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Grammar structures to make your coursework great !

Use as many of these structures as you can. Use this as a checklist and go back to your work and “dress it up” to earn a higher score for quality of language.

• Opinions (c’était fantastique - it was fantastic, c’est nul - it’s rubbish, à mon avis - in my opinion, je pense que - I think that .., je crois que – I think that….)

• Adjectives describing words ( + correct agreements for masc/fem/plural!!) grand, petit, vieux/vieille, beau/belle,incroyable – big/small/old/beautiful)

• Qualifiers très, assez, beaucoup, peu, trop (very, quite, a lot, a bit, too) ça coutait très cher it was very expensive il faisait trop chaud – it was too hot j’avais beaucoup d’argent – I had lots of money c’était un peu bizarre – it was a bit strange il y avait beaucoup de monde – there were lots of people

• Relative clauses qui, que - who, which ma mère, qui s’appelle Ann - my Mum, who’s called Ann la ville que j’ai visitée – note extra ‘e’ – the town which I visited L’entreprise où j’ai travaillée, qui s’appelle Siemens, était assez grande - the company where I worked, which was called Siemens, was quite big

• Pronouns -Subject including ‘on’ (casual “we”)

je tu il elle nous vous ils elles- - I you, he she, we, they « one »use all if possible

-Object - le/la/les/ (j’ai acheté une pomme et je l’ai mangée) I bought an apple and I ate it NB apple is feminine and so mangée has an extra ‘e’ “y/en” (j’y suis allé,I went there, j’en ai mangé I ate some of it)

-Possessives : mon/ma/mes/son/sa/ses/votre/vos/notre/nos/leur/leurs my/ your/his/her/our/their

• Comparatives & superlatives

Ce que j’ai aimé le plus c’était aider les clients – what I enjoyed most was helping the customers. C’était plus petit que notre collège – it was smaller than our school

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• Time & place phrases aujourd’hui, demain, hier, l’année dernière, ici, en France, à Paris, depuis, ce jour-là today, tomorrow, yesterday, last year, here, in France (en + country), in Paris (à + town), since, on that day

• Verbs – all tenses (check) - present - ma mère, qui s’appelle Ann - my Mum, who’s called Ann - perfect (with avoir & être), j’ai travaillé je suis allé(e) - imperfect (c’était, il faisait, j’avais, je commençais, je finnissais) - future - j’irai, je rentrerai, j’étudierai I will go/come back/study - inc. immediate future eg.je vais continuer au collège I’m going to stay on at

school) - conditional (je voudrais, j’aimerais) I would like, I would like - pluperfect (j’avais mangé, j’étais allé(e) I had eaten, I had been - reflexives, (je me lève, je me suis levé(e)) I get up, I got up

• impersonals

(il faut + infinitive, il faut aller à l’université – you have to go to uni)

• Subjunctive - quoi que ce soit - whatever it may be - il faut que tu ailles - you really should go - il est possible que je fasse ce travail plus tard – it is possible that I’ll do this job

later

• Après avoir/après être expressions - après avoir travaillé à l’ordinateur, j’ai rangé le bureau- after working on the

computer I tidied the office - après être arrivé (+’e’ for girls !) j’ai préparé le café after arriving, I made the

coffee

• En + present participle - Je me suis bien amusé(e) en faisant ce stage – I had a good time doing this

placement

Linking words

et

parce que

mais

aussi

en plus

donc

plus tard

car

où

tous les matins

tous les jours

tous les après-midis

quand

par contre

Qualifiers -Making your descriptions more detailed

assez quite

trop too

très very

vraiment really

C’était assez utile

C’était très fatigant

C’était trop facile

C’était vraiment fantastique

and

because

but

also

as well as that/also

so

later

since/because

where

every morning

every day

every afternoon

when

on the other hand

Making your descriptions more detailed

it was quite useful

it was very tiring

it was too easy

C’était vraiment fantastique it was really great

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Making your descriptions more detailed

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Improve these sentences by adding linking words and

qualifiers to each one. 1. Je travaillais dans un garage. Je lavais les voitures. C’était fatigant. C’était

intéressant. I worked in a garage. I washed the cars. It was tiring. It was interesting.

___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

2. J’ai trouvé le stage utile. J’ai beaucoup appris.

I found the placement useful. I learned a lot. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ 3. Je devais faire des photocopies. Je tapais des lettres. Je faisais du café.

I had to photocopy. I typed letters. I made the coffee. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

Useful phrases to make your text flow better après avoir fait le café, je devais taper des lettres after making the coffee, I had to type letters après avoir travaillé à la réception, j’aidais les clients

after working on reception, I helped the customers en arrivant le matin je rangais des dossiers

when I arrived in the morning, I did some filing en travaillant à l’école je faisais des photocopies

when I was working at the school, I did photocopying

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Try to add some of these joining words to improve the flow

of your coursework

aussi – also mais – but à cause de – because of bientôt - soon bref - in short néanmoins-never the less car - because ou - or cependant- however parce que - because donc – therefore, so puis – then puisque – because (since) et - and pourtant – nevertheless, even so, all the same évidemment- obviously, of course pourvu que – provided that, so long as quelquefois - sometimes quand- when finalement – finally régulièrement - regularly généralement – generally souvent – often hier – yesterday de temps en temps - from time to time immédiatement – immediately toujours - always jusqu’à – until jamais - never uniquement - only longtemps – for a longtime vraiment - really par contre – on the other hand

c’est la raison pour laquelle je l’ai choisi – it’s the reason why I chose it en raison de – because of e.g. - en raison du soleil/ en raison de la pluie because of the sun/ the rain

Quantifiers assez –quite il faisit assez chaud it was quite hot très – very il faisait très chaud it was very hot trop – too il faisit trop chaud it was too hot un peu – a bit il pleuvait un peu it rained a bit

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Comparatives and superlatives plus + adjective + que more …..than le français est plus intéressant que les maths French is more interesting than Maths

moins + adjective + que less ….than L’Angleterre est moins ensoleillé que L’Espagne England is less sunny than Spain

aussi + adjective + que just as …as l’acool est aussi nocif que le tabac alcohol is just as harmful as tobacco

meilleur que better than l’anglais est meilleur que l’histoire

pire que worse than le plus intéressant/la plus intéressante the most interesting (note masculine/feminine) le plus beau/ la plus belle the most beautiful c’est la ville la plus belle que j’ai jamais visitée it’s the most eautiful city I’ve ever visited c’est les meilleures vacances que j’ai jamais passées it’s the best holiday I’ve ever had

Prepositions

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Opinions – full sentences

J’adore…. J’aime.. Je n’aime pas… Je déteste.. Je préfère… THIS can be followed by NOUN or VERB 1) J’adore le football J’aime jouer au football 2)

parce que because car because mais but 3) c’est super/cool/intéressant/facile – it’s super/cool/interesting/easy c’est barbant/nul/difficile/inutile- it’s boring/rubbish/difficult/useless J’adore jouer au football parce que c’est super et intéressant, mais je déteste le basket car c’est nul !

How to get more marks!!!

A dd in details (very, slowly, really) V ariety (not the same phrases)

O pinions C onjunctions, (and, because)

A djectives (descriptions) T enses (past, present, future)

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A – très = very, beaucoup = really J’aime beaucoup le cinéma V – il y a = there is, il y aura =there will be il y a une cantine = there is a canteen O - je voudrais = I would like C – et = and, mais = but, aussi = also A – Je porterais un sweat bleu clair à rayures = I would wear a stripey light blue jumper T Past J’ai fait I did il y avait there was Present Je fais I do il y a there is / there are Future Je ferai I will do il y aura there will be

Useful Little words We all know what the examiners are after: longer sentences! Remember to include:-

Opinions (J’adore, Je n’aime pas) Linking words (useful little words) Development (ie make the sentences longer, qui s’appelle) Range (variety) Adjectives (describe – colours etc) Timeframes (past, present, future)

Useful phrases In order that you get variety, range, make sure you don’t just repeat, I do, I do etc. Include some of the following. Also if you use ‘car’ next time use ‘parce que’

1. On peut – You can (on pouvait – you could, on pourra - you will be able) 2. Je n’aime pas (it’s a negative) 3. Nous avons joué – we played (Nous jouons – we play) 4. Car/parce que – because 5. Qui s’appelle - , who is called

Also we have a range of littleAussi – also Bientôt/bref - soon/in shortCar - because Donc – therefore Et - and Finalement – finally Géneralement – generally AND – those little phrases En été – in summer En mai/en juin – in may/juneDe temps en temps – from time to timeLe mardi – on Tuesday Le soir/le matin – in the evening/in the morniÀ 16 Heures – at 4 o’clock Controlled assessment checklist

Have I included…?

Past Present Future Time phrases Connectives / Linking wordsOpinions Justifications Have I included…?

Variety of the two future tensesVariety of the two past tensesI would… (conditional) If… (si) He/She/We Descriptions “Narrate” – explain an event in detailVariety of vocabulary Comparisons

Also we have a range of little words that … Mais – but

soon/in short Neanmoins- neverthe Ou - or Puis - then Quelquefois - sometimes Régulièrement - regularly

Souvent – often

those little phrases telling us about time

in may/june from time to time

in the evening/in the morning at 4 o’clock

ontrolled assessment checklist

Connectives / Linking words

the two future tenses

Variety of the two past tenses

explain an event in detail

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theless

sometimes regularly

Golden Rules What will impress the examiner? 1. Do not repeat vocabulary

2. Time expressions – then/next/later/finally

3. 3 or 4 examples of each tense

4. 1 or 2 exclamations –

5. Use because to justify opinions

6. Put an adjective with every noun

7. Include opinions of other people

8. Use the word “since/for”

9. Use a comparison

10. Use longer sequences

11. Use the conditional tense

12. Use a Pluperfect Tense

13. Use a superlative – th

14. Use negative expressions

What will impress the examiner?

Do not repeat vocabulary – try to use items once only

then/next/later/finally

examples of each tense

what a disaster! / What a nightmare!

to justify opinions

with every noun

of other people

“since/for” to say how long you have been doing something

Use longer sequences – which/while/that’s to say

Use the conditional tense

Use a Pluperfect Tense – say what had done

the most beautiful/the biggest/the best

expressions

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to say how long you have been doing something

e most beautiful/the biggest/the best