Test Your French
Français, la belle langue, can be a devil to master with all those irregular verbs, silent letters and the dreaded masculine/feminine!
If it’s all Greek to you, try your hand at the following exercises and see if you can’t impress your neighbours at the next apéro!
Answers at the bottom of the page- no cheating!
P pour Papa
Match up the words, all beginning with P with their definitions. (Why not try to work them out first just from the definitions?)
|
1 pagaie |
a grand désordre |
|
2 pelage |
b oiseau noir et blanc |
|
3 pelouse |
c tarte d’oignons, d’olives et d’anchois |
|
4 pic |
d terrain couvert d’herbe |
|
5 prestation |
e large pelle |
|
6 puce |
f appareil qui fournit de l’électricité |
|
7 pissaladière |
g insecte sauteur |
|
8 pagaille |
h service fourni |
|
9 pile |
i poils d’un animal |
|
10 pie |
j sommet pointu de montagne |
Faux amis
Aie aie aie! Those false friends! There’s a lot of them around ! Here are a few more, can you find the correct definition?
1. Contrôler
a) to inspect
b) to be responsible
c) to signal
2. En Biais
a) prejudice
b) valid ticket
c) at an angle
3. Change
a) money exchange
b) coins
c) disappear
4. Ball trap
a) painful experience
b) clay pigeon shooting
c) wild boar hunt
5. Bail
a) lease
b) free from prison
c) jump off
6. Blesser
a) pray
b) injure
c) sneeze
7. Un string
a) a vest
b) a rope
c) a thong
8. Un acompte
a) an account
b) a deposit
c) an accountant
9. Assister (à)
a) to arrest
b) to be present
c) to help
10.Un avertissement
a) a housing estate
b) an advert
c) a warning
SOS
Can you match up these common French acronyms with their meanings?
| 1 PV | a Legal alternative to marriage |
| 2 API | b Tax not included |
| 3 DAB | c Enclosed (business letter) |
| 4 HS | d Nothing to report (eg on a form) |
| 5 SMIC | e Parking ticket (fine) |
| 6 HT | f Bank account details |
| 7 RIB | g International Phonetic Alphabet |
| 8 PJ | h Cash point (ATM) |
| 9 RAS | i Out of order |
| 10 PACS | j Minimum wage |
Struggling?
Before looking at the answers at the bottom of the page, here they are in full for an extra helping hand
- Procès-verbal
- Alphabet phonétique international
- Distributeur automatique de billets
- Hors service
- Salaire Minimum Interprofessionnel de Croissance
- Hors Taxe
- Relevé d’Identité Bancaire
- Pièces jointes
- Rien à signaler (informal)
- Pacte civil de solidarité
Test your idiomatic French
1. Poser un lapin describes…
a) going hunting
b) standing somebody up
c) vegetarian stew
2. Je fais la tête means I’m…
a) sulking
b) ill
c) playing football badly
3. Manger sur le pouce means eating…
a) with your fingers
b) quickly
c) very little
4. Filez à l’anglaise means…
a) going on a singles holiday
b) chasing the girls
c) leaving without permission
5. If you have a ‘poil dans la main‘ your are…
a) hairy
b) lazy
c) a werewolf
6. Devenir chèvre describes someone who is …
a) angry
b) vegetarian
c) unshaven
A good yarn
Use the vocab below to fill in the blanks of this amusing little story
Un vieux dans une _____1_____ prend l’autoroute pour rentrer chez _____2_____ quand sa femme l’_____3_____ sur son portable.
“Chéri,” dit-elle d’une voix _____4_____. “S’il te plaît, fais très _____5_____. Je viens d’ _____6_____ les actualités et il y a un fou qui _____7_____ dans le mauvais sens sur l’_____8_____.”
“Oh, c’est _____9_____ que ça”, répond-il, “il y _____10_____ a des centaines!”
| Vocab
a appelle / b attention / c roule / d pire / e volvo / f en / g autoroute / h écouter / i lui / j inquiète |
Find the plurals
1. ciel
2. oeil
3. cheval
4. pneu
5. madame
6. jeu
More idiomatic sayings
Can you match them up?
| 1 J’ai la flemme | a Better late than never |
| 2 Quand les poules auront des dents | b When Hell freezes over! |
| 3 A tout à l’heure | c Let’s get back to business |
| 4 Je dis ça, je dis rien | d You’re getting on my nerves |
| 5 Ça marche! | e Like father, like son |
| 6 Revenons à nos moutons | f He’s really out of it |
| 7 Mieux vaut tard que jamais | g Works for me |
| 8 Il est complètement à l’ouest | h I can’t be bothered |
| 9 Tel père, tel fils | i See you later |
| 10 Tu me prends la tête | j Just saying |
Answers
P pour Papa : 1e 2i 3d 4j 5h 6g 7c 8a 9f 10b
Faux amis : 1a 2c 3a 4b 5a 6b 7c 8b 9b 10c
SOS : 1e 2g 3h 4i 5j 6b 7f 8c 9d 10a
Test your idiomatic French : 1b 2a 3b 4c 5b 6a
A good yarn : 1e 2i 3a 4j 5b 6h 7c 8g 9d 10f
Find the plurals : 1 cieux 2 yeux 3 chevaux 4 pneus 5 mesdames 6 jeux
More idiomatic sayings : 1h 2b 3i 4j 5g 6c 7a 8f 9e 10d
