Punctuation rules!•Use a capital letter at the beginning of every sentence.

•Use a full stop at the end of a statement sentence.

•Use a question mark at the end of a question.

•Use an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence if you want to make it show surprise or give a command.

Common Spelling Mistakes

beaucoup la soeur

la famille confortable

intéressant juillet

mercredi au revoir

Openers, Connectives & ExtendersThese are great words to use to help you to extend your writing.

et andmais butavec withsans withoutaussi alsocependant howeverparce que c’est … because it’scar c’est… as it’sdonc sosi ifbien que althoughoù whereou orpar contre on the other handaprès afterd’abord firstlyenfin lastlypuis thenencore againensemble togetherensuite then

Accuracy checklist

• Does it make sense?

• Have you checked your spelling?

• Have you used correct punctuation?

• Have you used the accents in the right places?

• Have you put an –s on the end of any plurals (if they need them)?

• Have you put an –e on the feminine adjectives?

Weird and wonderful things about writing in French

•You only use a capital letter at the start of a sentence and for proper nouns. Days of the week, months of the year and subject names don’t have capital letters in French.

•French speech marks look like this: « speech »

•You use a comma instead of a decimal point when writing a decimal number: in English, you’d write 3.5 – in French you’d write 3,5 instead.

AIDE-MÉMOIRE D’ALPHABÉTISATION EN FRANÇAIS

C’est : it isC’était: it wasCe sera: it will be

Positive adjectives

parce que c’est… because it’s …

agréable pleasantamusant funchouette greatdrôle funnyépoustouflant mind-blowingexcellent excellentextraordinaire extraordinaryfacile easyfantastique fantasticformidable tremendousintéressant interestingmerveilleux marvellousparfait perfectpassionnant exceitingpratique practicalsensass sensationalsplendide splendidsympa nice

Negative adjectives

parce que c’est… because it’s …

affreux awfulbête stupidcasse-pieds a waste of timedésagréable unpleasantdifficile difficultembêtant annoyingennuyeux boringbarbant really boringépouvantable dreadfulfaible weakmoche uglynul rubbishridicule ridiculousstupide stupid

Verb – infinitive

In the past In the present

In the future

Avoir To have

J’ai eu / J’avaisI had / I used to have

J’aiI have

Je vais avoir / J’auraiI am going to have / I will have

ÊtreTo be

J’étaisI was

Je suisI am

Je vais être / Je seraiI am going to be / I will be

Faireto do

J’ai fait / Je faisaisI did / I was doing

Je faisI do / I make

Je vais faire / Je feraiI am going to do / I will do

AllerTo go

Je suis allé(e) / J’allaisI went / I was going

Je vaisI go

Je vais aller / J’iraiI am going to go / I will go

JouerTo play

J’ai joué / Je jouaisI played / I was playing

Je joueI play

Je vais jouer / Je joueraiI am going to play / I will play

MangerTo eat

J’ai mangé / Je mangeaisI ate / I was eating

Je mangeI eat

Je vais manger / Je mangeraiI am going to eat / I will eat

Opinions - sentence startersJ’adore … I love…J’aime … I like …J’aime bien … I really like …

Je n’aime pas… I don’t like …Je déteste … I hate …

Je pense que … I think that …

Time indicatorsPast:Hier - yesterdayLe weekend dernier - last weekendLa semaine dernier – last weekPresent:Aujourd’hui – todayNormalement – usuallyLe lundi – On a MondayFuture:Demain – tomorrowLe weekend prochain – next weekendLa semaine prochaine – next week