as art, cuisine, festivals, historical figures, or social customs. Authenticity is key, so avoid relying on stereotypes.

11.   Use a French Thesaurus: Expanding Your Linguistic Palette

Discovering new contextually appropriate words can elevate your writing. Embrace a French thesaurus to find synonyms that may not be apparent through direct translations.

12.   Master French Punctuation: The Finishing Touch

Take care to use correct French punctuation marks, such as guillemets (« ») for quotes and proper accent marks. These subtle details add a professional touch to your essay.

13.   Practice French Rhetorical Devices: Crafting Eloquent Prose

Experiment with rhetorical devices like parallelism, repetition, and antithesis to lend depth and sophistication to your writing.

14.   Pay Attention to Word Order: Unlocking French Sentence Structure

French boasts a unique sentence structure distinct from English. Dive into the intricacies of subject-verb-object order and grasp the art of organizing sentences to sidestep common foreign mistakes. Embracing this essential aspect will elevate your writing to a truly native level.

15.   Use French Idiomatic Expressions: Infuse Cultural Flair

Enrich your prose with the colorful tapestry of French idioms, reflecting the vibrant essence of the culture. Yet, a word of caution – wield them with finesse, for the strategic placement of an idiom can imbue your essay with unparalleled flair and authenticity.

16.   Master Pronouns and Agreement: The Dance of Language

The dance of pronouns, nouns, and adjectives requires your keen attention. Like a skilled performer, ensure their seamless alignment to avoid inadvertently revealing your non-native status. Mastering this harmony is key to writing like a true Francophone.

17.   Understand Subtle Connotations: Unveiling Linguistic Shades

Delve into the labyrinth of French words, where subtle connotations diverge from their English counterparts. Familiarize yourself with these delicate nuances, for it is in their mastery that your writing shall find refinement.

18.   Study Formal and Informal Registers: Tailoring Language to Purpose

Akin to selecting the perfect outfit for each occasion, comprehend the art of using formal and informal language. Consider your essay’s purpose and audience, and with this knowledge, enhance your authenticity, seamlessly aligning with the appropriate linguistic register.

19.   Practice Dialogue Writing: Conversing with Eloquence

Embark on the journey of dialogue writing to enrich your linguistic repertoire. As you hone your conversational skills, watch as authenticity gracefully weaves itself into your written work, enchanting readers with its charm.

20.   Seek Feedback: A Second Set of Eyes

To refine your essay further, seek the guidance of a native French speaker or language tutor from the  best cheap essay writing services . Their valuable feedback can uncover any language or cultural mistakes you may have made, allowing you to make necessary improvements.

Equip yourself with these priceless tips and set forth on your quest to master the art of French writing. Embrace the language’s allure, immerse in its rich culture, and watch your words flow with grace and poise. À la plume! Let the pen become your ally in crafting captivating prose that echoes with authenticity and charm. 

Header Photo Credit by George Milton: https://www.pexels.com/photo/smiling-woman-in-eyeglasses-with-books-7034478/

About the Author

Adrian Lomezzo is a content writer and likes to write about technology and education. He understands the concern of parents due to the evolving technology and researches deeply in that area. When he is not researching, he buries himself in books along with his favorite cup of hot chocolate.

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Writing essays in French Cheat Sheet by JAM

Useful expressions to help structure your A level French essay.

Introd­ucing the first argument

Adding and listing arguments

Listing arguments - start.

Listing arguments - middle

Listing arguments - end

Indicating the reason for something

Expressing contrast / concession

Introd­ucing one's own point of view.

In conclusion

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• Languages: English français (French)
• Published: 21st September, 2013
• Last Updated: 26th February, 2020
• Rated: 5 out of 5 stars based on 9 ratings

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these are very helpful thank you

Simple et utile, j'aime.

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How to Improve Your French Writing

Do you enjoy writing and learning French?

If so, why not do both? It’s one of the best ways to immerse yourself in the language .

In this post, we’ll look at how you can start with the basics and work up to practicing in a variety of different writing styles.

Essentials for Writing in French

How to write well in french, learn how narration works, learn the passé simple, grow your vocabulary, use online resources to get started, tips to improve french writing, track your progress with a journal, try writing poetry, put new words to immediate use, don’t use a dictionary too often, write a little first, then check grammar, why are french writing skills important, and one more thing....

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

To be good at writing in French, there are a number of different skills that you’ll need to brush up on. Putting the following skills together will help your writing sound more fluent and improve your overall accuracy:

• Sentence structure
• Conjugations

Narrating in French involves a complicated weaving of different verb tenses. It’s critical to learn to use the right tense at the right time .

To set the scene, use the imparfait  to describe things that are happening, or characteristics of participants, as the principal action is taking place.

Principal events in a timeline can be narrated in the passé composé or the  passé simple.  In some cases, this type of narration might even  make use of the  présent . Narration can be either in the present or in the past depending on the narrator’s point of view.

Let’s look at this sentence as an example:

Alors que le roi se promenait dans son jardin, un gland est tombé sur sa tête.

(As the king was walking in his garden, an acorn fell on his head.)

Notice how se promener  is in the  imparfait but tomber is in the  passé composé . The king walking is “setting the scene,” and the acorn falling is the principal event in the narration. This is just one example of French narration.

Instead of using the passé composé, we could use the passé simple when narrating principal events.

Our sentence thus becomes:

Alors que le roi se promenait dans son jardin, un gland tomba sur sa tête .

In written French, the  passé simple can take the place of the  passé composé (unless it’s a quote of someone speaking). It’s a much more economical way of narrating, although often not taught by French teachers.

Knowing your audience is just as important as good tense use. The way you write a text, specifically the vocabulary used, differs between, say, children’s stories, emails to your boss and text messages to your close friends.

Writing is a great way to learn vocabulary because you’re putting that vocabulary into use instead of just reading it.

If you have story ideas but are unsure how to proceed, there are many online resources to help you.

Here are a few ways you can use them.

• Try collaborative French writing forums.

Certain forums, such as De Plume en Plume  or  Le Monde de L’Écriture , allow you to actually post short stories for review in exchange for reviewing other peoples’ work.

Commentary can include anything that helps you finish your story, be it grammar corrections, critiques or ideas of how to continue. These sites also propose written exercises such as collaborative writing or prompts like “Describe a garden in under 100 words.”

• Check out concours de nouvelles.

Many French libraries, universities and municipalities host writing contests called concours de nouvelles (literally “short story competition”) where certain people can submit a text. Some have entry conditions (e.g., participants must be under/over a certain age, live in a region, etc.), but others are open to anyone.

Usually, contests give you specific scenarios, such as writing a story based on a simple picture or completing an unfinished work.

There are a range of different ways you can improve your French writing skills. Here are some ideas to get you warmed up.

Language instructors often integrate a written journal into their curricula because it lets students see their improvement in real-time. The writing is personal, so you can experiment with more complicated structures, knowing you won’t be critiqued.

Poetry teaches you to not only write in French, but to become comfortable handling the language. This is your chance to break out of the groove of repetitive exercises and truly experiment. Try reading up on French poetry and then writing some of your own using rhyming, plays on words, etc.

You’re probably already reading French daily (or you should be!). Once you learn a new word, make sure you utilize it right away in your writing, otherwise it might slip away from your memory.

If you’re pressed for time, you can use language learning programs like Duolingo or Memrise to quickly pick up and learn French words. 

It’s okay if you can’t think of a synonym for every word. Just use the words you know. I try to “talk around” words I don’t know if I get stuck. After all, it’s what you do when speaking. Only if this is impossible should you use a dictionary.

Keep in mind that even if you know a word, you might not know its gender or spelling. Sometimes it’s possible to guess the spelling from pronunciation, and genders might be inferred from similar words, but often you’ll just have to memorize.

You don’t want to rely on dictionaries or grammar books to check every sentence, but at the same time you don’t want to wait until you’re completely done with a piece of writing to check it over. Usually I write roughly a paragraph, then check it before moving on. This lets me learn from my mistakes in real-time while not using learning resources as a crutch.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

Try FluentU for FREE!

It’s important to know that modern French society may test how well you write in many situations. Here are just a couple examples.

The phenomenon of graphologie

Even with computers, writing on paper remains very important in France. It’s so important, in fact, that many employers use it to learn more about their employees.

As part of a pseudo-scientific practice known as graphology, prospective employees submit handwritten letters that are analyzed by graphologists to determine psychological traits from their handwriting. The BBC provides a good explanation for the French enthusiasm for graphology.

The French take letters seriously!

It’s not a stretch to say that the French use written correspondence more than English speakers do. Up until recently, it was often considered more polite to submit handwritten letters of motivation than typed letters when applying for a job.

Unlike the relative creative liberty given in American business correspondence, French counterparts usually follow tried-and-true templates, such as the one seen here .

Notice the last line:

“Veuillez agréer, (Madame, Monsieur), l’expression de mes sincères salutations.” (Please accept, [Sir or Madam], the expression of my sincere greetings.)

This long-winded formality, called a formule de politesse,  is one of the mainstays of formal communication in French —a long way from our simple “From” or “Sincerely”!

Now you have everything you need to start developing your French writing skills!

Although it might seem like a daunting task, with the above tips and plenty of practice, your writing should see an improvement in no time.

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.

For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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French Essay: Topics, Tips, and Examples [2024 Updated]

Nowadays, knowing several foreign languages is no longer surprising. For example, learning French is common for English-speaking countries. So, getting an assignment on this subject won’t be a surprise for a student.

Writing a French essay, you can dwell into:

• the history of the French language;
• various dialects;
• its grammatical features;
• similarities between French and English (or another language);
• the distribution of the language around the globe.

One studying the language may penetrate the rich French culture and comprehend the nation itself. Besides, writing a French essay can develop the author’s writing skills and broaden their outlook. And even if you make mistakes doing so, it’s not the end of the world. The fact that you’re able to recognize them is already good enough, and you can fix complex errors using a free essay rewriter .

Our writers prepared French essay topics and tips for you to nail your task. See the examples below for better understanding.

📯 French Essay Topics

Are you one of those who are assigned to write French essays? Then we suggest you pick out some of the following problems to investigate:

• History of the French language;
• Dialects of the French language;
• French phonology ;
• French orthography;
• French grammar ;
• French alphabet.

The suggested topics are too vague and need narrowing. You may single out some aspects and analyze it in your paper. An excellent French essay topic should be:

• Broad for you to have enough room to develop your arguments;
• Narrow enough for you to be able to concentrate on one or several points;
• It should also be creative and original. You want people to enjoy reading it, right?
• Most importantly, the topic should be interesting for you.

If the essay topics seem too formal to you, study, for example, your progress in analyzing the French language. Alternatively, you can state what attracts you in the language and explain why. You may also do a comparative analysis of French and some other languages. Comparing French with English may turn out to be a fascinating task to cope with. Both languages will benefit from your French essay writing.

Here are some topics and French essay examples you can consider writing about:

• Your progress in learning the French language . Here you can write about your personal experience learning the French language. What techniques do you apply, and what motivates you personally? You can explain why you have to learn how to speak French.
• How are the French language and culture in Southern France different from Parisian? In this essay, you can compare the Southern French dialect and culture with the one in Paris. What are some of the critical phonetic, grammar, and linguistic characteristics of Southern French?
• Parisian dialect as a standard of French. When people think about the French language, the Parisian variant immediately comes to mind. In this essay, you can analyze why Parisian French became the standard version.
• Why do you enjoy learning French? This essay focuses on your personal preferences and likes in the process of learning.
• What makes it fun and enjoyable? Is it French movies, French literature, or understanding French written work documents?
• French influence on English . Although English is a Germanic language, it looks and sounds a lot like French. The influence which French had on English is significant. Look at some historical reasons (the Norman invasion in particular) and why English benefited from it.
• French language in 19th century Russia. Not everyone knows that French was the official language of the Russian elite in the 19th century. Discuss the reasons why and what influence French culture had on Russian literature, music, and language.
• The effect of the French language on the development of English writing . More than 10,000 French words came into the English language. Not only did the vocabulary of English get more prosperous, but the French way of spelling and letter convention influenced English orthography.
• What caused French to become an aristocratic language in Europe? The reasons why the French language became so dominant throughout Europe are broad. In this essay, you can focus on economic grounds, cultural or political reasons.
• An analysis of Canadian French. This essay can be a comparative analysis of Canadian and European French. What are the main differences? What are some similarities between the two variants?
• Is there any similarity between French and German ? All of the languages in the Indo-European language family have some similarities. Therefore, French and German are not exceptions. You can focus on sentence structure, word order, pronunciation, or phonetics.
• The popular strategies in English-French translation .
• Describe the challenges of French language acquisition.
• Analyze the peculiarities of French vowel pronunciation.
• Cultural events and their traditions in French-speaking countries .
• Discuss the advantages of learning French.
• Examine the semantic peculiarities of the French language.
• Explore the role of watching movies in the French language learning process.
• Comparison of language education theories.
• Analyze the impact of French language learning on your personality.  
• Describe the methods you’ve used to improve your French language fluency and which turned out to be the most effective.
• Similarities and differences between realism and naturalism in Spanish and French literature .
• What is the role of the French language in the modern world?
• Advantages and disadvantages of knowledge of multiple languages .
• Discuss the role of the French language in the United States.
• The specifics of learning French in early childhood.
• Compare the grammar peculiarities of English and French languages.
• How is the concept of friendship interpreted in American and French cultures?
• Analyze the correlation between the history of France and French language development.
• Explore the origin of the French language.
• Verbal and non-verbal communication in French culture.
• Examine the crucial role of French literature in learning French.
• Describe the relationship between French culture and language.
• Is it a good idea to integrate bilingual programs in early childhood education?
• Discuss the best ways to prepare for the speaking exam in French.
• The role of audiovisual materials in learning French.
• What difficulties did you face when learning to write in French?
• The essential role of sociocultural context when translating from French.
• Compare the customs of French, Chinese, and Hispanic cultures.
• The best methods of learning the second language .
• Describe the best ways of promoting language development for French language learners.
• Analyze the methods of French word formation .
• Would you like to become a French language teacher?
• Analysis of the food words in English and other European languages.
• Examine the specifics of the French language in former French colonies.

Do not treat your French essay as an ordinary task to undertake. Make it as creative as possible!

🖋️ How to Write a French Essay

Note that writing on some language problems requires more than your knowledge of the subject matter. It also tests your abilities to present them in terms of academic writing.

Special care should be taken concerning the following:

• The structural organization of your French essay.

Mostly, it is similar to any other academic essay :

• It should start with a hook . In simple terms, it is the opening sentence or two of your writing. It can be a quote, a short story, or a catchy statement that grabs the reader’s attention.

Here’s an example of from the sample essay:

Every language is a mirror of society, a living organism that exists and changes under the influence of historical, political, and social conditions.

• The next part of your essay is a thesis statement . Typically, it should be placed at the end of the first paragraph. The thesis statement’s purpose is to state the central idea in one or two phrases.

Here is a thesis statement from our French essay example:

Today, it is common to study English as a foreign language, as an international means of communication. However, this does not diminish the importance of learning other foreign language like French.

• After that, the body of the essay should start. This part of the composition usually has three separate paragraphs. These paragraphs can include research, supporting evidence, and arguments that prove the point of view.
• The conclusion brings together all the points of the essay. It goes back to the thesis statement and explains the broader importance of the topic. It is the last chance to leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Here is an example form our French essay sample:

To conclude, the above discussion provides evidence and arguments that maintain the position according to which learning French is a necessity nowadays. The crucial points are as follows; first, French has a long tradition of international language; second, French is spoken around the globe; third, it is a language of international relationships. The opposing position that English is sufficient for appropriate global communication was claimed unreasonable – an emphasis in this regard was on the essence of cultural and language diversity.

• The logical organization of your French essay .

There are some ways in which you can coherently write your essay. The following three aspects can guide you when organizing your French essay:

• Topic sentence : you should mind linking elements within the paragraphs and between them. First of all, each section should include a topic sentence. It aims to identify the central idea and express an overall direction in which the writer will develop the paragraph.

The demand for knowledge of a language has changed in recent years.

• Concluding sentence: each paragraph should also include a concluding sentence. It asserts the main idea of the section and sums up all the information said in it.

It may be claimed that in a period of rather an aggressive introduction of the Anglo-American language in the world, the French need to persistently and resolutely defend their language, their national interests, and calls on other nations to preserve linguistic diversity.

• Linking words: it is crucial to use linking words in your essay. Linking words show relationships between ideas. It can be used to build sentences together to develop a cohesive paragraph.

To see the full essay sample, check the link below:

• Grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.

The last step in writing an A+ French essay is proofreading and editing. Before submitting your academic paper, make sure to pay attention to grammar, spelling, and vocabulary mistakes . Without proofreading, your writing can contain typos and errors that will not leave a good impression.

Good luck with your French essay writing! We hope the article was helpful. If so, share it with your peers and leave a comment below to let us know what you think.

This might be interesting for you:

• How to Write an Expository Essay in Simple Steps
• Nursing Reflective Essay Example and Guidelines for Students
• Essay on Dengue Fever: How to Write + Free Examples
• Objective Essay Writing: How to Write, Topics and Examples
• Organizing an Essay: Jerry Plotnick, College Writing Centre, University of Toronto
• Organizing an Essay: Study Guide Zone
• Paragraphs & Topic Sentences: Writing Guides, Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University Bloomington
• Thesis Generator: Ashford Writing Center
• Proofreading: The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Basic Essay and Paragraph Format: Utah Valley University
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It is not helpful to me.

Thanks for the help with out this i wouldn’t even know what to do on my essay

Hi, do you also do French powerpoint presentation?

Good advice. Thanks.

This was a very great help. I’m writing a French essay, and I know, thanks to your post and the provided tips on French essay writing, I will pass!

Hi! I just want to thank you for your ideas and tips for writing French essays! Write a French paper in English or write an essay for the French by an American) Funny.

Thanks a lot for the help.

No problem, Sash:) Good luck!

Polyglot Life

Become bilingual – Deviens bilingue

DELF writing exam: how to prepare (DELF, DALF, TEF, TCF)

Summary – French exams: what you are really tested on – How to write a French essay – Why it’s important to structure your texts and use logical connectors – How having structure lowers the stress level – Why work with a coach to prepare an exam – 4 typical outlines to write a French essay

The DELF writing exam and the oral presentation can seem like daunting tasks but with good preparation, you can succeed!

There’s one thing to keep in mind when you’re taking a French test like DELF, DALF, TCF or TEF . You’re evaluated both on the “mechanical” quality of your language (grammar, spelling, pronunciation) AND your ability to express your point of view . The following advice work both for the writing and oral tasks.

As you move further up the levels (B2, C1, C2), the language becomes a tool to express convincing thoughts . You need to showcase a wide range of vocabulary and grammatical structures. You also need to organise your production to showcase your analytical skills and your opinion.

This is “French culture 101”: the French have an opinion about everything and they looooove exchanging views and arguing. In the 17th century the French aristocracy popularized the concept of “ salons ” or discussion circles. There, aristocrats, poets and well-educated guests would gather to talk about anything (grammar, philosophy, current affairs, etc). It’s at that time that French became the language of choice of most European courts (including Russia).

French essays and exposes, like French conversations, are “something like an English garden. It’s highly cultivated to look and feel natural.” The Bonjour Effect, Julie Barlow – Jean-Benoît Nadeau (2016)

And that’s why you should know the rules of the “game” and practice, practice, practice before taking the DELF writing exam.

Watch the video or keep reading

How a French essay differs from an English essay

Many things have changed since then but the education system has perpetuated this tradition for reasoning . As early as middle school, French kids learn how to write formal essays with an introduction, a conclusion and well-organized paragraphs about just about anything (litterature, philosophy, history…). As you enter secondary and post-secondary schools, you’ve acquired the structure so well that, when facing a “ problématique ” (a complex question), you immediately start to envision a 2 or 3-parts essay (see at the end of this post for the detailed breakdown).

In a French essay, you’re supposed to pick a side and clearly state your personal answer to the problematique but not before you’ve examined the pros and cons and explained why we should value some aspects over others.

When I went to Ireland to study for a year, I had to “re-learn” how to write an essay. Over there, I was supposed to pick a side at the beginning and defend my choice. Two or three supporting arguments explained why why my choice was the best option. Although you include some cons or limitations, it wouldn’t take up as much space as in a French essay. It’s possible to use the same patterns to write essays in English and in French. However I think the most common patterns differ from one country to another. I’m not an expert in writing English essays so I could be mistaken…

The importance of signposting in your DELF writing exam

Once aspect that’s common to all good essays is the importance of structuring your thoughts .

The French essay will mix a lot of contradicting ideas and include nuances. In order not to lose your audience, you need to have a very clear structure. You need to take them by the hand at the beginning and constantly let them know where you are , how you got there and where you’re going next .

Think of this as driving… When you’re going from point A  to point B , you use a map and sign posts . You also use your signals (turn, headlights, stop) to communicate your intentions to other drivers…

Well it’s exactly what you need to do to get a great score at your test . Be very clear about your map and constantly share your “directions” . That way the reader/audience can understand where you are and the logic of your thoughts. 

“Articulateurs logiques”: logical connectors are essentials in your DELF writing exam

To signpost, you’ll need what we call “articulateurs logiques”. They can be adverbs, conjunctions, expressions… So, make sure you learn a few connecting words for each concept (opposition, concession, addition, sequencing…) so that you’re not always using the same ones.

The higher level the exam, the more variety you’ll need . Learn 2-3 connecting words for each concept at B1 level, 4-5 at B2 level . For C1 and C2 try to learn some fancy connectors you’ll only see in the newspapers. Make sure you work with your coach or a qualified tutor to understand all the nuances between these words. Linking words are not always interchangeable.

How signposting keeps the brain calm

Especially in the oral exam , this will have a beneficial effect both on your brain and on the examiner’s . On one hand, you’ll be calmer as you won’t get confused about what to say next. On the other hand, the examiners will follow your train of thoughts clearly. They will be more relaxed as they don’t need to figure out where the heck you’re going with this.

You will provide context and direction . Even though your sentences may not be 100% correct, it will be easier for them to understand . If they don’t, they may ask for clarification after so you’ll get a second chance to get it right.

In the writing exam, you won’t waste precious time while writing the essay. You’ll know what you want to say, your thoughts will flow faster.

And you’ll score points for your ability to organize your thoughts and be convincing. Honestly, these are easy extra points to get if you practice complying with the format .

An exam is already a stressful process. T he last thing you want is to go through it with your brain in “panic mode” .

You might also like to read this post: 3 ways to calm your brain

How to prepare for your French exam

Don’t think you can “wing it” on the day of the exam. It’s not something you can improvise on the day of the exam, you do need to practice .

Some strategies will help and make your training a lot more efficient in the long run. 

The principles of the best strategies are: 

• Acquire knowledge (read, listen…) about the most frequent exam topics
• Take notes and organize your knowledge into your brain: for example with mindmaps, flashcards, memory palace…
• Practice finding a “ problématique ” (a complex question) on a topic and brainstorm to draft an outline . You can invent one and/or use past exams samples .

If you do that, you’ll accumulate efficient hours of practice thinking about these topics and organizing your thoughts. You’ll already have arguments and examples, therefore you’ll feel more confident on the day of the exam.

Once that’s done, you can focus on the form and produce the best French you can. 

A convincing expose or essay for a French proficiency test is roughly 1/3 knowledge, 1/3 methodology and 1/3 language skills* * grammar, vocabulary + enunciation if oral

The benefits of working with a Neurolanguage coach

We understand the necessity of keeping the brain calm and strive to remain in this state during the sessions . We provide tools for you to achieve this state when you study independantly and then when you’re taking the exam.

I find it can be useful to mix working with a tutor or teacher and with a language coach.

With the first one, learn specific aspects of the language, correct some exercises and get extra speaking practice.

When you meet with your coach , you can work on 3 aspects . First, you can fine tune your understanding of a concept. Neurolanguage coaches constantly focus on making grammar “digestible” for your brain. We have in-depth knowledge of the mechanics of the language. We will encourage you to create connections with concepts you already know. Then, we work on your fluency by practicing focused conversation. Finally we’ll draft up together a customized plan to improve.

Your coach will steer the conversation to practice what you need to and facilitate the creation of the connections in your brain . The end goal is that you learn how to think in French naturally.

Instead of lecturing about French essays, we’ll make sure you can embrace the exercise with your own style and your own words .

Types of French outlines (called plans )

Now that you know why it’s important, here are some concrete resources to help you. These are 3 examples of typical French essay or expose outlines.

PATTERN A: it unfolds like a Moliere play – Part 1: Exposition / Facts – Part 2: The action , what problems are we facing because of Part 1 facts – Part 3: The resolution

PATTERN B: everything in life is relative, a philosopher’s reflection – Part 1: “Yes/White” (thèse = thesis, which reflects the direction you’re leaning toward to answer the question) – Part 2: “No/Black” (antithèse = antithesis) – Part 3: “Yes but,/Grey” (synthèse = synthesis, from the arguments in part 1 and 2, find a middle ground or opening to an answer that’s neither of the extremes)

PATTERN C: “YES, BUT…” It’s also acceptable to do 2 parts only: – Part 1: 2 or 3 arguments in favour of your point of view (YES) – Part 2: Limitations of Part 1’s arguments (BUT, why it’s not ideal) Your conclusion would emphasize the upsides of your arguments and how we could overcome the limitations.

PATTERN D: Chronological – Part 1: Phase 1 or Before /The past – Part 2: Phase 2 or Now /The present – Part 3: Phase 3 or After /The future

Which outline should you choose for the DELF writing exam?

There is no “right” pattern, it will depend on what you have to say . The content needs to be divided into balanced parts .

• Pattern A is efficient because there’s tension , your audience wants to know the end of the play.
• On the other hand, pattern B might be the most difficult . You may end up not being convincing enough in conveying your opinion to your audience.
• Pattern C is maybe the most accessible if you’re used to writing English-style essays.
• Pattern D is a rather obvious choice when you’re dealing with a topic spread across a period of time with distinct phases. Make sure you include argumentation, not just facts !

Troubleshooting: If you’ve decided to do 3 parts but end up with 2 long ones and a short one, it means you should do 2 parts only or find more material for your 3rd part. If you were going for a 2-parts outline but have a lot of sub-parts (paragaphs within each section), you should probably divide them up in 3 parts. That’s why it’s important to think and plan before you start writing your DELF exam.

Keep in mind the word count range you’re allowed at the test you’re taking and practice the format.

Watch this video explaining the process leading to writing a good outline

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Related post, gifts for learners of french who are afraid of speaking, best resources to immerse yourself in the french language, french conjugation rules: the big picture.

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Improve Your Written French Today

Whether you want to pen a love letter or submit an essay in France, you need to know how to write in French. Luckily, learning how to write in French is fairly straightforward. Since French uses the Latin Alphabet, you’re already ahead of the game. Improve your writing in French fast with these easy steps.

The Basics of French Writing for Beginners

When it comes to French writing, it’s a little different than speaking French. But, if you know how to read French well, you shouldn’t have a lot of problems.

Before you read the 8 easy steps of learning to write in French, there’s one important factor in mastering French writing: practice. The only way you can truly improve your French writing skills is with a lot of practice . Make sure you write a little bit in French every day. Soon, you’ll find that writing in French is like second nature.

1. Watch Out for French Spelling

One of the biggest obstacles that throws French learners off is spelling. Unfortunately, those silent letters that you don’t pronounce are very much there in writing. Be careful how you spell certain complicated words. You need to master all parts of French grammar to write French correctly.

2. Genders Influence Grammar in French

You may already know that nouns have genders in French. They can either be masculine or feminine. And depending on the gender, different parts of a French sentence need to be conjugated.

• articles : French articles need to be conjugated to reflect the gender and the number of the noun. These can be ‘le’, ‘la’, ‘l”, and ‘les’ for definite articles, and ‘un’ and ‘une’ for indefinite articles.
• pronouns : Pronouns in French are the words that replace the name of the subject in a sentence. ‘He’, ‘she’, and ‘them’ are some examples of pronouns in English. In French, you need to use different forms of pronouns depending on the gender of the subject.
• adjectives : When you’re describing a noun, you use an adjective. And since the noun is the only reason the adjective’s there in the sentence, you need to make the adjective fit the noun in French. There are various ways to conjugate French adjectives depending on the gender and the number of the noun, so make sure you brush up on that knowledge before you write in French.

3. Careful with French Accent Marks

French accent marks also don’t do us any favors. While they’re extremely useful when it comes to French pronunciation, their writing isn’t as straightforward. Try to associate the sound with the written French word. There are only 5 accent marks in French. One is the cedilla (ç), which only works with the letter “c”, and another is the acute accent (é), which only sits on top of the letter “e”. So in practice, there are only 3 different kinds of accents you should look out for in French.

4. Follow the French Sentence Structures

English and French sentence structures are similar in many ways. Both follow the SVO (subject-verb-object) structure, which makes writing in French much easier. And just like in English, the French sentence structure is also flexible. You can switch the words around to emphasize a part of a sentence, but still have the same meaning.

• Tomorrow , I’m going to work.    Demain  je vais travailler. I’m going to work  tomorrow .   Je vais travailler  demain .

The most important part of the first sentence is the time the speaker goes to work. The second sentence focuses on the subject, the speaker instead. Still, both sentences convey the same meaning of going to work.

If you want to ask a question in French, you can do so by putting a question word at the beginning of the sentence. Common question words are:

• How  Comment
• What  Que / Qu’est-ce que queue
• What kind  Quel genre
• When  Quand
• Why   Pourquoi

You can also ask a question by switching the order of the verb and the pronoun around, and connecting them with a hyphen:

• Do you speak English?    Parlez-vous anglais ?

It’s important to remember these basic rules of French sentence structure before you start writing in French. If you want to learn how to write in French effectively, practice these 4 steps a lot.

Psst! Did you know we have a language learning app?

• It teaches you useful words and phrases.
• Presented in a natural, everyday context.
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You’re only one click away!

How to Write in French for Intermediate Students

If you’re an intermediate French learner you’re familiar with basic French grammar, and you’re confident in writing in French. But, there’s always room to improve. Once you know the basic steps of how to write in French, it’s time to make your writing even better. You can start paying attention to style, flow, and structure. The tips below will benefit your French writing practice.

5. Try Nominalization

This useful technique will make your sentences better. Nominalization means that you make nouns in the sentence more dominant. While in English, the dominant words are verbs, in French, you can write with the focus of the noun instead, making them more meaningful. Here’s an example to demonstrate.

• Normal sentence: The ice cream is cold. – La glace est froide.
• Nominalized sentence: The ice cream is cold. – La glace, c’est droid.

6. Use French Conjunctions

Conjunctions are the tools to write complex French sentences. Without them, you’re limited to simple and boring sentence structures. As an intermediate student, you can start connecting two equal or unequal sentences to make an even more interesting phrase. Here are the different kinds of French conjunctions you can use to write better in French:

Coordinating Conjunctions:

You use these kinds of conjunctions to connect two equal sentences. The most common coordinating conjunctions in French are:

Subordinating Conjunctions:

If one of the sentences in unequal or dependent on the other, you need to use subordinating conjunctions. These connectors often show causality. The most common conjunctions in French for this category are:

7. Style and Flow

Now that you wield the power of conjunctions, you have to be careful with it. As fun as it is to write long and complicated sentences in French, it doesn’t sound good. Make sure you use appropriate sentence lengths as you’re writing in French.

Aim for shorter sentences. Make them explain your point well. But, feel free to mix the flow up with the occasional longer sentences. That’s how you write in French with a nice and smooth flow. And that’s how you perfect your French writing too. It will be a pleasure to read your work.

Writing in French for Advanced Learners

Once you mastered all of the French writing rules, you’re officially an advanced French learner. But, there may still be room to improve your French writing. If you’re looking to kick your projects up a notch, you can learn how to write essays and dissertations in French. These pointers will be useful if you ever attend school or university in France, or you want to take a language exam.

8. Get Familiar with French Essay Structure

When you’re writing an essay, you have to structure it for readability. If you want to learn how French high schoolers are taught to write their essays, this is the structure they follow: thèse-antithèse-synthèse (thesis-antithesis-synthesis). Learn how to write French essays using a traditional French essay structure.

• Introduction : You begin your essay by having an introduction, which is a context for argument.
• Thesis : In this section, you present and defend the statement of your thesis. You need to write everything that supports the topic of your essay.
• Antithesis : The antithesis follows the thesis. This is where you state conflicting evidence and explain other potential substitutes for your essay. Including an antithesis doesn’t mean that you disagree with your original thesis. You just need to show that you thought of all possibilities before arriving to your conclusion.
• Synthesis : This is your conclusion. This is where you summarize your arguments, and explain why you still stand by your original thesis despite the antithesis.

9. Use Introduction and Conclusion Vocabulary

Certain words can encourage sentence flow by introducing or concluding some parts of your work.

• tout d’abord (firstly)
• premièrement (firstly)
• deuxièmement (secondly)
• ensuite (then)
• enfin (finally)
• finalement (finally)
• pour conclure (to conclude)

You can use these words when introducing a new idea to your dissertation or essay. These words will signal the readers that they are encountering a new part or thought of your writing process.

10. Writing a Dissertation in French

This is the form of writing you encounter in French higher education. It’s a very complex form of French writing, only the most advanced and fluent French learners should attempt it. It’s also a longer piece of academic writing. It may take you weeks to complete research and write your French dissertation.

The French dissertation is similar to essay structure. But, there’s one main difference: your thesis isn’t a statement, but rather a question. It’s your job in the dissertation to take the reader through your thought process and research to answer your question. This logic is known as “ Cartesian logic .” It comes from Descartes , who was a well known French philosopher.

History of Written French

French was used in Strasbourg Oaths, and it first appeared in writing in 842 AD. Before then, Latin was the only language used for literature in Europe. However, in the 10th and 11th centuries, French appeared in some religious writings and documents but was not used up to the late 12th century or early 13th century. The first greatest French Literature work, the Song of Roland (Chanson de Roland), was published around the year 1200.

Writing in French Alone Won’t Make You Fluent

You need to learn how to write in French to be proficient in the language. But, it won’t make you fluent. The only way to become fluent is to practice speaking French. While it’s crucial to develop every area of your French knowledge, if you want to be fluent in French, you need a reliable language learning method like OptiLingo.

OptiLingo is an app that gets you speaking, not typing a language. It gives you the most common French words and phrases, so you’re guaranteed to learn the most useful vocabulary. Don’t waste time trying to learn French you’ll never use. Complement your French writing practice with fun speaking exercises when you download OptiLingo !

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French Writing Practice

French writing exercises by level.

Practise your French writing skills with our ever-growing collection of interactive French writing exercises for every  CEFR level from A0 to C1! If you're unsure about your current proficiency, try our test to get your French level  before diving into the exercises.

All writing exercises are made by our qualified native French teachers to help you improve your writing skills and confidence.

Kwizbot  will give you a series of prompts to translate to French. He’ll show you where you make mistakes as you go along and will suggest related lessons for you.

Boost your French writing skills by adding the lessons you find most interesting to your  Notebook and practising them later.

Click on any exercise to get started.

A1: Beginner French writing exercises

• A baseball player Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Genre masculin Sports & Leisure Catherine tells us about her friend Mathieu who plays baseball.
• A busy sea holiday [US: vacation] Le Présent (Indicatif) Article défini Idiotismes avec faire Aline spends her seaside holiday [US: vacation] enjoying water sports.
• A Christmas feast Le Présent (Indicatif) Article Préposition Food & Drink Celebrations & Important Dates Sébastien is in charge of Christmas Eve Dinner this year.
• A day in my cat Max's life Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom réfléchi Family & Relationships Juliette tells about her cat's daily routine.
• A day in the city of Le Mans Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Adjectif possessif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Audrey had a nice time visiting Le Mans, in northwestern France.
• A day with my daughter Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Verbes réguliers avec -ER Marc loves spending the day with his infant daughter!
• A declaration of love Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Article Here's a lovely love letter for your French Valentine.
• A dream Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pronom réfléchi Family & Relationships Geoffrey tells us about one of his dreams.
• A favour between colleagues Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Genre féminin Brigitte needs a favour from her colleague Sandra.
• A French lunch menu Adjectif Article Préposition Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Here's the typical lunch menu of a French coffee shop.
• A French woman Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre masculin Genre féminin Employment Élodie tells us about her everyday life as a lawyer specialising in women's rights.
• A love letter Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Pluriel Thomas writes a love letter to his girlfriend Julie.
• A love story Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif Family & Relationships Cécile and Andrew meet in a bar.
• A musical family Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif possessif Music Family & Relationships In Killian's family, everyone loves music!
• A new bedroom for Manon Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sophie and Damien are doing some cool DIY in their daughter's bedroom.
• A passion for planes Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Pluriel Léo's little brother loves planes.
• A quick phone call Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Family & Relationships Franck calls his wife Lisa before she leaves work.
• A quiet New Year's Eve Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Genre féminin Bastien likes spending New Year's Eve alone at home.
• A rainy afternoon Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Genre masculin Family & Relationships Soizic and Armelle meet up on a rainy day in Brest.
• A romantic Valentine Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom disjonctif Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Henri tells us about his special plans for Valentine's Day.
• A stylish couple Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Préposition Karim describes a couple's stylish outfits.
• A week of good deeds Le Présent (Indicatif) Article défini Article Philippe does one good deed every day.
• A week of treats Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Article défini To treat her mother, Julie organises a week of Mother's Day gifts.
• A winter meal Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pluriel Food & Drink Bernard has his perfect comfort meal for cold nights.
• Actress Anne Dorval Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Genre féminin Famous People Film & TV Claire tells us about her favourite actress, French-Canadian Anne Dorval.
• Anne's Easter loot Adjectif Préposition Pluriel Celebrations & Important Dates Anne lists all the treats she found during her Easter egg hunt.
• Annoying Things Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adverbe Family & Relationships Philippe and Julien share some of the things that really annoy them.
• Anthony, hairdresser Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Adverbe Anthony tells us about his job as a hairdresser.
• Arnaud and Ophélie describe themselves Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Article défini Family & Relationships Arnaud and Ophélie describe themselves physically.
• Astérix Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Article défini Learn more about this iconic character from French culture.
• At breakfast Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Adjectif Émilie and Jérémie are having breakfast.
• At midnight Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif possessif Food & Drink Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Sébastien's family celebrates Christmas on the evening of the 24th.
• At the airport Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Verbe irrégulier Louis and Lucie are about to get on a plane.
• At the beach Free Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Question/Interrogative Food & Drink Sports & Leisure Conversation at the beach between an ice cream vendor and a customer.
• At the beach Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pluriel Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Tom is telling us about his day at the beach.
• At the bookshop Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Question/Interrogative Employment Literature, Poetry, Theatre François needs help choosing a book.
• At the brasserie Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Article Eve orders food at a brasserie in France.
• At the campsite Préposition Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Benjamin and Thomas have just arrived at the campsite.
• At the gift shop Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif démonstratif Adjectif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Mike and Linda pick some souvenirs in a Montmartre gift shop.
• At the newsagent's Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Pronom d'objet direct Employment Family & Relationships Sophie is buying a few items at a French newsagent's.
• At the sporting goods store Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Verbe irrégulier Sports & Leisure Alain is buying tennis equipment for his son.
• Baby at the beach Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Préposition Family & Relationships Baby enjoys being at the beach with his family.
• Back to School Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Language & Education Family & Relationships Mathieu tells us about going back to school tomorrow.
• Ball Sports Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pluriel Sports & Leisure Vincent and Leila discuss their favourite ball sports.
• Between neighbours Le Présent (Indicatif) Forme négative Idiotismes avec aller Neighbours Jules and Sarah talk about an upcoming barbecue.
• Beyoncé Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Genre masculin Famous People Music Family & Relationships The famous singer introduces herself.
• Board games Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif possessif Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Jonathan is playing board games with his family.
• Booking a hotel room Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Verbe irrégulier Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Pierre wants to book a room in a hotel.
• Can I come? Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Préposition Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Marie chats with her roommate's friend Damien.
• Clara's list to Santa Pluriel Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Julien's daughter is quite exhaustive in her list to Santa this year!
• Cleaning with my family Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Genre masculin Family & Relationships Jonathan and his family are cleaning the house today!
• Colourful animals Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Article défini Here's a funny and colourful story about animals.
• Corsica is beautiful! Adjectif Pluriel Le Présent (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Julien explains why he thinks Corsica is so beautiful.
• Do you like the French language? Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Language & Education Noémie and Léo have opposite opinions on the French language!
• Do you like theme parks? Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif Sports & Leisure Louis and Zoé give their opposite opinions on theme parks.
• Driving in the city Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Genre féminin Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Sophie and Christophe talk about driving in city centres [US: downtown].
• Easter decorations Free Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Alice and her sister Zoé are decorating their house for Easter.
• Easter preparations Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Adjectif Celebrations & Important Dates Language & Education Today, Daniel and his pupils are getting ready for Easter.
• Émile and I Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pluriel Family & Relationships Antoine talks about his imaginary friend, Émile.
• Exchanging a scarf Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Adjectif démonstratif Family & Relationships Christine is returning a scarf to the shop
• Father of two Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Pluriel Family & Relationships Léon talks about his two beloved children.
• Father's Day Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sophie has a special routine for Father's Day.
• Filling in a form Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Adjectif Employment Family & Relationships Olivier answers questions from a form.
• First day at uni Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Samuel and Gina meet at university.
• Food shopping for a picnic Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Article Food & Drink Daniel and Aline are buying food for a picnic.
• For equality Le Présent (Indicatif) Article défini Article Hadrien and Sonia explain why they're for gender equality.
• Gardening with Jacqueline Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Genre masculin Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Julia always loves to take care of her aunt's garden with her.
• Going on a diet Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Futur Proche (Indicatif) Article Food & Drink Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Marie has a plan to lose weight this year.
• Going shopping Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Food & Drink Family & Relationships Annie and Nicolas discuss her upcoming trip to the shop.
• Hanukkah with my family Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Adjectif possessif Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Rachelle celebrates Hanukkah with her family every year.
• Happy New Year! Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif Paul loves celebrating the New Year.
• Healthcare in France Préposition Pronom sujet Le Présent (Indicatif) Learn about France's healthcare system.
• Hello, my name is France! Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Pluriel Politics, History & Economics The country France introduces itself.
• Hello! I'm Mario! Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom sujet Pronom Famous People Sports & Leisure The famous plumber introduces himself.
• Helping my neighbourhood Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Troisième personne Family & Relationships Noémie likes helping her neighbours after school.
• Helping the planet Le Présent (Indicatif) Article Préposition Technology & Science François does his best to help the planet in his everyday life.
• How to make a cake Préposition Article Futur Brigitte is going to make a cake today.
• How to stay healthy Le Présent (Indicatif) Forme négative Article Food & Drink Sports & Leisure Matthieu tells us about his healthy habits.
• How to vote at a polling station in France? Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbe irrégulier Politics, History & Economics Learn how to vote in a French election.
• Hurray for football [US:soccer]! Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Préposition Annie's brother is a big fan of football [US:soccer].
• Hurray for snow! Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Verbes réguliers avec -ER Léo loves snow.
• Hurray for the city centre! Préposition Le Présent (Indicatif) Article Julien tells us why he loves living in the city centre [US: downtown].
• Hurray for the internet! Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif Amir and Chloë talk about why they love the internet.
• I hate the rain! Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adverbe Sports & Leisure Annie stays in on rainy days
• I love camping! Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Genre masculin Anissa goes camping in the summer.
• I love Hallowe'en! Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adverbe Gabriel tells us why he loves Hallowe'en.
• I, Louis XIV Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif Famous People Politics, History & Economics Family & Relationships The French king Louis XIV tells us about himself.
• I'm hot! Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Verbe irrégulier Family & Relationships Marc offers tips for dealing with the heat.
• I'm Jean Valjean Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbe irrégulier At the beginning of Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables", our hero Jean Valjean knocks on a bishop's door.
• In a Basque restaurant Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Adjectif possessif Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Pascal wants to try a Basque specialty while visiting Biarritz.
• In French class Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom sujet Pronom Language & Education Marc explains what his French lessons consist of.
• In science class Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Article défini Language & Education Family & Relationships Jérôme's favorite subject is science!
• In the bathroom Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Pluriel Adrien describes his bathroom.
• Jean-Paul's routine Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Adjectif possessif Family & Relationships Retiree Jean-Paul loves his morning routine.
• Job: Postman Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Employment Philippe tells us about his job as a postman.
• Job: Veterinarian Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Article What does being a veterinarian entail?
• Juliette Binoche Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Article Famous People Film & TV The famous French actress tells us about herself.
• Learning the guitar Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre masculin Article défini Music Sports & Leisure Stéphane tells us about his guitar lessons.
• Léna's family Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Genre masculin Family & Relationships Meet Léna's close family.
• Mimi the mermaid Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Article Family & Relationships Mimi the mermaid introduces herself.
• Mister Grumpy Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Article défini Family & Relationships Meet Mister Grumpy who hates jokes, humour and pranks!
• Money and me Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pluriel Politics, History & Economics Thibault and Flora are complete opposite when it comes to money!
• Montpellier Hérault Rugby club Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Adjectif possessif Sports & Leisure Martin tells us about his favourite rugby club, the MHR.
• Moods and colours Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Accord Language & Education Family & Relationships Martin likes different colours depending on his mood.
• Mrs Durand's Menagerie Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Family & Relationships Mrs Durand loves her many animals.
• My active routine Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sports & Leisure Thomas's routine reflects his passion for sports.
• My afternoons with my friend Lise Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Préposition Nora and her friend Lise have a nice Saturday afternoon routine.
• My astronaut costume Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Adverbe Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure This year, Hugo is dressing up as an astronaut for Mardi Gras.
• My basketball team Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Quentin loves his basketball team!
• My beautiful car Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Technology & Science Yvan describes his beloved new car.
• My bicycle ride Free Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Adjectif possessif Bastien loves his weekend ride in the woods.
• My children's Hallowe'en Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Adjectif Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Luc's children are all ready for Hallowe'en.
• My cousin Benjamin Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif Family & Relationships Jonathan talks about his favourite cousin.
• My daughter and books Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Genre masculin Literature, Poetry, Theatre Sports & Leisure Patrick's daughter has a passion for books !
• My daughter's birthday Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Family & Relationships David's daughter Émilie is turning seven today!
• My daughters' interests Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Samuel's daughters have very different interests!
• My dog's birthday Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Every year, Florian celebrates his dog Max's birthday.
• My eco-friendly habits Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Marc tries to help the planet in his everyday life.
• My favourite desserts Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Préposition Food & Drink Liliane, Sébastien and François talk about their favourite desserts.
• My favourite instrument Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Marc and Véronique tell Sabrina what their favourite musical instruments are.
• My favourite Olympic events Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Liam is describing his two favourite sporting events at the Olympic Games.
• My favourite season Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Article défini Bertrand tells us why he prefers fall to other seasons.
• My favourite summer fruit Le Présent (Indicatif) Article Pluriel Lucas tells what fruit he loves eating in the summer.
• My favourite superheroes Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Verbes réguliers avec -ER Thomas talks about his favourite superheroes.
• My favourite winter drink Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif Food & Drink Find out what Coline's favourite winter drink is!
• My godmother Isabelle and I Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Adjectif Family & Relationships Simon talks about his great relationship with his godmother.
• My grandson Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Verbe irrégulier Raymond is completely gaga over his first grandson.
• My hotel room Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Adjectif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Lucas describes his Paris hotel room.
• My little sister Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Genre masculin Family & Relationships Damien's little sister can be pretty annoying.
• My neighbourhood Free Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre masculin Pronom sujet Family & Relationships Antoine tells us about his neighbourhood's best features.
• My New Year's resolutions Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Adjectif possessif Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Thierry makes a list of good resolutions for the new year 2020.
• My shopping list Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Article Food & Drink Family & Relationships Bertrand is getting his shopping list ready.
• My sister the nurse Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Genre masculin Laure tells us about her sister's job.
• My staycation Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Arthur is going to enjoy his week of staycation.
• My three children Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Verbes avec -OIR Justine tells us about her three beloved children.
• My turtle Caroline Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Genre féminin Family & Relationships Daniel tells us about his favourite pet.
• My twin daughters Adjectif Pluriel Le Présent (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Philippe tells us about his lovely identical twins Ella and Emma.
• My typical snowy day Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom réfléchi Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Pauline tells us what she likes to do when it snows outside.
• My week of activities Le Présent (Indicatif) Article défini Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Julien's week is full on activities!
• Night routine before a test Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Genre féminin Language & Education Technology & Science Antoine's night-before-a-test routine is all about reducing stress.
• No chores for me! Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre masculin Verbes réguliers avec -ER Family & Relationships Teenager Lise hates doing chores.
• On the red carpet Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Genre féminin Art & Design Laura admires the stars' outfits as they walk the red carpet.
• Opposite siblings Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Genre féminin Family & Relationships Élodie tells us how different she is from her brother Thomas.
• Portrait of a cat Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Article défini Family & Relationships Marcel the cat is talking about himself.
• Profession: G.P. [US: family doctor] Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre masculin Pronom démonstratif Employment Technology & Science Thérèse talks about her job as a general practitioner [US: family doctor].
• Profession: Journalist Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pluriel José tells us about his job as a journalist.
• Quebec City Adjectif Genre féminin Adjectif possessif Olivia loves living in Quebec City.
• Radio news bulletin Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Pluriel Politics, History & Economics Here is a short news broadcast.
• Speed dating Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Family & Relationships Claudine and Marc get acquainted during a speed dating session.
• Summer food and drinks Adjectif Article défini Pluriel Food & Drink Léa asks her friends what they like to eat and drink in the summer.
• Thanksgiving with family Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom réfléchi Préposition Food & Drink Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships James tells us about his Thanksgiving traditions.
• The driving licence test Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Préposition Language & Education Technology & Science Véronique is taking her driving licence exam.
• The election of the French president Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Question/Interrogative Politics, History & Economics Learn how the French president is elected.
• The Hobbies Family Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Deuxième personne Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships In Raphaël's family, everyone has a different hobby!
• The morning of the first day back to school Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Adjectif Language & Education Family & Relationships Irène and her daughter Émilie are getting ready for Émilie's first day of school.
• The woman on the train Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Verbes avec -OIR Family & Relationships Every morning, Lisa sees this woman on her commuter train.
• Tips to fight the cold Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre masculin Genre féminin Barnabé is very sensitive to cold, but luckily, he has lots of coping mechanisms!
• To buy a train ticket Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Pronom sujet Family & Relationships Thomas is buying a train ticket at a French train station.
• To get to the train station Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Family & Relationships Arnaud asks a passerby for directions to the train station.
• Toulouse's specialties Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Marius and Anaïs talk about the Southern city's delicious specialties.
• Visit to A&E [US: the ER] Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Adjectif Employment Technology & Science Lucie talks to a doctor at the hospital.
• Visiting Orléans Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Genre féminin Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Matthieu asks for recommendations for his first time visiting Orléans.
• What is Francophonie? Article Article défini Le Présent (Indicatif) Language & Education Damien explains what francophonie is.
• What's your favourite artistic activity? Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Art & Design Sports & Leisure Nora and Lucien share their favourite artistic activities.
• When I'm sick Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom réfléchi Verbe irrégulier Family & Relationships Julien tells us what he does when he's ill.
• Where is the town hall? Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition L'Impératif Présent Sports & Leisure James asks Mélanie for directions.
• Which French king am I? Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Genre féminin Politics, History & Economics This mysterious French king tells us about himself... do you recognise him?
• Why do I love the Alsace region? Genre féminin Pluriel Adjectif possessif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sébastien tells us why he loves this French region.

A2: Lower Intermediate French writing exercises

• 10 house rules for children Mode impératif L'Impératif Présent Préposition Family & Relationships Here are ten rules to make home life nicer.
• A Creole picnic Adjectif Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations During a visit to La Réunion, Julie and Léo went for a typical Creole meal.
• A day with Grandad Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Présent (Indicatif) Bastien went to visit his granddad at his retirement home.
• A family of dog lovers L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Family & Relationships Anthony had many dogs growing up, but Pip was special.
• A few days in Dordogne Free Pronom d'objet direct Adjectif Pronom d'objet indirect Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Monique tells Patrick about her coming holiday [US: vacation].
• A football accident Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Anthony had his friend Bruno over to play...
• A great party for Mum [US:Mom]! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Adjectif Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Manon and her sister Aline treated their mother for Mother's Day.
• A great weekend Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Préposition Henri had a lovely weekend.
• A Hallowe'en party Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Amélie's guests are having a Hallowe'en blast!
• A holiday [US:vacation] letter Adjectif L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Jacqueline writes about her holiday [US: vacation] to her friend Patricia.
• A love for teaching L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pluriel Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Damien's passion for teaching started early.
• A new mother Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adverbe Rachelle and her boyfriend had to learn how to take care of their baby.
• A new TV Adjectif L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Sébastien tells Yvan about the TV he just bought.
• A nice train journey Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Family & Relationships Lucie and her boyfriend Marc went to the countryside by train this weekend.
• A noisy hotel room Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Bertrand complains to the hotel reception about noises during the night.
• A nostalgic walk Adjectif Adjectif possessif L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Bernard's neighbourhood has changed a lot over the years.
• A romantic trip to Paris Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Family & Relationships Anna took her boyfriend on a romantic trip to Paris.
• A romantic weekend away Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Aline and her boyfriend went away for a relaxing weekend.
• A secret admirer Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Comparatif Family & Relationships Lucie wonders who her secret admirer is.
• A sleeper's story L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom réfléchi Amélie used to be a real sleepyhead.
• A Thanksgiving gift Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Participe passé Verbes réguliers avec -ER Tammy's family prepared a Thanksgiving meal for a less fortunate family.
• A week of beach activities Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbe auxiliaire Verbe irrégulier Oriane spent the week enjoying beach sports and activities.
• A weekend of chores Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Participe passé Romain and his wife Sabine spent the weekend doing chores.
• Afternoon ice cream Free Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Verbes avec -OIR Food & Drink Lucie and Greg feel like an ice cream this afternoon.
• An Easter egg hunt Préposition Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Celebrations & Important Dates Discover where Julien and his siblings found their Easter eggs!
• An Italian holiday [US: vacation] Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Julia's girlfriends went on an Italian holiday [US: vacation].
• Apple tart Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Participe passé Verbes réguliers avec -ER Bruno helped his aunt make her famous apple tart.
• Arriving at the hotel Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Adjectif possessif Employment Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Aline checks into her Parisian hotel.
• At a Fatals Picards concert Adjectif possessif Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Julien and his friend Matthieu went to see the French band Les Fatals Picards on stage.
• At my best friend's wedding Pronom d'objet direct Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Patrick gives a toast at Stéphane's wedding.
• At rapper Soprano's concert Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Genre féminin Deuxième personne Music Romain was thrilled to finally see his idol Soprano live!
• At the allergist's Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Employment Technology & Science Pierre went to the allergist to get a diagnosis.
• At the bar Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Forme négative Food & Drink Au bar Patricia and Samuel discuss what drinks they want to order.
• At the bureau de change Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Employment Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Patrick needs to change some dollars upon arriving in Paris.
• At the Chinese restaurant Le Présent (Indicatif) Forme négative Article Food & Drink James is ordering food in a Chinese restaurant.
• At the cinema Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Genre féminin Thibault and Aïssa enjoy an evening at the movies.
• At the dermatologist's Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Employment Technology & Science Manon needs help with her eczema.
• At the farmers' market Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Verbe irrégulier Food & Drink Sports & Leisure Stéphane enjoys a visit to his local farmers' market.
• At the grocery store Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Préposition Employment Food & Drink Family & Relationships Julie and Frank need some things from the grocery store.
• At the gym Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Hélène is looking to join some classes at her gym.
• At the library Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Sports & Leisure Alexandre is borrowing a book at his local library.
• At the medieval market in Orléans L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Art & Design Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Flora and Sami enjoy Orléans's medieval market.
• At the mountain restaurant Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Pronom d'objet indirect Food & Drink Gérard and Sylvie stop for lunch after their mountain hike.
• At the nail salon Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Adjectif Barbara is at the nail salon.
• At the New Year's Eve House Party Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Celebrations & Important Dates Mathieu welcomes his guest at his New Year's Eve house party.
• At the post office Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Infinitif Family & Relationships Christophe has a few errands to run at the post office.
• At the shoe store Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Question/Interrogative Family & Relationships Christine is looking for a pair of shoes with the help of a nice sales assistant.
• At the till [US: cash register] Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adverbe A customer is offered the shop's loyalty card.
• Bastille Day in the South of France Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Celebrations & Important Dates Bernard tells us about celebrating Bastille Day last summer.
• Bedtime stories L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif Première personne Literature, Poetry, Theatre Family & Relationships Florian remembers the bedtime ritual he had with his daughter.
• Breakfast in the sun Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Verbes réguliers avec -ER Food & Drink Family & Relationships Sabrina surprised Thomas with a nice breakfast on the balcony.
• Calling the hotel's room service Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Adverbe Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Valérie calls room service from her hotel room.
• Camille Cottin Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire The French actress introduces herself.
• Chocolate mousse cooking tips! Mode impératif Le Présent (Indicatif) L'Impératif Présent Food & Drink André gives us some tips to make the perfect chocolate mousse.
• Chocolatier Amaury Guichon Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbe irrégulier Inès introduces Thibault to the famous pastry chef and chocolatier.
• Conversation on the plane Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Adjectif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Family & Relationships Pascal and Julie get acquainted on a flight to Montpellier.
• Cooking as a family L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Adjectif Food & Drink Family & Relationships Yesterday, Antoine and his family made tartiflette together.
• Dividing the restaurant bill Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Verbes réguliers avec -ER Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Isabelle and her friends are splitting the bill at the restaurant.
• Do you have a favourite male singer? L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Genre féminin Pluriel Famous People Music Simone and Amélie are talking about their favourite French-speaking male singers.
• Do you have any dirty clothes? Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Question/Interrogative Family & Relationships Bastien and his mother debate the need for a dirty laundry basket.
• Drawing a face Adjectif L'Impératif Présent Mode impératif Teacher François asks his pupils to draw a face.
• Driving in France Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Technology & Science Here are a few things to be aware of when driving in France!
• Easter in France Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Article défini Learn more about how French people celebrate Easter.
• Finding a Father's Day present Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Préposition Louna and her brother Nassim went shopping for Father's Day.
• Fireworks Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Participe passé Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Juliette went to watch New Year's fireworks yesterday.
• First Christmas Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif This year was baby Tristan's first Christmas.
• First visit to the vet L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Genre masculin Sébastien's cat just gave birth to four little kittens!
• Fishing with Dad Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pluriel Troisième personne Sports & Leisure Benjamin went fishing with his father last Sunday.
• From the city to the countryside Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Marie decided to leave Paris to live in the countryside.
• Gardening : yes or no? Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif Thibault and Cécile gives their differing opinions on gardening.
• Getting ready for the first day back to school Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Genre féminin Pluriel Language & Education Flora got ready for her first day back to school.
• Getting to know each other Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Employment Family & Relationships New colleagues Julien and Olivier get to know each other over a coffee.
• Giving up tobacco Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Family & Relationships Amélie has stopped smoking and she's so happy about it!
• Gwoka: Guadeloupe's music Le Présent (Indicatif) Article Article défini Learn about Guadeloupe's traditional music.
• Holiday [US: Vacation] by the sea L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Pluriel Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Family & Relationships Édouard remembers his childhood seaside holidays [US: vacations] in the south of France.
• I love autumn! Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Préposition Food & Drink Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Jacqueline tells us what she loves to do in the fall.
• I love my grandmother! Le Présent (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pluriel Family & Relationships Lucas tells us about his lovely grandmother.
• I love the mountains! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Gilles shares why he loves going to the mountains more than going to the seaside.
• I prefer going skiing Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Comparatif Sports & Leisure Pierre tells us why he prefers going skiing rather than beach holidays.
• In a taxi Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Family & Relationships Magalie needs her taxi to take her for a few errands.
• In the changing rooms Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pronom d'objet direct Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Mélanie is trying on a dress... and testing Pierre's patience!
• Instagram love Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Adverbe Family & Relationships Technology & Science Julien and Sandra became famous thanks to their Instagram account.
• Instructions for a test L'Impératif Présent Mode impératif Préposition Language & Education Teacher Marc read out the instructions for today's French test.
• It's not my fault! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Genre masculin Genre féminin Teacher Émilie lists her students' funny excuses.
• Jacques Brel Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Gaston is a big fan of the Belgian singer-songwriter.
• Jojo is such a joker! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pluriel Participe passé Family & Relationships Thomas talks about his school friend Jojo, who loves a joke.
• Last night's party Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Pauline and Adrien discuss yesterday's party at Thomas's house.
• Les Sables-d'Olonne Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Julien enjoyed his stay in the seaside town of Les Sables-d'Olonne, in the Pays de la Loire region in France.
• Lockdown solidarity Free Adjectif possessif L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Genre féminin Family & Relationships Clément and his neighbours organised to help each other.
• Making Halloween decorations Pronom d'objet direct Question/Interrogative Préposition Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Elsie and her mother are making some spooky Halloween decorations.
• Mister Snowman Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Mister Snowman was born this morning.
• Mother's Day presents Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Pronom d'objet direct Eve and Ornella compare their Mother's Day presents.
• Movie Date Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Film & TV Family & Relationships Luc was nervous for his first date with Belinda.
• Movie night at home Préposition Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Film & TV Food & Drink Pauline and Alex are getting ready to watch a movie at home.
• Moving in: Calling the electric company Adjectif possessif Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Bruno sets up the electricity account for his new place.
• Muscle ache Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Viviane tells her friend Jérôme how going back to the gym left her pretty sore!
• My afternoon at the funfair L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sports & Leisure Sébastien spent last Saturday afternoon at the funfair with his friend Matthieu.
• My breakfast habits L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Genre féminin Food & Drink Sophie's breakfast habits have changed quite a lot over time.
• My children's after-school activities Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Genre féminin Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Marc's children have picked their after school activities for this year.
• My cousin and her accordion Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Language & Education Music Aurélie's cousin Lyse plays the accordion.
• My dad is the best! Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Verbes réguliers avec -ER Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Colette talks about her father and how kind he is.
• My driving licence [US: driver's license] Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Jean-Pierre is taking his driving test tomorrow.
• My electric car Adjectif Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) François is really happy to have bought an electric car, despite a few disadvantages.
• My favourite team won! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Genre féminin Yesterday, Anna celebrated her team's victory.
• My favourite work of art Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Art & Design Stéphane asks Isabelle, Clémence and Benjamin about their favourite works of art.
• My gratitude journal Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre masculin Adjectif Benoît gets a lot out of his gratitude journal.
• My Hallowe'en costume Adjectif Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Genre masculin Daniel tells us how hard it can be to pick one's Hallowe'en costume.
• My head in the stars L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Genre masculin Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Technology & Science Thomas has always had one passion: the stars.
• My kids' letter to Santa Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Participe passé Pluriel Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Julia's twins wrote their first letter to Santa.
• My name is Tintin! Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Language & Education Literature, Poetry, Theatre Famous reporter Tintin introduces himself.
• My new glasses L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Technology & Science Michel recently realised he needed glasses.
• My trips to the swimming pool with my daughter L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom d'objet direct Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Brigitte fondly remembers her weekly trips to the swimming pool with her young daughter.
• My visit to Omaha beach Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Politics, History & Economics Peter went to visit this famous D-Day beach in Normandy.
• My weekend with Mum [US: Mom] Free Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Participe passé Family & Relationships Claire spent quality time with her mother last weekend.
• My weekend's activities Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Concordance des Temps Sports & Leisure Éric tells us how the weather affected his weekend.
• My weekends with Dad L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Pluriel Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Alexandre remembers the getaway weekends he used to spend with his father.
• My work experience placement Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adverbe Thomas worked in an office as part of his work experience placement.
• Napoleon, a Corsican emperor Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Genre Famous People Politics, History & Economics Did you know that French emperor Napoleon was from Corsica?
• Natural disasters Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Technology & Science Frank and Julien talk about natural disasters and their causes.
• New Year's celebrations in Belgium Adjectif Préposition Adverbe Food & Drink Celebrations & Important Dates Magalie discovered a few Belgian traditions when she spent New Year's there.
• New Year's plans Le Présent (Indicatif) Futur Verbes réguliers avec -ER Celebrations & Important Dates Yann and Paul are discussing their plans for New Year's Eve.
• On the first floor of the Eiffel Tower L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Visitors Jenny and Sam chat on the first floor of the famous Eiffel tower.
• One day in Father Christmas's workshop Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Let's peek through the window to see what the elves are doing.
• Organising my desk Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Adjectif Language & Education Julie got her desk ready to go back to school.
• Our new family member Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Adjectif possessif Family & Relationships The family is growing bigger with the arrival of Minette, our new cat.
• Paying bills Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Verbe irrégulier Roommates Émilie and Judith discuss bills.
• Phone call from the bank Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Pronom d'objet direct Family & Relationships Mr Dupuy gets a phone call from his bank.
• Picking an outfit Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pronom d'objet indirect Emma is choosing an outfit with the help of her friend Lucie.
• Playing with my boys Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pronom Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Romain likes spending time with his sons.
• Postcard from Vendée Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Juliette writes a postcard from the Vendée region in France to her best friend Matt.
• Quitting a job Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Employment Michelle had had enough of her boss's disrespect.
• Reading "The Lord of the Rings" L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Baptiste remembers the first time he read Tolkien's masterpiece.
• Room for dessert? Le Présent (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Food & Drink Olivier and his girlfriend Sarah debate having dessert at the restaurant.
• Saïd Taghmaoui Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Famous People Film & TV Learn about this famous French-Moroccan-American actor.
• Salad Niçoise recipe L'Impératif Présent Mode impératif Préposition Food & Drink Babette teaches us how to make a salad Niçoise.
• Segway in the park L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Noémie and her friend Manon went for a Segway ride in Versailles's royal gardens.
• Senegalese soldiers Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Politics, History & Economics Learn about these Senegalese soldiers and their role in French History.
• Studying abroad Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Language & Education Daniela shares her experience studying abroad for a year.
• Switzerland Adjectif Article défini Genre Learn more about this Francophone country.
• Taking Grandma phone shopping L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Family & Relationships Marielle took her grandmother to buy a mobile phone.
• Tent or camper van? Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Adjectif Sports & Leisure André and Yann discuss their camping preferences.
• The birth of my son Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif Geoffrey remembers the first time he saw his son.
• The Grund neighbourhood in Luxembourg City Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Joséphine tells us about her favourite area in Luxembourg City.
• The LU Tower in Nantes Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom sujet Verbes réguliers avec -ER Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Romain visited the famous former biscuit [US: cookie] factory in Nantes.
• The new menu at the Bistro du Soleil Adjectif Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Food & Drink Julien was happy to discover the Bistro du Soleil's new menu.
• The perfect couple Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Verbes réguliers avec -ER Family & Relationships Marielle tells us why she thinks that Marc and Julien are the perfect couple.
• The right to vote in France Adjectif Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Politics, History & Economics Find out facts about the right to vote in France.
• This week Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Paul talks about his busy week.
• Tom's first day back to school Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Reflexive verbs Émilie tells us about her son Tom's first day of school.
• Two great museums in Nice Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Art & Design Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Barnabé tells Hélène about his visits to the Chagall and Matisse museums in Nice.
• Two major French-speaking female authors Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre masculin Adverbe Language & Education Literature, Poetry, Theatre Eric and Fiona talk about French-speaking authors Myriam Warner-Vieyra and Maryse Condé.
• Une leçon de ski Mode impératif L'Impératif Présent Adjectif possessif Sports & Leisure Julie and Yvan are having their first ski lesson.
• Visit of Marseille Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Gaspard spent the weekend in Marseille, France.
• Visiting the Arc de Triomphe in Paris Pronom d'objet direct Mode impératif Le Présent (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Couple Iris and Samuel are enjoying their visit to this iconic French monument.
• Visiting Toulouse Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Bastien and Léa enjoyed their visit of Toulouse's historical centre.
• Weather forecast Préposition Futur Article Technology & Science Here's a French weather forecast.
• Weekend in Lyon Free Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Vincent tells us about the weekend he spent in Lyon with his cousin.
• Welcome to the Sticks Adjectif Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Film & TV Mickaël learned a lot from this funny French comedy.
• What a change! L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Émilie moved from a small village to Paris, and that's a big change!
• What do you want to watch? Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom d'objet direct Grégoire and Inès decide what they want to watch on TV.
• When I became a vegetarian Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Forme négative Pronom d'objet indirect Food & Drink Family & Relationships Geoffrey tells us about his journey becoming a vegetarian.
• Who am I? Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Famous People Politics, History & Economics Guess who this important figure of the French Resistance is.
• Who is this writer ? Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Participe passé Famous People Literature, Poetry, Theatre Guess who this (male) French writer is!
• Why I learned German L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Sabrina tells us why she first decided to learn German.
• Why study French? Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Language & Education Hugo gives us his reasons to pick up French again.
• Working from home - an opinion L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Patrick tells us about trying WFH a few months ago.

B1: Intermediate French writing exercises

• A better commute L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom relatif Technology & Science Aurélie is looking forward to the new, much better commute she'll have soon.
• A childhood passion L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Vincent and his brother loved video games growing up.
• A clichéd break-up Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Family & Relationships François uses all the clichéd breakup lines to leave his girlfriend Sophie.
• A dinner invitation Le Conditionnel Présent Préposition L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Sabrina invites her friends Louise and Manon to dinner.
• A family day at the park Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Préposition Food & Drink Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Benoît will spend this Saturday at the park with his daughter Mia.
• A French April Fool's Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Verbes réguliers avec -IR Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Cécile and her sons are making the traditional French fish for April Fool's day.
• A friend's apology Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Forme négative Verbe irrégulier Gaston apologises for hurting his friend Miriam.
• A game of hide and seek Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Linda and Christian are watching from afar a game of hide and seek between the children.
• A gem of a restaurant Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Forme négative L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Gilles and his wife Martine discovered a little Italian restaurant in town last weekend.
• A good work routine Verbes réguliers avec -ER Verbes réguliers avec -IR Pluriel Employment Marc plans to improve his work routine.
• A great French handball team Préposition L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sports & Leisure Sophie and Alex are chatting about the French handball team's chances of winning another gold medal.
• A greener future Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -IR Verbes réguliers avec -ER Technology & Science Julien is seeing a future where people are more eco-conscious.
• A Horror Story Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships On a dark October night, Emma received a disturbing call...
• A luxury holiday [US: vacation] with friends Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -IR Verbes réguliers avec -ER Alain has the perfect luxury holiday [US: vacation] planned for when he wins the lottery!
• A special Monday Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Anna is looking forward to a lazy Easter Monday!
• A strange encounter Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom réfléchi Pronom d'objet direct Literature, Poetry, Theatre Family & Relationships Yoann had the strangest encounter in the Broceliande forest!
• A trip to the cinema Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Le Présent (Indicatif) Film & TV Sports & Leisure Antoine and his daughter Emma are planning a trip to the movies.
• A weather forecast Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Préposition Verbe irrégulier Technology & Science Find out what tomorrow's weather will be like.
• A weekend in Montpellier Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Présent (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Élise and Lucas plan their weekend in the southern French city.
• A wonderful job Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pronom relatif Guillaume loves his job as an A&E [US: ER] doctor.
• An afternoon in the fall Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Adjectif Zoë is planning to meet her friend Quentin for a nice October afternoon.
• An amazing New Year's Eve meal Pronom d'objet direct Préposition Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Food & Drink Celebrations & Important Dates Henriette is planning a dazzling meal for New Year!
• An annoying cat allergy L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Genre féminin Adjectif possessif Family & Relationships Éloïse suffers from an annoying cat allergy.
• An awful new boyfriend Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adverbe Grégory finds his aunt's new boyfriend quite repulsive!
• An incredibly caring boy L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Lydia's son, Olivier, is such a caring person.
• An old scary tradition L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Adjectif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Celebrations & Important Dates Yoann recalls celebrating the old Celtic tradition of Samhain with his Gran.
• An opinion on football [US:soccer] Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Théo has a nuanced take on football [US:soccer].
• Anger management Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adverbe Lucie talks about her techniques to manage her anger.
• Animal emergency Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Julien's cat is stuck in the tree!
• Around the world by motorcycle Le Conditionnel Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Joël would love to travel the world on his motorcycle.
• Artist Chéri Chérin Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Adjectif possessif Art & Design Famous People Learn about the amazing Congolese artist Chéri Chérin.
• Asking about a hotel room Adjectif possessif Verbe irrégulier Le Conditionnel Présent Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Catherine has a few questions about the hotel room she's booked.
• At the amusement park Verbe irrégulier Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Sports & Leisure Thomas will go to the amusement park with his friend Samia for their birthday this year.
• At the coffee machine Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Forme négative Verbe irrégulier Cyril, Pauline and Eve catch up by the coffee machine on Monday morning.
• At the doctor's Le Présent (Indicatif) Mode impératif L'Impératif Présent Family & Relationships Robert goes to the doctor for a consultation.
• At the patisserie Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Le Conditionnel Présent Le Présent (Indicatif) Daniel needs a special cake.
• At the till Préposition Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Employment Sports & Leisure Peter is at the till [US: cash register] of a French supermarket.
• Back pain L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Flora tells the doctor how she hurt her back.
• Beatrice's baby shower Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Emma and her sister organised their cousin's baby shower.
• Becoming a model L'Impératif Présent Mode impératif Pronom réfléchi Art & Design Employment Enjoy some useful tips on becoming a model.
• Becoming an astronaut L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Pronom d'objet indirect Élodie dreams of becoming an astronaut.
• Belgian food facts Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Article Discover some interesting food-related facts about Belgium.
• Birthday makeover Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pluriel Adjectif possessif Family & Relationships "New year, new me" Julia thought on her 20th birthday.
• Booking an appointment at the dentist's Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Famous People Marc needs an urgent dentist appointment for a bad toothache.
• Busy Schedule Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Idioms about Time Family & Relationships Isabelle recaps what everyone will have to do on Saturday!
• Camping at home Préposition Verbe irrégulier Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Gabriel and Rose are making plans for the weekend.
• Cancelling a purchase L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Justin calls Bokado's customer service to cancel his order.
• Cathy's future holiday [US: vacation] in Montpellier Free Préposition Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn about Cathy's plan to spend her holiday [US: vacation] in Montpellier.
• Choosing a travel pass in Paris Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Pronom d'objet direct Susan needs (travel) tickets to visit Paris.
• Christmas at my parents' house Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Participe passé Verbe irrégulier Quentin spent a classic Christmas with his parents.
• Christmas in the mountains Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Antoine will spend Christmas at his dad's house in the Alps, if he can get there!
• Christmas specialities Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Article Food & Drink Celebrations & Important Dates Paul tells us about some traditional French Christmas dishes.
• Conversation between the election's two rounds Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Politics, History & Economics Marc explains the French presidential election process to his friend Alice.
• Corsican polyphonic singing Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Music Do you know about this bewitchingly melodic tradition from Corsica?
• Credit card fraud Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif possessif Josiane calls her bank about a suspicious transaction.
• Cycling in Nantes Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbe irrégulier Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Isabelle agrees with Nantes's status as France's "cycling capital".
• Dalida Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Genre féminin Adjectif possessif Famous People Music Learn about Dalida, an iconic French-speaking singer.
• Dealing with your emotions Adverbe L'Impératif Présent Mode impératif Sports & Leisure Technology & Science Here's a guide to keeping calm.
• Discussing a ski weekend Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Adjectif Sports & Leisure Laurent and his friend Matt are planning their ski weekend.
• Dreaming of Paris Le Conditionnel Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Family & Relationships Grégory imagines his ideal Valentine's Day's proposal.
• Easter baking class Adjectif Pronom d'objet direct Préposition Food & Drink Celebrations & Important Dates Flora and Yvan enjoy decorating their Easter chocolate bunnies.
• Family holiday car trip Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Family & Relationships Let the squabbles begin!
• Flying anxiety Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Présent (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Family & Relationships Jean-Luc has a plan to deal with his fear of flying.
• Following the GPS L'Impératif Présent Mode impératif Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Technology & Science Follow this GPS's instructions to reach your destination.
• François Damiens's hidden camera videos L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Article Adjectif possessif Philippe and Anissa talk about their favourite hidden camera pranks by François Damiens.
• Getting ready for autumn Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Verbe irrégulier Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Rosalie won't get caught out by the arrival of autumn this year.
• Giving up smoking L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Forme négative Family & Relationships François tells us how he managed to stop smoking.
• Going back in time Le Conditionnel Présent Verbe irrégulier L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Politics, History & Economics Family & Relationships Marine asks Amanda, Bruno and Sébastien what they would do if they could go back in time.
• Going to the bank Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pluriel Adjectif possessif Family & Relationships Flora and her father need to go to the bank.
• Guadeloupe's Carnival Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adverbe Discover this colourful Guadeloupe tradition.
• Gymnastics enthusiasts Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Genre masculin Sports & Leisure Clara and Martine share a passion for gymnastics.
• How do you like to keep up with the news? Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Première personne Vanessa and Ludovic tell us how they stay informed.
• How to share household chores equally Mode impératif L'Impératif Présent Pronom d'objet direct Family & Relationships Follow Céline's tips to share household chores more equally.
• I love swimming! L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Sports & Leisure Thomas tells us about his love for swimming and his hope to one day dive from up high!
• I miss French food! L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif Pronom d'objet indirect Food & Drink Hélène tells Betty how she's coping with missing French food abroad.
• I want to help! Le Conditionnel Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Family & Relationships Suzanne wishes she had more time to help others.
• I, Lucky Luke Le Conditionnel Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Literature, Poetry, Theatre Christophe imagines what he would do if he were the fastest shooter in the West.
• I've always loved French Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Emily has always had a fascination for the French language.
• If I could be a child again Le Conditionnel Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Genre masculin Laurent would love to be 10 again.
• If I could start over... Le Conditionnel Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Employment Language & Education Anne wishes she could do things differently.
• If I were a chef Le Conditionnel Présent Pronom relatif Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Food & Drink Benjamin tells us of his dream of being a chef.
• If I were Céline Dion Le Conditionnel Présent Adjectif Préposition Ornella imagines what it would be like to be the French Canadian star.
• If I were Wonder Woman Le Conditionnel Présent Adjectif possessif Pronom indéfini Film & TV Literature, Poetry, Theatre Annie imagines what it would be like to be Wonder Woman.
• In the changing rooms [US: locker rooms] Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Forme négative The guys are chatting after football [US: soccer] practice.
• Interview with a jewellery creator Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Adjectif possessif Art & Design Hugo is interviewing Marie who creates her own jewellery.
• Ivory Coast: a destination like no other Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Adjectif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Find out why Ivory Coast is such an amazing holiday [US:vacation] destination.
• Learning to read in French Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Language & Education David talks about how he learned to read fluently in French.
• Let's go back to the gym! Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Adverbe Verbes réguliers avec -ER Olivier and Victoria discuss going back to the gym after the winter.
• Liberty, Equality, Fraternity Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Adjectif possessif Learn about the origin of the French Republic motto.
• Lighthouses in Brittany Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Politics, History & Economics Learn about the beautiful lighthouses you can find in Brittany.
• Lockdown shopping Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Adverbe Marguerite's Christmas shopping habits will be a bit disrupted this year.
• Looking for a new house Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Le Conditionnel Présent Sébastien and Éric are looking at real-estate listings.
• Looking for a rental car Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Employment Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Technology & Science Chloé is looking for a rental car for her next trip.
• Looking for my phone Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Family & Relationships Jonathan lost his phone on the train...
• Lyon saucisson Adjectif Idioms about Time Genre féminin Food & Drink Learn about Lyon's famous pork sausage and how best to enjoy it.
• Making friends online Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Participe passé Family & Relationships Technology & Science Find out how Mary made new friends online
• Marseille's famous people Adverbe Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Louis and Emma talk about their favourite celebrities from Marseille.
• Message to my granddaughters Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Adjectif possessif Family & Relationships Grandmother Viviane has a message for her beloved granddaughters.
• My brother and his wife Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom réfléchi Genre masculin Family & Relationships Marielle tells us about her brother's great relationship.
• My European trip Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Jonathan is planning a mini tour of Europe for next year's holiday [US: vacation].
• My family's breakfasts Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Pluriel Food & Drink Sébastien tells us about his family's different breakfast routines.
• My favourite things at Easter Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Alain talks about the things he loves about this time of year.
• My Hallowe'en Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Verbes réguliers avec -IR Like every year, Bastien will spend Hallowe'en with his nephews.
• My ideal day Le Conditionnel Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pluriel Sports & Leisure Anna tells us how she would spend her ideal day.
• My ideal garden Adjectif Verbe irrégulier Adverbe Flora imagines her perfect garden.
• My ideal person Le Conditionnel Présent Adjectif possessif Première personne Family & Relationships Cédric imagines his ideal partner.
• My love for museum gift shops Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Pronom d'objet direct Art & Design Laurent loves museums, and their gift shops even more!
• My neighbour from Hell Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Julie's neighbour, Sonia, is pretty terrible!
• My new flat [US: apartment] L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Family & Relationships Franck is moving soon into a much nicer flat [US: apartment]
• My New Year's Eve's celebration Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Verbes réguliers avec -IR Food & Drink Celebrations & Important Dates This year, Paul is hosting New Year's Eve.
• My next holiday [US: vacation] Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations François has his holiday [US: vacation] to Canada well planned!
• My post-university plans Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adverbe Employment Language & Education Antony wants to move to Paris after his studies.
• My Provence dream Le Conditionnel Présent Verbe irrégulier Pronom relatif Juliette dreams of what life would be like if she lived in Provence.
• New in town Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Adjectif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Family & Relationships Caroline writes in her diary about her plans to make new friends in a new town.
• New recruit Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Le Présent (Indicatif) Employment Family & Relationships Antoine sums up his first two months in the company.
• New year, new resolutions Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Comparatif Verbes avec -DRE Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Séverine and her friend Maya discuss their future New Year's resolutions.
• Next summer in Paris Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sabrina will visit her friends in Paris next summer.
• On the phone to Grandma Pronom d'objet indirect Pronom d'objet direct Le Présent (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Jeanne calls her grandmother to catch up.
• Our family chalet L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Florian tells about his family's chalet tradition.
• Our Halloween costumes Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Question/Interrogative Celebrations & Important Dates Lisa and her friend Olivier discuss what they'll wear for Halloween.
• Our next family reunion Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Préposition Sophie can't wait to see her family again.
• Our Parisian holiday Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Anthony has his Paris holiday all planned out.
• Our plans for Music Day Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Celebrations & Important Dates Music Sabine and Thomas discuss their plans to celebrate Music Day on June 21.
• Parisian monuments to visit Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Chantal and Luc are chatting about the Parisian monuments they've visited.
• Picking our wedding flowers Adjectif possessif Pluriel Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Perrine has opted for a country-style wedding, with matching flowers.
• Police check Le Présent (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Family & Relationships Janine is stopped for a routine police check.
• Preparing our shopping list Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Article Food & Drink Thibault and Julie are writing their shopping list.
• Ready for Easter Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Préposition Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Celebrations & Important Dates Christine and Baptiste discuss their plans for Easter.
• Ready for school? Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Genre féminin Celebrations & Important Dates Language & Education Family & Relationships Lisa and Jonathan discuss their kids' state of mind before going back to school.
• Ready for the zombie apocalypse Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Verbe irrégulier Sébastien explains how he and his friends will deal with the imminent zombie apocalypse.
• Redecorating the bedroom Préposition Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Art & Design Jean-Marc and Pauline are chatting about redecorating their bedroom.
• Sailing in the Caribbean Le Conditionnel Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Patrick and Sébastien are planning a sailing tour of some of Caribbean islands.
• Selfies L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Technology & Science Marc considers the photographic phenomenon of the selfie.
• Selling stamps Le Présent (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Christophe needs help to sell a stamp collection.
• Spanish cooking Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Food & Drink Jean-Luc cooked a Spanish meal for his friends, with mixed results!
• Splitting the bill Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Food & Drink Sports & Leisure Lisa, Julien and Manon have to split the bill at the restaurant.
• Squabbling Sisters' Scrabble Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Maya and Liane are arguing while playing Scrabble.
• Studying abroad Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Le Présent (Indicatif) Language & Education Louis decided to go study abroad next year.
• Studying for an exam Pronom d'objet direct Verbe irrégulier Le Présent (Indicatif) Language & Education Julie, Matthieu and Laurent discuss their revision strategies.
• Studying programme Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Verbes réguliers avec -IR Language & Education Jérôme and Thomas have a plan to study for their end-of-semester exams.
• Surfing in Biarritz Préposition Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Milo and Stéphane talk about going surfing in Biarritz.
• Synchronised swimming L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adverbe Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Frank would love to join a synchronised swimming team.
• Table for one Question/Interrogative Préposition Mode impératif Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Kelly is trying her luck for a table at a restaurant.
• The 8 skittles game Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom réfléchi Sports & Leisure Learn about this French version of a classic sport.
• The best carnivals in the world Le Conditionnel Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Adjectif Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Simon asks Mathieu and Lydia what carnival they'd love to go to.
• The best concert ever! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Music Laura tells us about the great concert she went to yesterday.
• The brass band Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Music Alice can't wait to go and see the brass band on Sunday!
• The Cirque of Mafate in La Réunion Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Find out about an exceptional place to visit on Réunion island.
• The manga phenomenon in France Adjectif Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Learn more about French people's love for these Japanese comics.
• The new dad Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pronom d'objet direct Family & Relationships Christophe wants to share so much with his newly born daughter.
• The play Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Pronom d'objet direct Literature, Poetry, Theatre Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Lucie just joined an after work drama class.
• The pleasure of traditional mail L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adverbe Pluriel Coralie has always loved sending and receiving letters.
• The power of love L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Gaspard became a new man when he fell in love.
• The year of the Baccalauréat Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Adverbe Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Language & Education Laurent is planning the year ahead to prepare his end-of-high school exams.
• Travel money in France: what to do and not to do Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Politics, History & Economics Sports & Leisure Listen to Marc, a travel expert, tell people about travel money on a radio show.
• Trip to Paris Free Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Family & Relationships Mélanie's sister and her husband went to Paris last year.
• Trip to the theatre Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Adverbe Thierry went back to the theatre last weekend.
• Two model daughters Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Verbes réguliers avec -IR Family & Relationships Marina and Louise are on their best behaviour to convince their parents to let them go out.
• Visit to the Chocolate Fair Préposition Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Food & Drink Vincent and his familly will go to the Paris Chocolate Fair this year.
• Watching the Olympic Games Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Irregular Bruno and Flora like following the Olympics.
• What I love about my partner Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adèle talks about her partner's best features.
• What literary hero would you be? Le Conditionnel Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Adjectif Literature, Poetry, Theatre Michel and Lisa discuss what character from a novel they'd like to be.
• When I'm retired Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Adjectif Pluriel Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Bernard tells us what he'll do once he retires.
• Which band to see? Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom d'objet direct Sabrina and Angélique are deciding which band they want to go see next.
• Winter weather forecast Préposition Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Film & TV Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Tomorrow's weather forecast is very wintery.

B2: Upper Intermediate French writing exercises

• "Amélie": my favourite film! Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Mode subjonctif Film & TV Lisa explains why "Amélie" is her favourite film.
• "Vernon Subutex" - an opinion Le Présent (Indicatif) Genre féminin Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Carole tells us why she loves the first volume of Virginie Despentes's trilogy.
• (Scary) Bedtime stories Le Subjonctif Présent Pronom d'objet indirect Le Présent (Indicatif) Jasmine talks to her partner Nicolas about the type of bedtime stories he is telling their son.
• A busy weekend ahead Le Subjonctif Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Mode subjonctif Family & Relationships Olivier sums up his busy schedule for the weekend.
• A day in the countryside Free Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Préposition Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Marie spent last weekend in the countryside with her daughters.
• A great Advent calendar Adjectif Mode impératif Le Présent (Indicatif) Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Find out how to make a unique Advent calendar.
• A great passion for reading L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Genre féminin Literature, Poetry, Theatre Sports & Leisure Florence talks about her grandmother's passion for books.
• A guided tour of Avignon Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -IR Pronom relatif Art & Design Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Our local guide introduces three major monuments from the French city of Avignon.
• A History of French TV Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom relatif L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Film & TV Learn some interesting facts about the beginnings of French TV.
• A little lost dog L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Sébastien helped a lost dog find his home.
• A misunderstanding Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Alex is not happy with his friend Samantha who did not show up to meet Alex's new girlfriend.
• A networking New Year's Eve Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Adjectif possessif Jacques has to go to a networking party for work on New Year's Eve.
• A nice morning surprise Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Food & Drink Lucie will serve a delicious breakfast in bed to her fiancée on their anniversary.
• A nice table "à la française" Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Subjonctif Présent Food & Drink Jacqueline explains the intricacies of setting the table the French way.
• A nightmare journey Free Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Family & Relationships Josiane and Robert explain why they're an hour late to their friends' place.
• A perfect interview L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Employment Léo's just had the best job interview of his life!
• A professional phone call Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Sonia Martel is talking to M. Delarue's executive assistant.
• A slippery drive Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adverbe Technology & Science Richard struggled to get to work this morning: everything was frozen!
• A surprise gift Préposition L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Gaspard remembers a special gift he made for his mother when he was a boy.
• A year full of changes Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Annette reflects back on the last year and its ups and downs.
• Ahmed the elephant : an Ivory Coast story Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Discover the heartwarming true story of Ahmed the elephant.
• At the dry cleaner's Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Verbe irrégulier Eric brought his favourite suit jacket to the dry cleaner's.
• At the football [US: soccer] game Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Participe passé Adjectif possessif Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Henri took his dad to a football [US:soccer] game for Father's Day.
• At the garage sale Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Patrick explains to Amelle how to find bargains.
• At the neighbours' house Pronom d'objet direct Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Food & Drink Family & Relationships Véronique and Bruno are at their neighbours' house for an aperitif.
• At the repair shop Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sabrina needs help with her laptop.
• At university Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Genre féminin Pronom d'objet direct Léa and Laura bump into each other at their new university.
• Autumn/Winter 2020 trends Verbe irrégulier Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif Discover the Autumn/Winter 2020 fashion trends.
• Bad Movie Review L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Adjectif Film & TV Bernadette delivers a scathing movie review.
• Barbara L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Genre féminin Famous People Music Laëtitia talks about her passion for fascinating French singer Barbara.
• Bastille Day in France L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Adjectif Mathilde remembers how she used to celebrate Bastille Day with her family.
• Bayonne, France's chocolate capital Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Préposition Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn why Bayonne is considered the French capital of chocolate.
• Bouldering in Fontainebleau Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Idioms about Time Irène loves spending the day rock-climbing in Fontainebleau.
• Brasserie La Coupole Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Adverbe Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Vincent always eats here when he's in Paris.
• British National Museums Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Forme négative Monuments, Tourism & Vacations National museums are free in the UK, as Paul happily found out.
• Building a snowman Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sports & Leisure Martine and Bastien enjoyed building a snowman.
• Camping with your dog Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Patrick gives us some advice on taking your dog camping with you.
• Car breakdown Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Préposition Julien's car broke down at the most inconvenient time.
• Catherine Ségurane: a local heroine Préposition Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom réfléchi Famous People Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Politics, History & Economics Toni, a tourist guide from Nice talks about local legend Catherine Ségurane.
• City vs dog poop L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Politics, History & Economics Family & Relationships Alain and Pauline discuss the city's measures to fight against dog waste.
• Composting is awesome! Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom démonstratif Technology & Science Elsa explains composting to her friend Pierre.
• Congratulations on your degree! Pronom d'objet direct Pluriel Pronom d'objet indirect Language & Education Family & Relationships Thomas's aunt and uncle send him an email to congratulate him on getting his Master degree.
• Conversation between friends Pronom d'objet direct Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Friends Simon and Isabelle are catching up.
• Couples' annoying habits Le Présent (Indicatif) Forme négative Verbes réguliers avec -ER Family & Relationships Olivier gets so annoyed by the way couples behave sometimes!
• DIY with Dad L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Genre féminin Deuxième personne Émilie loved spending time in her father's shed.
• Easter, a family celebration Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Préposition Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships François and his family celebrate the religious holiday of Easter.
• Extreme cosmetic surgery Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Mode subjonctif Le Présent (Indicatif) Anella had several operations to look like her idol, the Barbie doll.
• Family Reunion Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Family & Relationships At a family reunion, Lea sees her aunt Patricia for the first time in years.
• Fatherly pride L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Luc is so proud of his daughter's stage debut.
• Fighting lockdown blues Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Pronom d'objet indirect Samia did everything she could to cheer up her grandmother Janine during lockdown.
• Finding the perfect anniversary gift Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Le Présent (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Jean-Paul is listing his gift ideas for his wife on their anniversary.
• First night out after Baby Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adverbe Romane couldn't wait to go out with her girlfriends again!
• Food shopping in farm shops Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Food & Drink Politics, History & Economics Find out the advantages and disadvantages of food shopping in a farm shop.
• French Easter specialties Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom relatif Celebrations & Important Dates Discover some of France's regional Easter specialties.
• French-style lemon tart recipe Mode impératif L'Impératif Présent Préposition Food & Drink Follow the recipe to make a delicious lemon tart.
• Garip Ay's amazing paintings Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Pronom relatif Art & Design Jean-Pierre tells us about the work of this fascinating Turkish artist.
• Getting ready for the holiday [US: vacation] Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Bastien and Alicia are getting ready for tomorrow's departure.
• Giving back Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom réfléchi Pronom relatif Celebrations & Important Dates Especially during the holiday season, it's good to give back to those less fortunate than us...
• Going lily-of-the-valley picking Adjectif possessif Pronom d'objet indirect Pronom d'objet direct Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Jean-Pierre's family goes to pick lily-of-the-valley every year.
• Happy Father's Day! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Adverbe Sabrina has prepared the perfect Father's Day for her dad.
• Heatwave Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Mode impératif Politics, History & Economics Technology & Science A weather forecast on one of the hottest days of the year.
• High cost of cigarette packaging change Préposition Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Politics, History & Economics Learn about the cost of the new policy on cigarette packaging in France.
• Holiday [US: Vacation] in French-speaking Switzerland Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Irène tells Jules how delighted she was by her trip to French-speaking Switzerland.
• Holidaying abroad: pros and cons Adverbe Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sébastien weighs up his pros and cons of going abroad for the holiday.
• Horse riding on the beach L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Iris discovered the joy of horse riding by the sea.
• How I met your mother L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif) Julien tells his children how he met their mother Émilie.
• How to become an official candidate in the French presidential election? Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Le Présent (Indicatif) Learn about the French electoral process to become a presidential candidate.
• I can't find my shirt! Pronom d'objet direct Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Family & Relationships Claire and Julien are almost ready to go out...except for Julien's missing shirt!
• In a clothes store Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Sports & Leisure Patrick complains to the sales assistant about a defective item.
• In the return taxi Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Aline talks about her trip with the taxi driver on her way back to the airport.
• In the woods with my dog Ulysse Le Présent (Indicatif) Infinitif Pronom relatif Gaëlle enjoys her walks through the woods with her dog Ulysse.
• Jean-Pierre Bacri Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Adverbe Yann and Élodie loved the great French actor who passed away in 2021.
• Living abroad Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Adverbe Bastien thinks that living abroad can only enrich one's life.
• Lockdown letters Pronom d'objet indirect Pronom d'objet direct Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Alexandre has been sending letters to his grandmother during lockdown.
• Long time no see! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Forme négative Family & Relationships Marina and her cousin Tom catch up after quite a while.
• Louise Bourgeois Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Genre féminin Art & Design Famous People Politics, History & Economics Marie-Claire tells us about her favourite French artist.
• Mice invasion Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Family & Relationships Lisa and Paul are discussing options to get rid of Lisa's mice.
• Moving house chores Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Family & Relationships Sophie had so many chores to do before moving into her new apartment.
• My car is a real beater! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Forme négative Sports & Leisure Technology & Science Yann's car has so many problems!
• My chosen family L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Magalie found her own loving family.
• My dream invention Le Conditionnel Présent Verbe irrégulier Mode subjonctif Technology & Science Sonia asks Sylvie what invention she'd dream to see becoming a reality.
• My exotic Christmas Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Celebrations & Important Dates Aline is remembering spending last Christmas in Marrakech, Morocco.
• My first Easter memory L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Alexandre remembers the first time he went egg hunting.
• My first music festival L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif) Adjectif Music Amélie recalls the first time she went to a music festival with her best friend Emma.
• My grandmother's rosebushes L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Pronom d'objet direct Family & Relationships Lucie tells us about her grandmother's beloved and renowned rosebushes.
• My hot-headed nephew L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Genre féminin Family & Relationships Michel talks about how his nephew used to get on his nerves.
• My kids' back to school day Le Subjonctif Présent Le Présent (Indicatif) Mode subjonctif Language & Education Family & Relationships Claire is getting ready for the kids' first day back to school.
• My life is a hashtag Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Participe passé Family & Relationships Technology & Science Sébastien explains why hashtags are so important in his life.
• My mother's favourite singer Préposition Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet Famous People Music Patricia tells us about her mum's passion for French singer Serge Lama.
• My passion for French cuisine Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Food & Drink James presents some of the reasons why he loves French cooking.
• My plan for the day of my exam Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Adverbe Language & Education Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Viviane has perfectly planned for her exam day.
• My sense of direction Verbe irrégulier Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Joseph and Sabrina discuss their more or less deficient sense of direction.
• My sister the future pianist Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Music Sports & Leisure Lucas's sister has always dreamed of playing piano.
• New town, new friends Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Verbe irrégulier Family & Relationships Laurence wants to help her daughter make new friends in their new town.
• New vs old technologies L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Reflexive verbs Technology & Science Enzo asks retiree Gertrude her opinion on new technologies.
• New wallpaper in the dining room L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom relatif Josiane explains her choice of new wallpaper for the dining room.
• Nostalgia: pros and cons Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Pronom réfléchi Noémie and Alain discuss the pros and cons of nostalgia.
• Nudist beaches in France Préposition Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Discover some of France's nudist beaches.
• Oceanopolis is great! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Céline tells you about her visit to the ocean discovery park in Brest, Brittany.
• On the terrace of a fancy restaurant Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbe irrégulier Food & Drink Family & Relationships Jean-Luc and his fiancée are enjoying a meal on the terrace of a fancy restaurant.
• On Valentine's Day, beware of faux pas! Mode subjonctif Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Family & Relationships Henri gives us tips to pick the right Valentine's Day's present.
• Our "grown-up" hobbies Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Viviane and Luc tell us about their respective hobbies: adult colouring and homebrewing.
• Our camper holiday [US: RV vacation] Pronom d'objet direct L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Élodie and her cousin Sarah had the best time on their camper holiday [US: RV vacation].
• Our holiday [US:vacation] in Wallonia Verbes réguliers avec -ER Préposition Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Daniel and Claire are planning their visit to Wallonia [re: French-speaking Belgium].
• Our new house's renovations Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Family & Relationships Jacques and his partner Louise are planning their new house's renovations.
• Our plans for Valentine's Day Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Verbe irrégulier Barnabé and Samia discuss their Valentine's Day plans.
• Pears in red wine and cassis Mode impératif L'Impératif Présent Préposition Food & Drink Here's chef Paul Bocuse's famous (and delicious) "Poires à la Beaujolaise" recipe.
• Pisces Horoscope Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif possessif Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Technology & Science Find out what the predictions are for Pisces this coming week.
• Planning a camping trip Verbe irrégulier Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom Patricia and Alexandre are planning their camping weekend.
• Playing video games Pronom d'objet indirect Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Sports & Leisure Quentin and Lise are playing a racing video game together.
• Pre-date stress L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Forme négative Préposition Family & Relationships Luc was really nervous last week ahead of his date with the amazing Olivia !
• Public Transport L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships François discovered the joys of public transport when moving from a small village to Paris.
• Rebooking a flight Le Présent (Indicatif) Question/Interrogative Adjectif possessif Employment Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Patrice calls Easyplane to postpone his flight.
• Roaming charges in France Adjectif L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Genre Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Technology & Science Lisa, who is French, discusses roaming charges for foreigners visiting France with her British friend Mike.
• Robbery at the bakery L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Employment Here's a local news article about a robbery.
• Saving up for Christmas Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Le Subjonctif Présent Politics, History & Economics Celebrations & Important Dates Nadia has a plan to save money until the Holidays.
• Sorting out my office Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Jean-Pascal's office needed a good clean.
• Stendhal syndrome Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Participe passé Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif) Learn more about this fascinating, if controversial, affliction.
• Strasbourg's Christmas Market Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adjectif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Celebrations & Important Dates Olivier tells us about one of the most magical Christmas markets in France.
• Tarte Tatin recipe Préposition Mode impératif Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Food & Drink Learn how to prepare this delicious French apple tart.
• Thanksgiving celebrations Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Verbes réguliers avec -ER Adam and his friends are making their own Thanksgiving dinner this year.
• The adventures of Fantômette Le Conditionnel Passé L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Literature, Poetry, Theatre Nadia has always loved the character of Fantômette!
• The Alsace wine route Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pluriel Verbe irrégulier Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Henri is finding out about Laura's trip to Alsace.
• The Appeal of 18 June 1940 Article Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Article défini Politics, History & Economics Celebrations & Important Dates Discover the historical context around Charles de Gaulle's most famous speech.
• The benefits of yoga Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Pronom réfléchi Discover a few of the many benefits yoga can bring into one's life.
• The best hotel booking L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif Adverbe Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Olivier had the most amazing hotel experience!
• The mental load L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Emma explains how the bulk of household organisational tasks tends to fall on women's shoulders.
• The Nice Carnaval Préposition Pronom relatif Le Présent (Indicatif) Celebrations & Important Dates Sports & Leisure Guillaume plans on going to the famous Nice Carnaval this year.
• The Paul Bocuse Institute in Lyon Adverbe Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Famous People Food & Drink Language & Education Marie's son dreams of studying at this world-renowned French cooking school.
• The Ritz hotel in Paris Adjectif Préposition Le Présent (Indicatif) Famous People Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn about one of the most iconic hotels in Paris.
• The worst holiday [US: vacation] of my life! L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Amandine tells us about her very disappointing holiday [US: vacation]!
• Thomas Pesquet Préposition Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Famous People Technology & Science Learn about France's most famous astronaut.
• Toussaint Louverture Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Préposition Adjectif Famous People Politics, History & Economics Find out why this historical figure is important in Haiti.
• Train mishap L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Genre féminin Family & Relationships Lisa missed her stop on her way to work!
• Training for a marathon Verbe irrégulier L'Impératif Présent Mode impératif Sports & Leisure Follow our tips to train and run your first marathon.
• Trouble on the way to holiday [US: vacation] Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Family & Relationships On the road to go on holiday [US: vacation], Christophe and Laure's car engine overheated.
• Two tourist destinations Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Le Subjonctif Présent Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Béatrice and Simon are discussing two different places to visit in France.
• Visit to Disneyland Paris Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Tristan can't wait to visit the famous theme park for the first time!
• Visiting my best friend L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Le Présent (Indicatif) Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Juliette wants to visit her best friend Pierre who moved away last year.
• Watching fencing at the Olympics Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Sports & Leisure Couple Tina and Olivier are watching an Olympic fencing match on TV.
• Water damage Le Présent (Indicatif) Mode subjonctif Le Subjonctif Présent Family & Relationships Noémie and Samuel investigate a water leak in their flat [US: apartment].
• Welcome to Bordeaux's Tourist Office Free Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Présent (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Bordeaux's Tourist Office introduces us to the city's best touristic attractions
• What is joual? Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Article Learn about this typical French Canadian way of speaking.
• What monster would you be? Le Conditionnel Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Préposition Family & Relationships Suzanne asks David, Agathe and Hugo what monsters they'd like to be.
• What to get Mum [US Mom]? Pronom d'objet indirect Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Daniel and his girlfriend Olivia decide what to get his mother for her birthday.
• Where to study L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Genre Mode subjonctif Italian student Mateo finally picked the country where he wants to study.
• Women's vote in France Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Genre masculin Politics, History & Economics Catherine and Blanche tell us about the first time they were allowed to vote in 1945.
• Workaholic's back to work Le Présent (Indicatif) Pluriel Mode subjonctif Employment Arthur hates time off and can't wait to be back at work!
• Working as an A&E [US: ER] doctor Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom réfléchi Adverbe Employment Technology & Science Find out what it's like for Dr. Patrick Dupond to work as an A&E [US: ER] doctor.
• Worrying weather changes Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Adjectif Technology & Science Friends Ferdinand and Josette are worrying about the weather changes they've witnessed over the years.

C1: Advanced French writing exercises

• 3 Culinary delights from French-speaking countries Adjectif Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Find out about three dishes from French-speaking countries.
• A bad matchmaker Pronom d'objet direct Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet Family & Relationships Sophie tells us about her failed attempt at matchmaking.
• A birthday party Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Verbe irrégulier Nicolas has planned a birthday party full of games for his daughter Flora.
• A chilling story L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom relatif A young couple had just moved into a huge manor...
• A couple's ups and downs Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom réfléchi Family & Relationships Hélène explains how she and her partner managed to navigate out of a rough patch.
• A difficult sibling relationship L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Pronom réfléchi Family & Relationships Yvan has always had a fraught relationship with his sister.
• A dissatisfied customer Mode subjonctif Le Subjonctif Présent Verbe irrégulier Monsieur Dubois writes to complain about not receiving an order.
• A dreadful teenager L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Family & Relationships Philippe recalls his bad behaviour as a teenage boy.
• A drunken evening Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Participe passé Pronom d'objet direct Christophe had quite an eventful evening!
• A ghost story L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Le Passé Simple (Indicatif) Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Hugo is visiting his mother on All Saints' Day.
• A hard time at work L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Employment Érica went through a rough time at work.
• A horrible storm! L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Mode subjonctif Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif) Technology & Science Julien remembers spending a horrible night due to a violent storm.
• A last minute request L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Employment Family & Relationships Isabelle's colleague keeps making her miserable...
• A long-standing friendship L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Family & Relationships Carole tells us about her long-standing relationship with her friend Aline.
• A lovely car L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pluriel Troisième personne Technology & Science Find out about Michel's beloved 2CV car.
• A lovely encounter L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif Le Passé Simple (Indicatif) Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships On her daily walk, Audrey met a furry little friend in need of help...
• A snow storm to remember Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Mode subjonctif Lily recalls last year's snow storm.
• A special Christmas in Switzerland L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif) Préposition Food & Drink Celebrations & Important Dates Damien recalls a wonderful family Christmas holiday in Switzerland.
• A sudden reappearance Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Forme négative Family & Relationships After years of disappearance, Olivia's friend is back.
• A wedding proposal L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect David tells us how he planned to propose to his girlfriend.
• Advice for new pet owners Pronom d'objet Pronom d'objet indirect Le Subjonctif Présent Family & Relationships Laurent asks people for their advice on welcoming a new pet at home.
• Alberto Giacometti Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Préposition Jean-Louis and Samuel discuss the famous Swiss artist.
• Alice and the Caterpillar (Alice in Wonderland) Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Simple (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Literature, Poetry, Theatre Alice meets the mysterious Caterpillar in this adapted excerpt from "Alice in Wonderland"
• An animal tale L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Le Passé Simple (Indicatif) Family & Relationships By a lovely winter morning, Henri the hare meets poorly Lili the rabbit.
• An incredible trip on the Canal du Midi Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Pronom d'objet direct Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Patrice recalls his trip along the Canal du Midi.
• An upcycling tutorial Adjectif Préposition Pronom d'objet direct Art & Design Sports & Leisure Technology & Science Find out a few ideas for your upcycling projets.
• Anna's birthday party L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Food & Drink Family & Relationships Clément discusses the organisation of his daughter's birthday party with his friend Charlotte.
• Anne of Brittany Le Passé Simple (Indicatif) Genre féminin Verbe irrégulier Learn about the extraordinary woman who was crowned Queen of France twice.
• At the psychiatrist's Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Pronom d'objet direct Employment Family & Relationships Mme Dupont is talking to her psychiatrist.
• At the ski resort Le Présent (Indicatif) Mode subjonctif Le Subjonctif Présent Sports & Leisure Paul needs to get ski gear for himself and his family.
• At the water park Le Présent (Indicatif) Mode subjonctif Le Subjonctif Présent The whole family is having a good time at the water park.
• At Uncle Robert's 70th birthday Verbe irrégulier Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Family & Relationships Laura catches up with her cousin Charlotte at a family event.
• Back to School shopping Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Préposition Language & Education Family & Relationships Viviane and Christian try and get everything on their children's school supply list.
• Bathroom chat Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Bruno and Sonia are having a chat in the bathroom.
• Brest during World War II L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Mode subjonctif Politics, History & Economics Alex is talking about WWII in Brest with his granddad.
• Californian dream L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Olivia finally followed her dream to move to California.
• Camping in the woods Free L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Nathalie enjoys camping in the middle of the woods.
• Coco Chanel Le Passé Simple (Indicatif) Article Verbes réguliers avec -ER Famous People Politics, History & Economics Learn about this extraordinary woman who became a fashion icon.
• Complaining about a hotel room Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Gérard complains to the receptionist about the state of his hotel room.
• Coping with the heatwave Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Family & Relationships Emma asks how Simon and his pregnant girlfriend Christelle coped with the extreme heat.
• Deep-sea diving in Martinique L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Pronom relatif Léonard took his new wife Sophie deep-sea diving in Martinique.
• Discovering Guadeloupe Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Verbes réguliers avec -IR Alicia takes us on a tour of some of Guadeloupe's tourist spots.
• Drôme provençale, a little piece of heaven Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Adjectif possessif Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Politics, History & Economics Vincent tells us about this beautiful region in the South of France.
• Easter plans Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Le Présent (Indicatif) Julia hopes Easter will be nicer this year!
• Édith Piaf Le Passé Simple (Indicatif) Genre masculin Genre féminin Famous People Music Here's a short biography of one of France's most beloved singers.
• Engagement dinner's speech Préposition Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Family & Relationships The bride's father thanks the guests for attending and announces the evening programme.
• Engagement surprise Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Family & Relationships Louise enjoys an unexpected visit at her engagement party.
• Family Zoom Call Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Le Présent (Indicatif) Laurent tries to coordinate a Zoom call with his mother and grandparents.
• Financial advice Mode subjonctif Le Subjonctif Présent Le Présent (Indicatif) Alicia had a meeting with her financial advisor.
• Finding love at a yoga retreat L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adverbe Adjectif possessif Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Seniors Germaine and Pierrot didn't expect to fall in love at a yoga retreat.
• Fireside memories L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Adjectif possessif Family & Relationships Manuelle has warm memories of family times by the fireside.
• First day back to school Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Préposition Verbe irrégulier Food & Drink Family & Relationships Sabrina tells us what she'll do on her children's first day back to school.
• Fishing with my father Free L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom réfléchi Pronom relatif Julien remembers going fishing with his dad when he was young.
• French Mobile Phone Habits Adverbe Préposition Mode subjonctif Politics, History & Economics Technology & Science We're taking a look at the importance of mobile phones in French people's lives.
• Gardening weekend Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Participe passé Sports & Leisure Jean-Pierre had a busy weekend taking care of his garden.
• Gastronomical review Pronom relatif Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Food & Drink Discover a mouthwatering review of a French restaurant.
• Gluten-free living L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Food & Drink Alexandre tells us how he dealt with his newly discovered gluten allergy.
• Gustave Moreau Museum L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Art & Design Claire tells us about her fascination for 19th-century symbolist painter Gustave Moreau.
• Holidaying in July L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Monuments, Tourism & Vacations July is a hard time to organise holiday [US: vacation] for, as Martine and Sam found out!
• How to show your love? Verbe irrégulier Adjectif possessif Préposition Family & Relationships Marianne and her partner Adèle are making some changes to show their appreciation for each other more.
• How to take the best portrait photos Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Sylvie gives Jacques some tips to improve his portrait photos.
• Icons of French tennis Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Famous People Sports & Leisure Marc and Aline are chatting about the most memorable French tennis players.
• If only I'd won the lottery! Le Conditionnel Passé Pronom d'objet direct Verbes avec être comme auxiliaire Vincent shares what he would have done with the lottery money if he'd won.
• If you could learn anything instantly... Le Conditionnel Présent Le Subjonctif Présent Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Irène, Julien and Pascal answer the question.
• In the Jura mountains with my dog Pronom relatif Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Stéphane recommends going on a mountain holiday [US: vacation] with your dog.
• In the lives of the writers of French romance novels Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Employment Literature, Poetry, Theatre Discover what the life of a French writer of romance novels looks like.
• Jean-Marc Vallée Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom relatif L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Famous People Film & TV Nathan and Florence discuss the late Quebecois director Jean-Marc Vallée.
• Johnny Hallyday, a French icon L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Famous People Music Paul and his mum talk about her favourite French singer, Johnny Hallyday.
• La Petite France in Strasbourg Adjectif Préposition Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Art & Design Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Discover this unique area of Strasbourg, a UNESCO site and tourists' favourite.
• Last-minute hesitations L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adverbe Pronom d'objet direct Literature, Poetry, Theatre Family & Relationships François is torn between his love for Marianne and his duty to the Duchess who he's about to marry.
• Letter to my daughter L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Family & Relationships Marc writes a love letter to his newborn baby girl.
• Letter to Santa Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Le Subjonctif Présent Celebrations & Important Dates Timothée writes to Santa, hoping he's been good enough this year...
• Living in Paris: pros and cons Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Parisians Bastien and Louise discuss the advantages and disadvantages of living in the French capital.
• Long distance relationships Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Le Présent (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Here's some advice on how to keep your long distance relation working.
• Luxembourg: A bit of history Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom réfléchi Pronom relatif Politics, History & Economics Learn about the early history of this interesting country.
• Missed plane! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adverbe Le Subjonctif Présent Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Family & Relationships Bastien missed his morning flight to Paris!
• Missing a friend's Hen [US: Bachelorette] Party Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Adverbe Manquer l'EVJF d'une amie
• Moana's French voice-over's interview Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Film & TV Paul interviews Cerise Calixte, the French actress who gave her voice to Disney's Moana (Vaiana in the French version).
• Montpellier, city of street art Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Art & Design Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Valentin tells us why Montpellier is a great street art city.
• Multilingualism in Alsace Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Article Pronom d'objet direct Politics, History & Economics Language & Education Find out which languages are spoken in Alsace.
• My family's Hallowe'en L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Genre masculin Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Martin tells us about his family's Hallowe'en traditions.
• My first Mother's Day Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Danielle looks back on her very first Mother's Day with her son.
• My Hanukkah traditions L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Genre féminin Celebrations & Important Dates Family & Relationships Rachelle explains why Hanukkah is such a special occasion for her.
• My life as a locavore Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Le Subjonctif Présent Sophie explains why she decided to become a locavore.
• My son's school trip transformation L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom relatif Family & Relationships Naomi wondered about her son's strange behaviour after his school trip to France.
• My trip to Lyon Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Verbe irrégulier Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Yvan spent a few days exploring the French city.
• Nice's cuisine: a healthy diet Le Présent (Indicatif) Préposition Verbes réguliers avec -ER Food & Drink Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Find out why the dishes from Nice are so healthy.
• Not the festival type Mode subjonctif Le Subjonctif Présent Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Jean-Marc discovered that outdoor festivals were really not his thing!
• Ode to my favourite uncle L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect Pronom d'objet direct Simon writes a loving text to his favourite uncle.
• Of the difficulties of learning French Le Présent (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Mike and Jane discuss the challenges they encountered learning French.
• On a desert island Le Conditionnel Présent Le Présent (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Technology & Science Pierre discusses his friend Yves's choice of single item that he would take with him on a desert island.
• Our baby's progress Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Le Présent (Indicatif) Christophe can't believe how fast his baby daughter is growing up.
• Paris Catacombs Visit: Juliette's review Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Juliette reviews her visit of Paris's Catacombs.
• Paris's Haussmannian revolution L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Simple (Indicatif) Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif) Art & Design Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Learn about the architectural revolution that took place in Paris in the 19th century.
• Planning mishap Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Sports & Leisure Family & Relationships Fabienne and Pascal were to meet Charlotte and Cyril to go to the cinema...except they showed up an hour late! What happened?
• Playground battle Le Passé Simple (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Verbes réguliers avec -ER Family & Relationships Thomas and Alex fought an epic battle in the school playground.
• Police Station Dialogue Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Family & Relationships Detective Jacques Poireau is interviewing a murder suspect.
• Pompidou Centre Free Le Passé Simple (Indicatif) Verbe irrégulier Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Politics, History & Economics Learn about the history of this unique building in Paris.
• Post-holiday [US: vacation] voice mail Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Présent (Indicatif) Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Family & Relationships Éric leaves a voice mail for his best friend after a sunny break in Nice.
• Prepaid travel cards Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Préposition Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Technology & Science Alain talks about the advantages of prepaid travel cards.
• Reading books in a foreign language Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Language & Education Literature, Poetry, Theatre Killian and Rose, who are not native French speakers, are chatting about reading books in French.
• Real daredevils! Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adverbe Patricia's twins have a loyalty card at the local hospital...
• Results of the 2022 presidential election's first round Pronom relatif Conjonction de subordination Verbes réguliers avec -ER Politics, History & Economics Here's a summary of the main results of the first round of France's 2022 presidential elections.
• Review of the iPhone 8 Plus Comparatif Forme négative Le Subjonctif Présent Technology & Science Christine reviews the disappointing new iPhone 8 Plus.
• Roxy's bath Le Présent (Indicatif) Adverbe Le Subjonctif Présent Giving a bath to her dog Roxy is really no picnic for Lisa!
• Staycation: a positive experience Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Forme négative Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Sports & Leisure Oscar talks about his experience with staycations.
• Stereotypes about girls: an evolution? Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Question/Interrogative Politics, History & Economics Family & Relationships Danielle Moreau, a sociologist, talks about the evolution of stereotypes towards girls on a radio show.
• Summer recipes Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Food & Drink Marielle shares her favourite summer dishes with us.
• Taking the children to the park Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Family & Relationships Overwhelmed dad Luc tells us about the challenge that is taking the kids to the park.
• Taking the driving license test Mode subjonctif Le Subjonctif Présent Verbe irrégulier Irène is taking her driving license test.
• The "Veuve Clicquot" Le Passé Simple (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Adjectif possessif Food & Drink Politics, History & Economics Here's the story of how widow Barbe-Nicole Clicquot created one of the most famous champagne brands in the world.
• The Abbey of Fontevraud: a Royal affair Le Présent (Indicatif) Verbes réguliers avec -ER Préposition Famous People Monuments, Tourism & Vacations Politics, History & Economics Eleanor of Aquitaine answers a few questions about the Abbey of Fontevraud.
• The benefits of music Pronom d'objet indirect Pronom d'objet direct Le Présent (Indicatif) Music Mathieu tells us about the benefits of music.
• The best house painting company Adjectif possessif Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet indirect You won't find a better house painting company than Jean-Pierre's!
• The city of the future Le Futur Simple (Indicatif) Pronom relatif Verbe irrégulier Family & Relationships Technology & Science Yann asked people what they imagine cities will look like in the future.
• The feminist revolutionary Olympe de Gouges Mode subjonctif Le Subjonctif Présent Verbes réguliers avec -ER Famous People Politics, History & Economics Bastien tells us about this extraordinary humanist writer from 18th century France.
• The flower fair L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Damien and his family really enjoyed their visit to the flower fair.
• The French language in the world Préposition Adjectif Article Employment Language & Education Find out about the impact of French in the world.
• The GPS is malfunctioning! Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Le Présent (Indicatif) Technology & Science Rémi and Isabelle's car GPS is malfunctioning!
• The King cake Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Mode subjonctif Food & Drink Celebrations & Important Dates Learn about the tradition around King cake.
• The Lumberjack - Part 1 L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Pronom d'objet direct Celebrations & Important Dates Literature, Poetry, Theatre Here's an original Christmas story about a lumberjack who lived in the North Pole...
• The Lumberjack - Part 2 Le Présent (Indicatif) Forme négative Verbes réguliers avec -ER Celebrations & Important Dates Literature, Poetry, Theatre Who left those tiny footprints? Here's the end of our original Christmas story!
• The town of Gruyères Mode subjonctif Le Subjonctif Présent Verbes réguliers avec -ER Sébastien had a lovely time visiting the famous Swiss town.
• To our adopted son Pronom d'objet direct Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Family & Relationships Christian tells his son how wanted he was and still is.
• Unicycle passion Le Plus-que-Parfait (Indicatif) L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) Yvette tells us about the day when her passion for unicycling was born.
• Welcome to Lille Le Présent (Indicatif) Adjectif Adverbe Monuments, Tourism & Vacations The northern city has a lot to offer to visitors.
• What's a good mother? Le Présent (Indicatif) Le Subjonctif Présent Pronom relatif Family & Relationships Julie has been getting much contradictory advice since she became a mother.
• Which book to choose? Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom relatif Literature, Poetry, Theatre Christian is looking for a few recommendations at his local library.
• Who's your favourite football [US:soccer] player? Le Présent (Indicatif) Pronom d'objet direct Pronom d'objet indirect Bertrand and Léa discuss their favourite French football [US:soccer] players.
• Why did I become a vet? L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Adjectif possessif Jean-Luc tells us what made him choose this profession.
• Working as a PA Mode subjonctif Le Subjonctif Présent Verbe irrégulier Employment Sophie talks about her career as a personal assistant.
• Writer's Block L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Préposition Le Subjonctif Présent Literature, Poetry, Theatre Lucille talks about coping mechanisms to circumvent the dreaded writer's block.
• Yves Saint-Laurent L'Imparfait (Indicatif) Adjectif possessif Genre féminin Art & Design Famous People Thibault and his friend Sonia talk about French designer Yves Saint-Laurent.

In this section

• Hanukkah 2023 Menorah
• Christmas 2023 Advent Calendar
• Tips and ideas to improve your French writing skills
• French Glossary and Jargon Buster

The Ultimate List of AP® French Language Tips

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

If you’re like many foreign language students, the AP® French Language exam has been a worrisome figure on the horizon for quite some time. As you finally begin this AP® course and prepare for the exam next spring, remember that there are many different resources out there to help you along the way. This Ultimate List of the AP® French Language tips will give you a head start over all of the other French students preparing for the exam. Use this list, combined with some hard work and assistance from your AP® teacher, and you’ll ace this exam in no time.

So you want to pass the AP® French Language exam? Well here’s the breakdown. Every year:

– More than 20,000 students take the AP® French Language exam

– About 75% receive a score of 3 or higher

– Only about 38% receive a crucial score of a 4 or 5

– Only  12% score a 5, which can really blow away college admissions staff

Want to be in the top 10% of exam takers? Want to receive even more scholarship money and acceptance letters from top universities? Want to awe and impress your AP® teacher and fellow students? Follow this indispensable list for some tips that will set you on your way. Also, if you’re looking for the best AP® French Language review books, this resource may help .

How to Study for AP® French Language Tips

1. It’s simple – use French! Easier said than done. Unlike Spanish, French doesn’t have a huge presence in the U.S. today. There aren’t French news channels or (many) French radio stations. So how can you start using the language? We’ll offer several ideas in the tips below.

2. Find the culture in your every day . What do you think of when you think Francophone culture? Well, we think of food first and foremost! A fantastic way to incorporate more French into your daily routine – and learn some great new recipes – is to cook French food. Used bookstores typically have foreign language cookbooks on the cheap. Pick one up and highlight some recipes that you’d like to try out. They don’t have to be complicated for you to benefit from the language. Some of the best dishes are simple and require few ingredients – fondue au fromage , anyone?

3. Find a language buddy. This applies to all foreign language students: most high schools have foreign exchange students and teachers. Lucky for you, as a French language student, tons of countries have French as a national language – not just France! French is an official language in all of these places:

France, Canada: Quebec and Ontario, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, Monaco, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Haiti, Réunion, Martinique, Switzerland, and many more!

Use this to your advantage! Find a language buddy to practice your French. Often times, other students and exchange teachers are willing to do 15 minutes in French for 15 minutes of English practice with you!

4. Find a language exchange. These are more common than you think! Many French speakers in the U.S. are looking to improve their English and are beyond happy to participate in conversational language exchanges with native English speakers. Typically you spend 15-20 minutes speaking in one language and then switch to the other. Where can you find these exchanges? Check out the public library, civic center, or ask around at your school.

5. Get your vocabulary up to par! So you’ve reached AP® French Language. By this time in your foreign language career, you’ve most likely mastered the grammar of the language – at least in written form. You’ve seen all the verb tenses and know your irregular adjective conjugations. Still, you’ll be at a loss communicating in French if you don’t have an extensive vocabulary to express yourself. Get ready, here’s how to start expanding your vocabulary in French today.

6. A new word every day. The easiest way to start studying for AP® French is to introduce a new word into your French vocabulary every day. The Instagram account French Words has a new word (as well as its phonetic pronunciation and grammatical gender) every day! Flip calendars are also great for getting a new word every day. Then, try to use it during class.

7. Bring out your vocabulary cards. Or don’t! We recommend using vocabulary cards – they are a language learner’s best friend. Put a word in French on one side and a description of the word on the other side. Don’t like carrying around a ton of paper? There are so many apps available to make flashcards. Run through the words while you’re on the treadmill. Or every time commercials come on during your favorite show. Or every day before you begin French class to really get your mind churning.

Insider tip : There are good ways to make a vocab card and there are better ways. Which of these looks better for the word la craie ?

Yup, you guessed it – the one on the right. Why? Because you didn’t need to use English to get to the meaning of the word. This will make you a faster speaker and writer in French. You also included all the relevant information such as the article and the word’s pronunciation.

8. Keep track of unknown words. Successful language learners swear by this technique. Keep a small notepad with you throughout the day. Then, every time you hear or see a word that you don’t know, write it down. Even if you don’t get the spelling right, jotting down these unknown words and looking them up later is one of the best techniques for acquiring new vocabulary items. Why? Because there are so many words that you encounter that you don’t know, even in your AP® class, that you cannot possibly keep track of them all. Write them down. Look them up. Repeat.

9. But don’t forget the important parts. Learning vocabulary is nothing if you don’t know how to use it. This means learning:

1) The pronunciation

How do you say it?

2) If it’s a noun, gender of the word

Is it le or la?

3) If it’s a verb, the conjugation

Is it a regular or irregular verb?

4) Put it in context

How do you use the word in a sentence ?

10. Whip out old practice exams. Reviewing old AP® exams is a technique known to help students prepare for the test. Year after year, AP® teachers say the one thing that sets apart those students who pass from those who don’t, was who completed the practice exams in class. Start getting yourself ready now by reviewing the old exams that your teacher may have available for you.

Insider tip: Know the structure of the exam

There are three main components to the AP® French Language exam: multiple choice, speaking, and writing. In order of appearance on the test they are:

multiple choice

interpersonal writing (e-mail)

presentational writing (persuasive essay)

interpersonal speaking(conversation)

presentational speaking (cultural comparison)

Don’t forget some of the AP® exam basics. Once you complete one section, you can’t go back and change your answers. Instead, simply move on and focus on the section at hand. You also can’t work ahead on the exam. So even if you’re especially nervous for the speaking section, don’t be. There’s nothing you can do during the multiple choice section to ready yourself for it so breathe and focus on the questions in front of you. In a way, it’s relieving. You can’t work ahead anyways, so don’t be anxious about the upcoming sections.

11. Get together to study . Studying can become very tedious. And most AP® French Language students aren’t taking just one AP® test – they’re taking 3, 4, or 5. To get over the boredom of studying alone, form a group that meets once or twice a week. This is a great way to socialize while reviewing but also get fresh ideas and insights on the course material. Split up the culture section and have one person report a new country for every meeting. Already sounds better than reviewing alone, doesn’t it?

12. Look up the guidelines . We’ve talked about a couple other online resources but one you should be especially familiar with is the CollegeBoard itself. The scoring guidelines that AP® French Language exam graders have right in front of them as they grade exams are available on this site. Curious about what graders are looking for? The CollegeBoard is very open with this, so take advantage of it.

13. Incorporate the language into your everyday routine . There are so many ways to incorporate French into your daily life – you’re probably not even thinking of them! Change your social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter to French – even your ads will start to appear in French. Set your browser homepage to Le Monde or Le Journal de Québec and read a news article every morning. Set your cell phone to French to learn new vocabulary. French will be all around you in no time.

14. Utilize your best resource: your teacher . You probably don’t know anyone who is a better resource for you when taking the AP® French Language exam than your AP® French teacher. He/she has seen hundreds of students take the exam and knows what has worked and what hasn’t. This is even more relevant if they are one of the teachers who grades the AP® exam in the summertime. So ask your teacher questions. Be an active learner in class. Learn from previous students’ mistakes. Your teacher will be more than happy to help you in your preparation for the test.

Start your AP® French Language Prep today

Ap® french language multiple choice tips.

1. Ignore instructions. This goes along with practicing for the test like we mentioned earlier. By the time you get to test day, you should be so comfortable with the material and overall structure of the test that you don’t need to read the instructions. While other students waste precious minutes reviewing the directions, you can skip ahead and get cracking on the hefty number of multiple-choice questions you have coming your way.

2. Answer every single question. Remember on the ACT® and SAT® when your teacher constantly stressed not answering questions you didn’t know? You were punished for incorrect answers. Well, not on the AP® French Language exam! In fact, the grading machines just ignore incorrect answers. Can’t figure out a question? Running out of time? Mark an answer anyways – it might be correct.

3. Calculate your time . How many questions do you have on the multiple choice section? 65. How many minutes are you allotted? 95. That means about a minute and half for every question. Don’t go beyond that, even if a question is tripping you up. Mark something down as an answer. Then, circle the question to come back to it later if you have time.

4. Move on from words you don’t know . You will inevitably encounter words that you don’t know in the multiple-choice section. Don’t stress about this or convince yourself that you weren’t sufficiently prepared. Instead, skim past those words and focus on those that you do know. You will be able to figure out the question despite not knowing a word or two. Even looking at the answers can sometimes help. So don’t stress when approached with an unfamiliar word.

5. Read the entire question . AP® tests are notorious for their tough multiple-choice sections. And the College Board thinks they can trip you up by giving a lot of background information and not stating the actual objective until the end of the question. So be one step ahead. Read the entire question, all the way through. Then, select an answer. They anticipate many students not reading the entire question and give wrong answers that correspond appropriately so don’t fall into this trap.

AP® French Language Free Response Tips

1. Sound natural and conversational. This isn’t always so easy for someone who speaks French as a second language. But listening to French radio (try RadioFrance ) or watching television shows ( Fais pas çi, fais pas ça is available on French Netflix and is very popular) can really help you with these elements of your language. What do you hear when you listen to native speakers? Lots of uh , and bon , right? Good. Use this to your advantage. Dot your speech with these native-sounding interjections and give yourself more time to think of the right words.

2. Slow down . For many students, the free response section of the AP® French Language exam is the most anxiety inducing of the test. As a result, too many students speak quickly, stumble over their words, or provide an incoherent argument. Don’t let this be you! Firstly, speak slowly. You have so much time – two whole minutes for the cultural comparison. There is no need to rush through your words. In fact, you’ll make more mistakes and will be less likely to find the words you’re looking if you speak too quickly.

3. Use your transition words . This actually also applies for the written portion. But, French is known to differ a lot stylistically between its written and spoken forms, so we’ll mention it here. There are lots of colloquial words that are used in spoken French to change topic or connect your thoughts. Here are some of them:

Je veux dire…

Comme je disais avant…

Par contre…

D’autre part…

Par exemple…

En même temps…

Insider tip : Sounding native

Par contre and en revanche are often cited in dictionaries as being synonyms in French. And to a certain extent, they are. However, they differ in their context of usage. Whereas you would rarely hear someone say en revanche out loud, you hardly even see par contre written in formal, academic prose. Know when to use which term for your transitions.

4. Use the correct pronouns . You know the difference between vous and tu – or do you? Vous is used for formal contexts, when you’re speaking with a teacher or addressing a grader as you record yourself in the speaking section of the test. Tu , however, is used when speaking with classmates or people you have known for a while. Vous is also used when addressing multiple people. Be very mindful of this distinction when speaking. Register is one thing that AP® graders look for since it’s mentioned explicitly on the scoring guidelines . So you know it’s very important.

5. Try recording yourself and classmates . Still worried about the speaking section of the AP® French Language exam? Not to worry, most students are nervous for this part. An excellent way to prepare is by recording yourself and others. Then, play back what you said. Do you sound rushed? How is your /R/ pronunciation (that guttural sound)? Be sure to get classmates’ help with this. They’d love to exchange tips on this tough section of the test.

AP® French Language Essay Tips & Advice

1. Penmanship matters, so use your best. Maybe it should, maybe it shouldn’t, but penmanship matters. And don’t you want your AP® French Language exam grader to be in a good mood when they’re scoring your exam? Make reading essays simpler for your grader by writing very clearly and unambiguously on the test. Take your time. As we’ll point out below, it isn’t the length of the essay that matters, but the content.

2. No need to fill all the pages! You are given so many pages in the essay booklet on the AP® French Language exam. This is actually an unfortunate part of the test and one that many students fall victim to. Remember: you don’t need to use all the pages! They are there for students who write larger or who made a large mistake and need to start over. Instead, stick to three, maximum four, pages on the presentational writing section. Graders read the essays quickly. And the questions are geared towards shorter essays, not longer. Less is more! (And you have less opportunity to make mistakes.)

Insider tip : French and its punctuation

Did you know that French uses different punctuation than English? Have you ever noticed, for example, that your teacher writes grades not as 92.3% but rather 92,3? Have you ever seen that question marks and exclamation points in French stories always come after a space? Check out the sentence below for some of the common punctuation differences between French and English:

– Le prof t’a donné quelle note sur le partiel ?

– J’ai reçu 13,3 sur 20. Et toi ?

– Moi, j’ai reçu 12,4. Il m’a commenté, « analyse pas suffisante ». Ca veut dire quoi, ça ?

What’s different in the phrases above?

  1) space between question mark and end of sentence: partiel?

  2) « » Arrows for quotes instead of English high quotes “ ”

  3) No accents necessary on uppercase letters, only lowercase: Ca but ça

  4) Comma instead of decimal point and vice versa: 1.000.000 instead of 1,000,000 for one million

Does this matter? Absolutely! Impress AP® French Language readers with the depth of your knowledge and detail in French writing. Get all the points that you can!

3. Have an outline and a thesis – before beginning . Before you ever flip the page from the sources to the actual essay, you should have an outline and thesis written. ‘Why?’ you ask. ‘It’s in my mind.’ Not good enough. Stakes are too high and the essay writing time passes by too fast. You must know what you’re writing about from the beginning or you risk wasting precious writing time. By writing down a thesis and having an idea of your structure, you’ll have something to refer back to you if you get lost in the prose of your essay.

4. Use ink on the essays . Pencil is great for writing notes and that all-important outline that we’ve already talked about. But when it comes to the essay itself, stick to ink. Why? Because pencil smudges easily and could render parts of your essay unreadable to the grader – yikes! Also, it simply isn’t as clear as blue or black ink. So stick to pens for the essay itself. Unsure of an idea while you’re writing? Write in pencil first. Then, go back over it in pen once you’ve finished.

5. Proofread. You must, must, must proofread your essay. Even if you’re on the last paragraph and you only have three minutes left, take the time to proofread. You would be amazed how many errors you can make while you’re writing and thinking quickly. When you first construct your essay, you’re likely to be so involved in the material itself and incorporating your sources (we’ll get to those below) that you forget about all-important accents or a consistent verb tense throughout. Proofreading will catch most of those errors. Keep an eye out for the following while you do one last read-through:

1) No passive voice – when in doubt, use on :

This: On peut voir dans la ligne deux que … Not this: La ligne deux est  vue par le lecteur comme…

2) A consistent verb tense throughout – don’t switch between past and present

3) Watch out for accents.

There’s a big difference between accent aigu ´ and accent grave ` so don’t get sloppy.

4) Don’t forget subjunctive.

Did the subject change within the clause? Are you expressing doubt or uncertainty? You probably need subjunctive.

6. Use the sources. Hopefully you know this one already! The sources provided for the persuasive essay are not just there for your amusement – you must incorporate them into your essay. In fact, graders are looking to make sure that you include not just one or two of the sources – but all of them. So read the sources carefully and think about how you will incorporate them into the outline before you even begin writing – that way you won’t forget to include one.

7. Weave the sources into the essay . Speaking of sources, if graders are looking to see if you included all three sources – don’t you want to make it very obvious to them that you did? So go ahead and use direct citations from the sources (with quotes and a citation marker). This is better than simply summing up information from the sources because 1) the graders will spot that you used a source right away and 2) you’re less likely to get the information from the sources wrong – a very common mistake that test takers make!

Tips by AP® French Language Teachers

Did you know that teachers grade the AP® French Language exams? And not just any teachers – your teachers. That’s right. Every summer, hundreds of AP® French Language teachers and university professors who teach equivalent courses get together to grade the writing and speaking components of the exam. So who do you think knows best what graders are and aren’t looking for? Teachers themselves, of course!

1. Write neatly. This teacher reinforces one of our writing tips mentioned above! “Just write clearly. We can always tell when you don’t know how to spell a word and you try to fudge your way out of it but writing illegibly. You’d be surprised how few points students lose for orthographic errors so write clearly. If you make a couple of minor mistakes, you won’t lose points for it.”

2. Do full practice exams. On the subject of practice exams , which we have also encouraged, this teacher says, “Unfortunately, we do not have enough time in class to do a full exam run-through of multiple choice, speaking, and writing. Great students will take the initiative and do this on their own or in groups. This is a long exam. It takes stamina. The only way to build that up is to do full run-throughs of the exam. All sections in one sitting – just as it will be on the day of the test.”

3. Re-energizing during the exam . It’s a long exam. How can you prepare yourself to make it all the way through until the writing section? This teacher has some tips: “I hate how the writing comes at the end! I think it’s the hardest part of the exam and takes the most energy out of my students. So I tell them, in addition to eating a large breakfast or lunch on the day of the AP® French Language exam, bring a snack or two with you! Every year my students come back saying how happy they were that I recommended this. The exam will take a lot out of you – get some energy back in return!”

4. Must use sources! Didn’t we tell you that incorporating your sources was important? Here it is again: “Please, please, please use all of your sources! Every year when I’m grading the AP® French Language exams, I feel terrible that I have to dock students points because they forgot a source or forgot to incorporate sources altogether!” How can you remember to do this? Write the sources into your outline from the very beginning. That way, you won’t forget to include them.

Insider tip : What if I forget a source?

Every year, so many students forget a source that the CollegeBoard finally decided that students can still receive a score of a 4 or 5 even without mentioning one of the sources. But the essay has to be exceptionally good to still receive such a high score. So rather than take the chance, follow the directions and use your sources.

5. Be a consistent studier. Studying for the AP® exam doesn’t just happen the few weeks before exam day in May. In fact, many AP® French Language teachers say the best study habits are established from the first week of class. “I try to encourage my students to form study groups outside of class and good learning habits such as learning new vocabulary and exposing themselves to different dialects of French. They should be doing this really from the start of their first semester in AP® French. This is the highest level of French taught at our school and offers them the invaluable opportunity to gain college credit. So students should treat the course as they would a college-level class.”

6. Master the present, including the subjunctive, the past and the future tenses! Thanks for the tip from Debbie M.

7. Challenge yourself daily to do more than you could yesterday.  Listen to challenging French news broadcasts.  If you don’t understand the background of the topics being discussed, do some further research online.  You will enhance your knowledge of current events–a key element of success on the exam–very quickly this way. Thanks for the tip from Stephen O. at West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High.

8. Practice dictation regularly –It may seem old fashioned, but dictation (la dictée) is a great way to hone spelling and grammar and to increase vocabulary.  Find a 30-second snip-it online and write out everything you hear.  Ask a teacher or native to check it for you. Thanks for the tip from Stephen O. at West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High.

9. Expose yourself to French every day. An easy way to get in 15 minutes is by either listening to the French news (Journal Télévisé) on TF1.fr while getting ready for school in the morning or while getting ready for bed at night. Thanks for the tip from Kerry G. at Greenwich High School.

10. During my study abroad in college, I would listen to the French radio news every morning with my host family or alone. It helped me get used to the pacing of real French while, at the same time, having a general idea of the topic before the report started. Thanks for the tip from Kerry G. at Greenwich High School.

11. I tell my students to watch a French video clip (news or otherwise) daily to get used to hearing different accents and to get their ears used to hearing spoken French. Thanks for the tip from Linda W. at Haddon Township.

12. DON’T PANIC … Breathe and think, what did we talk about. Thanks for the submission by Timothy K. from Apex High.

13. Help the Reader: Assume the reader is tired….it is the end of the day…they have been grading since 8:00am….Help the reader find the answer. Thanks for the submission by Timothy K. from Apex High.

Label your sections

Underline important terms and key parts of your answer

–i.e. if it asks for the definition of nation, underline the word nation…

14. Do Not Dump: You should try to avoid writing “dump” essays where you “dump” or empty your brain of everything you can think of onto the paper. Thanks for the submission by Timothy K. from Apex High.

15. Outline : OUTLINING the questions will help you tremendously! As soon as you get the CRQ’s, spend a couple of minutes outlining the main points for your answer right on the question sheet. This way, when you go to write your full response, you will have a baseline of information and important points to send you on your way. Those who have done this in the past have told me it has really helped them be successful on the exam. Thanks for the submission by Timothy K. from Apex High.

16. Pick On The Weaker Ones First: Answer the question you think is the easiest first; then go onto the next easiest, etc… This way, you leave the hardest one for the end when you have more time to answer. Thanks for the submission by Timothy K. from Apex High.

17. Take your flashcards to another level: When your writing out your flashcards/vocabulary make sure you are not just writing it in your own words… but be able to connect the term/concept to another term/concept. This way when your writing your FRQ you will be able to show the reader that you not only know the information, but can critically connect the material to other units/topics. Thanks for the submission by Timothy K. from Apex High.

18. AP® French Language is vocabulary driven. Study your list of vocabulary terms listed on the CollegeBoard site labeled Martha Sharma’s vocabulary terms. I have my own version as well. Let me know if you want me to send them. Thanks for the tip from David E.

19. READ as many multiple sources as possible to prepare.  Thanks for the tip from Anne C.

20. If students make a point to Listen to 10 min of French everyday in the form of news or podcasts – they can make great strides in their listening comprehension which is the most difficult part. Thanks for the tip from Harpreet M.

21. Trouvez un roman qui vous intéresse et lisez-le chaque jour hors de la classe.  Thanks for the tip from Rachel D.

22. Try to listen to as much French programming as possible. And talk back to the audio, just to break through the speaking barrier; no one can hear you but you, it will loosen you up! Thanks for the tip from Madame Jean M.

23. To build a good ear for the language, read a script first. Use the CD to listen to what you just read; multiple times. Try to understand it. Then check the script again. Thanks for the tip from Angela W.

24. Listen to AS MUCH FRENCH as possible from authentic sources : videos, vimeos, movies, film trailers, especially clips of films or shows you are already familiar with. Use material which is updated and meaningful to students to keep their interest! Thanks for the tip from Jennifer B.

25. Know real world examples of Vocabulary . Example: What does gerrymandering look like? Thanks for the tip from Sharon R.

26. Read every day about lots of different topics from sources all over the world.  News articles, blogs, anything! Thanks for the tip from Danelle C.

Are you a teacher or student? Do you have an awesome tip? Let us know!

Just how tough is the AP® French Language exam? Well we said before that more than 75% of students score a 3 or higher – so this exam is definitely beatable! And this list of the Ultimate Tips will get you started in your preparation for the exam. Here are some of the key points summed up again:

– Start reviewing now – old tests, new vocabulary words, study groups

– Find a language exchange to buff up speaking skills

– On test day, establish an outline and thesis before even approaching your essay

– You can’t work ahead – focus on what’s at hand during the test

– Proofread all written material

But remember that our list of the Ultimate Tips is by no means the last stop on your journey to a great score on this AP® test. Go ahead and check out other sources such as (insert other articles on AP® French prep here) to get even more insider tips and advice from previous test takers and AP® French Language teachers. With these resources in hand, there’s no way you can’t succeed!

– These stats concern “typical” French language learners – those who have not spent considerable time in a country of the target language or do not speak French in the home.

Looking for AP® French Language practice?

Kickstart your AP® French Language prep with Albert. Start your AP® exam prep today .

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Writing an essay- Student guide- AS and A level FRENCH

Subject: French

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Assessment and revision

Last updated

30 March 2019

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A student guide on how to write an essay about a film/ text in French. Examples used are for the study of the movie La Haine but the guidance is relevant to any film or text.

If you are interested in getting more free resources of this type, you can check this facebook page: @frenchresources, where links are posted regularly.

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A bundle is a package of resources grouped together to teach a particular topic, or a series of lessons, in one place.

La Haine- Model Essays (10+ practice) BIG BUNDLE- A Level French

In this Bundle: 10 model essays with their model answer and model plan + a writing essay practice Questions are: Lot1 : -Expliquez l'intrigue dans La Haine et la position des personnages principaux par rapport à l'intrigue -Eprouvez-vous de la compassion pour Vinz? Lot2 : -'Le titre du film La Haine est bien choisi car il reflète exactement le thème principal du film’. Dans quelle mesure êtes-vous d’accord avec ce jugement? -Dans La Haine, Mathieu Kassovitz a réussi à dépeindre l’exclusion sociale. Etes-vous d’accord? Lot3 : -Analysez les principales techniques utilisées par Mathieu Kassovitz dans La Haine. Que pensez-vous de ces techniques? -Analysez les influences sur le metteur en scène et comment ces influences se manifestent dans La Haine Lot4: (AQA summer 2017) -Examinez la représentation de la police dans ce film -Examinez jusqu'à quel point les trois personnages principaux sont des personnages réalistes ou des stéréotypes Lot 5: -Examinez le personnage d'Abdel Ichaha dans le film -Examinez les personnages principaux et comment ils attirent de la sympathie chez le spectateur Essay writing practice: -6 tasks focussing on different aspects of essay writing and using 6 different essay questions (each lot is available for £2; 29% saved with this bundle) If you are interested in more resources of this type, you can check this facebook page: @frenchresources

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How to write an email in french: a comprehensive guide.

In today’s globalized world, writing emails in French isn’t just a skill; it’s a superpower. Mastering this can boost intercultural communication and open up new professional doors. Imagine impressing a French client with your perfect email. Not only will you bridge cultural gaps, but you’ll also expand your career. Plus, you might even avoid a few “lost in translation” moments. Ready to charm with your words? Let’s dive in!

How to Write an Email in French

Writing emails in French differs from English in several ways. French emails often follow a more formal structure, with a distinct layout. The tone tends to be more polite and respectful, reflecting cultural norms. For example, you’ll start with a formal greeting like “Monsieur/Madame” and close with a lengthy sign-off, such as “Je vous prie d’agréer, Monsieur/Madame, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées.”

These differences exist due to French cultural emphasis on formality and respect in communication. Adapting to these nuances can enhance your intercultural communication and show respect for French customs.

How to Write a Formal or Business Email

When writing a formal or business email in French, follow these guidelines:

• Start with a formal greeting: Use “Monsieur/Madame” or “Cher/Chère” followed by the recipient’s title and last name.
• Use polite language: Maintain a respectful tone and avoid slang.
• Structure your email: Include a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Close with a respectful sign-off: Use phrases like “Veuillez agréer, Monsieur/Madame, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées.”

In addition to these points, always address the recipient by their title and last name to show respect. Proofread your email for grammar and spelling errors to maintain professionalism. Following these steps ensures your email is polite, clear, and culturally appropriate.

Email Greetings in French

How to Start an Email

These phrases help set a respectful and considerate tone, which is essential in French communication.

How to End and Sign Off a Formal Email

Choosing the right closing phrase is crucial for leaving a positive impression in a formal French email. It shows respect and professionalism, and it ensures your message is well-received. Here are some examples of formal closing phrases in French, along with their English translations:

Tips for Creating a Professional Email Signature:

  Include your full name and title: Ensure that the recipient knows who you are and your position.

Add your contact information: Provide your phone number and email address for easy follow-up.

Company information: Include your company’s name, address, and website.

Optional extras: Consider adding a LinkedIn profile or a professional photo.

Example of a professional email signature:

Jean Dupont

Directeur des Ventes

XYZ Entreprises

Téléphone: +33 1 23 45 67 89

Email: [email protected]

Adresse: 123 Rue de l’Exemple, 75001 Paris, France

Site web: www.xyz.com

Key Email Writing Vocabulary and Phrases

Here is a table of essential vocabulary and phrases for writing emails in French, including terms for parts of an email, actions, and common expressions, with English translations.

Examples of Business Emails

Here are examples for a formal thank-you email, a request email, a welcome email, a written warning email, a sales/promotional email, and a referral email.

Formal Thank-You Email

Subject: Remerciements pour notre réunion

Monsieur/Madame [Nom],

Je tiens à vous remercier pour notre réunion d’hier. Votre temps et vos insights ont été extrêmement précieux. Nous avons hâte de collaborer avec vous sur ce projet.

Veuillez agréer, Monsieur/Madame, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées.

Cordialement, Jean Dupont Directeur de Projet XYZ Entreprises

Request Email

Subject: Demande de rendez-vous

Je me permets de vous contacter pour organiser un rendez-vous afin de discuter des détails de notre collaboration. Pourriez-vous, s’il vous plaît, me faire part de vos disponibilités la semaine prochaine?

Dans l’attente de votre réponse, veuillez agréer, Monsieur/Madame, l’expression de mes salutations distinguées.

Welcome Email

Subject: Bienvenue chez XYZ Entreprises

Cher/Chère [Prénom],

Nous sommes ravis de vous accueillir au sein de notre équipe chez XYZ Entreprises. Votre expérience et vos compétences seront un atout précieux pour nous. Nous vous attendons lundi à 9h pour commencer votre intégration.

Veuillez agréer, Cher/Chère [Prénom], l’expression de mes salutations distinguées.

Cordialement, Jean Dupont Directeur des Ressources Humaines XYZ Entreprises

Written Warning Email

Subject: Avertissement écrit concernant la conduite professionnelle

Je vous écris pour vous informer que votre conduite récente ne respecte pas les standards de notre entreprise. Nous avons observé plusieurs incidents qui nécessitent une attention immédiate. Nous vous prions de rectifier votre comportement sous peine de mesures disciplinaires.

Sales/Promotional Email

Subject: Offre spéciale: 20% de réduction sur nos produits

Cher Client/Chère Cliente,

Nous sommes heureux de vous proposer une offre exclusive: bénéficiez de 20% de réduction sur tous nos produits jusqu’à la fin du mois. Ne manquez pas cette opportunité pour découvrir nos nouveautés et profiter de prix réduits.

En vous remerciant de votre fidélité, veuillez recevoir nos salutations distinguées.

Cordialement, Jean Dupont Directeur Commercial XYZ Entreprises

Referral Email

Subject: Recommandation d’un candidat

Je me permets de vous recommander [Nom du Candidat] pour le poste de [Poste] au sein de votre entreprise. [Nom du Candidat] possède les compétences et l’expérience requises pour exceller dans ce rôle. Je suis convaincu(e) qu’il/elle sera un atout pour votre équipe.

In summary, writing emails in French is crucial for effective professional and personal communication. We’ve covered greetings, starting and ending emails, and essential vocabulary. Practicing these tips will enhance your email writing skills. Keep refining your abilities and explore more resources on La Forêt French Class to further improve. Happy writing!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. how do you start an email to a professor in french.

Begin with a formal touch, such as “Monsieur le Professeur” or “Madame la Professeure.” Add a polite opener like “J’espère que vous allez bien” to show respect. This sets a professional tone right away. For more polished tips, explore La Forêt French Class .

2. What is the French email rule?

The golden rule? Stay formal and polite. Kick-off with a respectful greeting, keep the language formal, and steer clear of slang. End with a courteous closing phrase. Master these tips for professional finesse!

3. What is the French word for email?

In French, email transforms into “courriel.” It’s the go-to term in formal settings, even though “email” is also understood.

4. What is the TR in French email?

“TR” stands for “Taux de Réponse” or Response Rate. It’s the magic number that shows how many replies your emails get.

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If you’re trying to write but can’t get the words flowing, free writing can jumpstart the writing process. Free writing is a no-pressure method of simply getting words on the page: similar to stream-of-consciousness, the writer simply lets their pen flow with whatever thoughts arise in the mind.

It might seem silly to just write what you’re thinking of. Like, right now I’m thinking about what I’m going to eat for dinner and whether I should clean my bedroom—how will I turn that into a poem or short story?

In reality, free writing helps get the mind thinking in language, and while you might be thinking about dinner now, you’d be surprised what leaps and connections the brain makes into interesting writing material. Let’s take a close look at the process of free writing and how it will benefit your work. We also provide free writing prompts to help get the juices flowing.

First, what is free writing?

What is Free Writing: Contents

What is Free Writing?

Benefits of free writing, how to free write, 32 free writing prompts, what to do with your free write.

Free writing (sometimes written as one word: freewriting) is a writing technique in which the writer journals their thoughts onto the page without letting their pen rest.

Free writing is a writing technique in which the writer journals their thoughts onto the page without letting their pen rest.

The idea is simply to keep the pen moving, and that every word and idea that arises in the mind is important to jot down, regardless of matters like grammar, meaning, and usability. In other words, you aren’t trying to write capital-A Art, you are simply putting words onto paper.

In freewriting, the writer:

• Focuses on simply generating raw material.
• Keeps the pen moving with whatever thoughts arise, including (and especially) thoughts that seem irrelevant or unrelated to the previous thought.
• Does not worry about the “value,” “merit,” or “publishability” of anything written down.
• Does not worry about spelling, grammar, syntax, or readability.
• Writes for typically no longer than 15 minutes.
• Creates a daily free writing practice, as the process gets easier and more rewarding when done regularly.

You aren’t trying to write capital-A Art, you are simply putting words onto paper.

A free write can be done with a prompt or simply with the writer’s mind in its most neutral state. Later in this article we provide some free writing prompts, but first, let’s examine the benefits of this writing technique.

If you’re not writing anything worth reading, what’s the point of free writing in the first place?

It might seem counterintuitive, but free writing can seriously improve your craft and help you write better poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. The benefits of this technique include:

• Getting the words flowing: it’s much easier to write towards a project if you’ve loosened up the “writing muscles.”
• Freeing the mind from self-consciousness: freewriting helps train the mind not to care about “is this good?”—a question that can be debilitating for any first draft.
• Experimentation and ideation: Because the goal is to write what arises in the mind, you might inadvertently write new ideas or come up with interesting uses of language that can then be employed in future writing. To put it a different way: language first; ideas follow.
• Stumbling into greatness: Similar to the above bullet, you might accidentally write something really good or useful, or have an epiphany that you might otherwise never have had.
• Setting down your thoughts, quieting your mind: By putting your freeform thoughts onto the page, you can quiet your mind into focusing on writing projects after you’ve finished your free write.

Language first; ideas follow.

Some critics argue that this technique emphasizes writing over revising, or that it encourages writers not to engage with the broader literary canon. However, both critiques miss the point of freewriting. Writers should still revise and edit their work, as well as read other writers: to do a free write is simply to get the words flowing, making it easier to tackle the projects a writer is working on.

The free writing process has been honed over time. Early advocates of the process include writers Dorothea Brande and Peter Elbow, but the process was really popularized by Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way .

Here’s our recommendation for how to free write:

• Set aside 10-15 minutes.
• Write with pen and paper. If you have a strong preference towards typing, you can do so, but we find that handwriting is better for waking the writing mind up.
• If you’re stuck on what to write, have some transitional phrases on hand. “How I feel about that is…” “What I’m trying to say is…” “And then…” or even just “I don’t know what to say.”
• Allow yourself to write nonsense. Write without the expectation of being “good.”
• Do not reread what you have written until after the writing session is over.
• Do not worry about spelling, grammar, writing style , “literary merit,” or legibility. You are not performing on the page, and the intent is not to be James Joyce or Virginia Woolf—there is no “good free writing” or “bad free writing,” it is simply writing.
• Do this once a day, preferably every morning, but certainly before you start work on a writing project.

Once you have finished your free write, you can reread your pages, or simply let them rest. Upon a reread, you might find sentences, phrases, or accidents of language that could be useful for future poems, stories, or essays.

Upon a reread, you might find sentences, phrases, or accidents of language that could be useful for future poems, stories, or essays.

Free writing is also a valuable way to get your thoughts down about a particular topic. Let’s say you want to write a braided essay about an event in your childhood. If you do a free write about that event, you will generate a lot of raw material that you can sculpt into that essay, and you might even stumble into feelings and recollections you wouldn’t have otherwise had.

Finally, if you want to practice free writing in a class setting, you may be interested in the Writing Circle Workshops offered by our instructor Susan Vespoli .

If you want to do a free write, but need some motivation, these free writing prompts will help get your pen moving.

General Daily Free Writing Prompts

• What have you been thinking about lately?
• What questions are you trying to answer in your life?
• Write down every sensation you notice, both inside your body and in the world around you.
• Do a free write in which you talk to God, the Universe, or a higher power.
• What feelings are you trying to avoid feeling?
• What do you want to manifest for the near future?
• Write down the first word that comes to mind. Then, follow whatever associations arise in your brain.
• What are you grateful for?
• What do you desire most right now?
• Write about a memory that is visually or emotionally intense.
• Confess something.
• In your head, place yourself somewhere you know very well, such as your childhood home or a street you visit often. Write down as many details about that place as possible.
• What has saved you?
• What is an important realization you have had recently?
• Where do you wish you were?
• Write about and interpret a dream you’ve had.

Creative Free Writing Prompts

• Get ekphrastic and write about a film, song, or work of art that inspires you.
• What is your heart a museum of?
• Where does your mythology begin?
• Write in the voice and persona of someone or something other than yourself.
• What is the song your body sings, and who can hear it?
• Whose name does your heart whisper in its sleep?
• What is the shape of your grief?
• Write a self-portrait .
• What gets brighter the darker it gets?
• Whose voices do you hear echoing underneath your own?
• Write what you see on the horizon of your life.
• What is the root of your evil?
• What does your healing look like?
• Fill in the blanks of a memory you only partially remember.
• Write from the summit of life itself.
• Your heart is a garden. What’s in bloom?

Here are some more writing prompts we’ve written. They’re for poets, but prose writers can certainly use most of them as well.

You don’t necessarily need to “do” anything with a free write. The point is to get your mind in a writing space so that you can better tackle whatever projects you’re working on.

However, some writers find free writing to be helpful for generating new work. If you wanted to, you could take what you’ve written and turn it into a poem, prose poem , essay, short story, etc.

If you’d like to put your stream-of-consciousness to use, here are a few tips on revising and editing your work.

1. Highlight Epiphanies

A byproduct of free writing is that the writer often taps into their unconscious and finds unexpected epiphanies. By epiphany, we mean a sudden realization, whether material or spiritual, that shifts the writer’s own perspective. Epiphanies can make the unfamiliar, familiar; the familiar, strange; the nonsensical or chaotic, suddenly ordered.

A byproduct of free writing is that the writer often taps into their unconscious and finds unexpected epiphanies.

An epiphany is often central to a good work of writing. Any sorts of realizations that occur within your free write, highlight them—and, in editing and revising, try not to divorce the epiphany from the context it’s written in.

2. Underline Interesting Word Choice and Syntax

Another interesting byproduct of free writing is the happy accidents that happen within language. By eschewing the rules of grammar, syntax, and linear writing, free writers might end up juxtaposing words, phrases, and ideas that you wouldn’t normally put together, you might come across good word choice that you can use or store for later writing.

Another interesting byproduct of free writing is the happy accidents that happen within language.

Many writers keep a journal of words, phrases, and ideas that they might use for later writing. So, don’t expect to use everything from one free write towards the same piece, but notice what’s interesting and unexpected in your writing, and save it for when you need inspiration or have a different epiphany about what to do with those words.

3. Identify Unnecessary Repetitions or Irrelevant Passages

As you begin to sculpt your free write towards a piece of writing, it will help to remove language that you don’t see as central to the free write itself. Here are some tips on omitting needless words :

• First, before you cut anything, save the full free write somewhere. You never know what you might lose if you permanently delete your writing from the face of the Earth. Make a copy or transcribe your writing, then work off of that copy or transcript.
• Identify the main topics and themes of the writing, including images or symbols that seem related to the central ideas within the writing. Many free writes have multiple themes, so you can even make a list of those themes and consider how one writing session might yield multiple pieces of creative work.
• Look for writing that doesn’t seem related to any of the themes you identified. The goal isn’t to identify “bad” writing, just writing that doesn’t seem relevant to those themes.
• Remove writing that isn’t artfully repetitive. Repetition can be a powerful literary device, but it’s best used when it enhances and underscores the most important ideas within the text.
• Start to remove words that are clearly redundant or unnecessary. Our article on omitting needless words has more tips to help with this.

4. Decide on Form

Will your free write turn into a poem, prose poem, short story, essay, article, or the seeds of a novel or memoir? The possibilities are clearly endless, but once your writing has been cleaned up a little, the forms it could take should start to emerge.

What those forms could be depend on what you like to write, so rather than go in-depth about the possibilities within poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, here are a few guides we’ve put together on different forms of creative writing:

• How to Write a Poem
• What is Form in Poetry?
• The Elements of Fiction
• The Art of Storytelling
• Literary and Genre Fiction
• How to Write a Personal Essay
• 10 Types of Creative Nonfiction

5. Revise and Edit Towards Your Vision

Once you have a sense of your themes, form, and vision for the work, let your creative instincts take the reins, and use your free write as a base for sculpting your next great piece of writing.

Hone Your Free Writing at Writers.com!

Free writing opens the writer up to happy accidents and exciting possibilities in language. Whether you want to free write with other writers or get feedback on the work you produce, take a look at the upcoming online writing courses at Writers.com , where you’ll receive the expert attention and workshopping you’re looking for.

Sean Glatch

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• In the News

How Good Does Your French Need to Be to Graduate?

Did you know that there are French language requirements to receive a CEGEP diploma? These requirements are set out in the Charter of the French Language , which was recently modified by Bill 96. Whether you attend an English-language or French-language CEGEP, new requirements are now in place. Do you know them? 

Additional requirements for the 2024–2025 school year 

As of this school year, English-language CEGEPs must ensure that students successfully complete at least three courses taught in French before graduation. These can be concentration courses, humanities courses or complementary courses. 

For students who were previously declared eligible to attend English school, it is possible to fulfil this graduation requirement by taking three additional French language courses instead of French-taught courses.  

These three courses must include a minimum of 45 hours of learning activities , such as lectures, lab work and assignments.  

In addition to these three courses, students must complete the two mandatory French language courses that are part of all CEGEP programs. 

A reminder of the requirements already in place 

Students who began their programs in the fall semester of last year, as well as all future students, are required to pass a French language exit exam before graduating. This requirement applies whether the students attend an English-language CEGEP or a French-language CEGEP as it is an integral part of the new curricula set by the Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology.  

One exception : those who were declared eligible to attend English school in elementary or high school through the issuance of a certificate of eligibility or a special authorization to receive instruction in English do not have to write the test to graduate.  

Throughout their program and their French language courses and exams, these students must also show that they have “ sufficient knowledge of French to be able to interact, thrive within Québec society and participate in its development.”  

For most students who have previously done at least three years of high school or higher education in French or who have passed their French, second language course in secondary 5, simply providing a copy of their certificate or diploma is enough to fulfil this requirement.  

For other students, results of a French exam must be provided, showing that the student can 

• communicate unaided in everyday conversations in predictable or partially predictable situations, 
• write and understand simple, complete, connected sentences related to personal or everyday events and experiences. 

These abilities correspond to a level 7 (intermediate) in oral communication and a level 4 (beginner) in written communication on the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français (French only). 

How about students who had already started their programs when the requirements were introduced? 

The new requirements don’t apply to all CEGEP students. Bill 96’s transitional provisions state that students who were enrolled in their CEGEP study program and already receiving classes in English under that program before the 2023–2024 school year can graduate even if they do not pass the French exit exam or provide the results of a French test demonstrating the required French proficiency levels on the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français . 

For students who started their programs during the last school year, passing the French exit exam and demonstrating sufficient French proficiency are required for graduation. However, they can still graduate even if they do not complete the three courses in French, as long as they complete their two mandatory French language courses.  

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Repossessing apartments: five situations in which it’s not allowed  , are you sure that you want to quit.

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8 Impacts of Writing Good Job Descriptions

The importance of a well-written job description often goes underappreciated. But when done well, writing good job descriptions has a huge impact on your organization’s growth,  productivity, inclusivity, and employee engagement.

On the other hand, inaccurate job descriptions, pose negative consequences for your organization. For instance, because of a lack of detailed job description responsibilities, employees become disengaged at work. This is because their daily duties don’t reflect the content in the job description.

So in this article, we’ll discuss the impacts of writing good job descriptions to help you know what your organization gains from investing in good job description practices.

The Impacts of Writing a Good Job Description

The benefits of writing good job descriptions are several. 

Image Source: Unsplash

Here are 8 key impacts:

1. Good Job Descriptions Contribute to a Stronger Recruitment Process

A well-written job description positively influences your entire recruitment process in several ways. Here are some of the ways:

HELPS RECRUIT QUALIFIED CANDIDATES

Writing a detailed JD helps potential job seekers assess their fit for the position. The more descriptive and detailed the job description is, the better it is at attracting top talent. So once the new employee starts their work, they’ll start achieving their set targets.

IMPROVES THE CANDIDATES’ EXPERIENCE

A descriptive job description serves as the foundation for a good candidate experience. Unclear job descriptions result in dissatisfaction for the candidates by setting expectations for an open position that doesn’t align with reality. 

For instance, if from your job description, you say you’re looking for a software engineer with Javascript skills, and in the interview, you change it to Python skills, it becomes confusing.

HELPS THE HIRING TEAM TO FILTER APPLICANTS

A badly written job description leads to unsuitable applicants applying to your job openings, leading to wastage of valuable hiring resources. For instance, 42% of resumes received don’t meet the roles’ requirements . And an average job ad will receive 250 resumes, while you may only want to hire 2 or 3 candidates.

So a well-written job description simplifies the selection process by providing a clear understanding of the role. And stating the minimum requirements for any candidate to pass the interview.

2. Good Job Descriptions Enhance Better Performance Management Evaluation

The performance of your employees is connected to the clarity provided by writing good job descriptions. Here’s how:

SETTING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS

A detailed job description gives managers a good understanding of the important key responsibilities and duties of a role. 

So this allows them to create SMART performance expectations to evaluate the employee (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). And this guideline helps ensure the employee knows what is expected of them after a particular period.

ASSESSING EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE

Job descriptions act as tools for assessing employee performance. So by comparing the worker’s performance to the requirements in the job description, the leadership team can decide whether the worker is meeting goals or failing. After that, the organization can take measures to help the employee grow.

IDENTIFYING TRAINING NEEDS

Descriptive job descriptions provide detailed information on the abilities, skills, and knowledge required to perform the job well. So after the performance evaluation process, the manager can identify any required training the employee needs to improve their skills for increased job performance.

3. Good Job Descriptions Lead to a Fair Compensation Process

Writing good job descriptions helps establish the appropriate compensation levels for all employees Here’s how:

PRECISE ROLE EVALUATION

Organizations without an effective job description management process put themselves at risk of running into unfair pay challenges.

For instance, let’s say a recruiter writes a job description without collaborating with the other employees on the hiring team and stakeholders in the organization. Chances are high that the JD will raise pay conflicts with a similar role. Because of this, a pay equity gap rises, leaving the organization with challenges.

But accurate JDs provide a comprehensive understanding of the open position. Because there’s a working process for creating the JD. So because of this good JD writing process, it’s easy for the hiring team to research and set a fair salary range. 

Plus with an accurate JD, it’s easy to price the job using third-party compensation data such as salary surveys. And remember that 61% of candidates consider compensation as an important factor in job descriptions. So imagine if your JD contains a salary range that’s below the market’s rate for that role, candidates won’t apply.

4. Good Job Descriptions Promote Inclusivity

Writing good job descriptions encourages inclusivity in different areas. Here’s how:

IT PREVENTS DIFFERENT FORMS OF DISCRIMINATORY LANGUAGE

Accurate JDs help prevent any unintentional hiring practices. For example, the JD description ensures it’s free from:

• Unconscious gender bias : A great job description uses gender-inclusive language for both men and women. For instance, it avoids words such as “aggressive” “assertive” and “competitive” because they prevent female candidates from applying to a job posting.
• Racial bias : An effective job description avoids excluding potential candidates based on race, nationality, and culture. For example, it avoids using words such as “brown bag session”, “Cakewalk”, and “grandfather clause” because they are discriminative towards black candidates.
• Unconscious age bias : A well-crafted job description uses age-inclusive language that accepts candidates of any age. For instance, it avoids using terms such as “recent college graduates” because it signals that you’re not looking for older candidates.
• Disability bias : A well-written job description ensures it carefully removes any kind of bias towards people with disability. For instance, the JD employs a skills-based job writing process because of how easily disability bias creeps in. For example, it avoids using physical attribute terms such as “walk”, and “see” because not all candidates have those abilities. Instead, it uses inclusive terms such as “move” and “perceive”.

Plus it avoids discrimination against former felons, immigrants, and LGBTQIA+ people.

Read also: How to Write an Inclusive Job Description [Tips & Examples]

5. Good Job Descriptions Improve Employee Engagement

Incorrect job descriptions lead to employee dissatisfaction when they start their new job, leading to disengagement, and high employee turnover rates. 

So here’s how a detailed job description leads to high employee engagement:

DEFINED ROLES, SPECIFIC SKILLS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES

A well-crafted job description sets the expectations for ideal candidates. So once they begin the job, they don’t get surprised by the daily duties. And this leads to satisfaction with the work they are doing. For instance, if the job describes that the organization needs an API engineer, and once the employee starts working and finds everything they’re doing is about APIs, they’ll be more engaged with their work.

Plus, 84% of workers who received clarity are 84% more likely to continue working with their current organization for a long time.

WELL-OUTLINED PURPOSE

A good job description includes the important sections that prospective candidates look out for such as the mission statement .

And once every employee understands how their role contributes to the engaged purpose of the organization, they get emotionally attached to achieving the purpose. Which is what being engaged at work is all about.

6. Good Job Descriptions Help Resolve Employment Disputes

Job descriptions serve as a defense during legal disputes with employee work disputes . They can serve as a significant tool during cases related to work practices by providing clear evidence of the job description responsibilities and details communicated to the prospective employees. 

Detailed job descriptions can also resolve employee disagreements without discrimination and bias. Some possible scenarios include resource management problems, task conflicts, and misinterpreted policies.

Plus they are an important tool in ensuring compliance with different labor laws. Such as laws related to accommodations for people living with disabilities and equal employment chances. Overall this leads to a company culture that values equity and integrity.

7. Good Job Descriptions Help Attract a Diverse Set of Candidates

A good job description uses inclusive language. And because of this, it’s easy to encourage prospective diverse candidates to apply to your job ads. For instance, you’ll manage to attract more female candidates, LGBTQ+ individuals, people living with disabilities, and people of different ethnicities.

Research from LinkedIn shows that female candidates apply for 20% fewer job openings than men because they feel they must possess 100% qualifications. But if a job description gets written inclusively, it becomes appealing to all genders and people from different backgrounds.

To ensure the language in your JDs is bias-free, use software like Ongig’s Text Analyzer to help you create inclusive job descriptions . The software can detect biases such as gender, LGBTQ+, disability, ethnicity, and race that prevents a diverse group of candidates from applying.

8. Good Job Descriptions Provide Structure

Writing good job descriptions works well by ensuring the needs of an organization get fulfilled on a wide basis. The job description does this by providing the structure an organization needs to ensure all responsibilities and duties get assigned to the right candidates. 

For instance, with the help of a job description, the CEO and hiring managers can know who they need to approach when a specific department isn’t performing.

Plus, it helps organizations with succession planning. This way, the company knows who needs to head which department when a specified period arrives.  And the organization can also know which areas need more employees. 

The job descriptions also enable organizations to know the amount of resources to allocate for the training and development of their employees. And due to this job description, the profitability and customer service of the organization rise.

Practical Tips for Writing Good Job Descriptions

Now that you’re aware of the impacts of creating a great description, here are a few tips to guide you:

Define daily responsibilities : When creating job descriptions, provide a clear overview of the daily tasks the candidate will perform. This helps candidates gauge their fit for the position.

Outline important skills : Highlight the skills the candidate will need to succeed in their job. By doing this, your job ad will also get visibility to the people who have those skills. Plus you’ll save your hiring resources because you’ll end up with the right fit for the job.

Highlight benefits and perks: Outline the benefits that candidates will get by working at your organization. For instance, if it’s 4 day work week which many companies don’t offer yet, highlight that. This will help you get candidates who want those benefits from an organization.

Outline the “Nice-to-have and “Must-Have” Skills: Write the skills that are a must for the candidate to have to succeed. For example, if Python skills is mandatory, outline that. Then you can list the nice-to-have skills that aren’t mandatory but helpful for the candidate.

Also Read: How to Write a Job Description — Best Practices & Examples (2024 Update)

WHY I WROTE THIS

The benefits of writing good job descriptions impact your organization from top to bottom. Not only do you fulfill your employees’ needs but you also give your customers a good experience.

Our focus at Ongig is to help you achieve your diverse hiring goals by writing inclusive job descriptions. Book a demo today to simplify your entire job description writing process.

• New Report: Women Apply to Fewer Jobs Than Men, But Are More Likely to Get Hired by (Linkedin)
• HR analytics: role clarity impacts performance by (Effectory)
• 6 Stats That Will Change the Way You Write Job Posts by (Linkedin)
• Survey: 42 Percent Of Job Applicants Don’t Meet Skills Requirements, But Companies Are Willing To Train Up by (PR Newswire)

September 10, 2024 by Harrison Mbuvi in Job Descriptions

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Writing Is An Act, Not An Aesthetic

11:12 AM EDT on September 6, 2024

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The premise of National Novel Writing Month is seductively simple: Participants enter the month of November with an idea and leave it as a novelist. Just write 50,000 words over the course of 30 days—a rate of roughly 1,700 words a day. Anyone age 13 or older can take part, which is perhaps why my first introduction to what its adherents call NaNoWriMo came through Tumblr, where every November 1 seemingly half of my dashboard disappeared overnight.  

For 30 days and 30 nights, my mutuals tinkered away at their novels (and then snuck back onto Tumblr to complain about how hard that tinkering was). They asked me to yell at them if I saw them posting. And then, one by one, they gave up their novels and returned to replenishing my feeds with One Direction GIFs and essays on colonialism in the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe. Over time I got the impression that NaNoWriMo was more of a community-building enterprise than a pure literary one. I was never tempted to take part myself. Mostly out of laziness, but I was also never quite convinced that any novel I wrote in a month could be very good. And I had trouble swallowing the concept of participating in something as heinously named as NaNoWriMo.

Still, I always looked forward to the yearly ritual. Every writer (not so) secretly loves to see other writers complaining about hard writing is, and November offered a veritable cornucopia of that. But the best part of NaNoWriMo always came when it ended and my feeds would be flooded with fanfiction riches—usually tagged with a sheepish explanation that amounted to I wrote this instead of my novel. This was always presented with a sense of failure that I never quite understood. To me, this was a perfect use case of NaNoWriMo. Not just because I, the reader, benefited from it, but because I believe writing is the end, not the means. Any writing done is better than no writing done. Besides, what's more writerly than blowing through a deadline?  

Since then, I’ve had a sneaking suspicion that NaNoWriMo was far more about the aesthetics of writing than the practice of it, a suspicion which has only been confirmed by the nonprofit organization’s recent statement on the use of artificial intelligence writing assistants during their yearly challenge. In a since-edited blog post , NaNoWriMo stated that it “does not explicitly support any specific approach to writing, nor does it explicitly condemn any approach, including the use of AI.” They “recognize and respect writers who believe that AI tools are right for them.” The statement goes on to suggest that banning AI “would be to ignore classist and ableist issues surrounding the use of the technology.” 

“Not all brains have same abilities and not all writers function at the same level of education or proficiency in the language in which they are writing,” NaNoWriMo wrote. “Some brains and ability levels require outside help or accommodations to achieve certain goals.”   

The backlash was nearly immediate . Two writers stepped down from their positions on NaNoWriMo boards, including science fiction and fantasy writer Daniel José Older . In his statement, Older also pointed out that NaNoWriMo is sponsored by an AI-assisted writing aid, ProWritingAid, which was confirmed by the Washington Post . The CEO of ProWriting Aid told the Post , “We fundamentally disagree with the sentiment that criticism of AI tools is inherently ableist or classist. We believe that writers’ concerns about the role of AI are valid and deserve thoughtful consideration.”

NaNoWriMo has since published a second statement that laments the “vitriolic" debates that they incited. “Taking a position of neutrality was not an abandonment of writers’ legitimate concerns about AI,” they wrote. “It was an acknowledgment that NaNoWriMo can’t maintain a civil, inclusive community if we allow selective intolerance. We absolutely believe that AI must be discussed and that its ethical use must be advocated-for. What we don’t believe is that NaNoWriMo belongs at the forefront of that conversation.”  

It’s all disappointing, if not necessarily surprising from an event that always seemed to prioritize a novel being completed over it being good. After all, what generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney offer are shortcuts to the finish line—the rewards of being an artist without requiring any of the discipline it takes to make your art better. I can understand why AI companies and their champions find it irrelevant that the finished product they’re selling is a six-fingered Frankenstein’s monster, stolen organs and all: It’s clear at this point that they never cared that much about art in the first place. What’s becoming clearer is who else didn’t.  

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