French Test Beginner – Level A1-A2

Correct answer: vas. "Aller" with "tu" is "tu vas". "Comment vas-tu ?" = How are you?

Correct answer: Je m'. "S'appeler" is a reflexive verb, and "me" becomes "m'" before a vowel: "Je m'appelle Martin."

Correct answer: est. "Être" with "elle" is "elle est". "Elle est française." = She is French.

Correct answer: Franck a 24 ans. Listen to the name first (Franck, not Francois or Fabrice), then to the number: vingt-quatre (24), not quarante-quatre (44) or trente-quatre (34). French also uses avoir for age: il a 24 ans, literally he has 24 years.

Correct answer: le premier janvier. In French the day comes before the month, so "janvier un" is impossible. And for the 1st you always say "premier", never "un": that rules out "le un janvier" and "l'un janvier". From the 2nd onwards you use the plain number: le deux janvier.

Correct answer: à la boucherie. The "boucherie" is the butcher's shop. The "boulangerie" sells bread, the "fleuriste" sells flowers, and the "dentiste" looks after your teeth. Note the two patterns: "à la" before a shop, "chez le" before a person.

Correct answer: ma tante. Your cousin's mother is your aunt. A "nièce" is your brother's or sister's daughter, a "grand-mère" is your parent's mother, and a "sœur" is your sister.

Correct answer: C'est ma voiture. The three other sentences are correct French, but they mean "my pen", "my book" and "my bike". Note "ma" and not "mon": "voiture" is a feminine word.

Correct answer: Nous mangeons. With "nous" the ending is "-ons", so "mangez" (vous) and "mangent" (ils/elles) are out. And verbs ending in "-ger" keep the "e" before "-ons" to protect the soft g sound: "mangeons", never "mangons".

Correct answer: accent aigu. The accent on "é" rises to the right and is called "aigu". The "accent grave" leans the other way (à, è, ù), the "accent circonflexe" is the little hat (ê), and the "cédille" is the tail under ç.

Correct answer: Elle a soif. In French, thirst goes with "avoir", not "être", so "elle est soif" is wrong. "Il a soif" means he is thirsty, and "on a soif" means we are thirsty. Same pattern for hunger: "j'ai faim".

Correct answer: Six cent quatre-vingt-quatre. 684 starts with six hundred, so "sept cent" (700) is out. "Cent" and "quatre-vingt" only take an -s when no other number follows them: you write "six cents" on its own, but "six cent quatre-vingt-quatre".

Correct answer: Elle est belle. With "elle" the verb "être" is "est", so "elle es" is the wrong person and "elle a" is the wrong verb (that would mean she has). The adjective also agrees with her: "beau" becomes "belle".

Correct answer: un caleçon. Boxer shorts, worn by men. "Un soutien-gorge" is a bra, "une culotte" is a pair of knickers, and "une robe" is a dress.

Correct answer: accent grave. The accent on "à" leans to the left and is called "grave". You find it on three letters only: à, è and ù. The "accent aigu" goes on "é", the "circonflexe" is the hat (ê), and the "cédille" is the tail under ç.

Correct answer: verre. The four words sound exactly the same, but only "un verre" is a glass: "un ver" is a worm, "vert" is the colour green, and "vers" means towards. Only the spelling tells them apart.

Correct answer: voix. "Je n'ai plus de voix" means I have lost my voice. "Une voie" is a lane or a track, and "vois" and "voit" are forms of the verb "voir" (to see) - here you need a noun after "de", not a verb.

Correct answer: au. "À" and "le" always contract into "au", so "à le cinéma" is never written. "Aux" is the plural (à + les), and "à" on its own does not work before a masculine noun like "cinéma".

Correct answer: Mon chat s'appelle Balou. Three things to catch here: the animal ("chat", a cat, not "chien", a dog), the possessive ("mon chat" for a male cat, "ma chatte" for a female one), and the name - Balou, not Bilou. "S'appeler" literally means to call oneself.

Correct answer: Je suis prêt. The four options sound close but mean different things: "près" means near, "un prêtre" is a priest, and "j'ai prêt" uses the wrong verb. French says "je suis prêt" - "je suis prête" if you are a woman.