Everyday life (AQA GCSE French): Revision Notes
Everyday life (La vie quotidienne)
Understanding how to talk about daily routines and everyday activities is essential for describing your lifestyle and customs in French. This topic covers the vocabulary and grammar structures you need to discuss what you do each day and when you do it.
Essential vocabulary
The following vocabulary forms the foundation for discussing daily routines and will help you express your everyday activities with confidence.
| French | English | French | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| alors | so, well, then | se laver | to get washed |
| après-midi (m) | afternoon | se lever | to get up |
| déjeuner (m) | lunch | matin (m) | morning |
| devoirs (mpl) | homework | petit-déjeuner (m) | breakfast |
| fois (f) | time | quitter/partir | to leave |
| quotidien/quotidienne | daily | rentrer | to return/go home |
| soir (m) | evening | sortir | to go out |
| vie (f) | life | ailleurs | somewhere else |
Focus on learning the reflexive verbs (se laver, se lever) as these are commonly used when describing morning routines. Practice them with different pronouns to build fluency.
Time and frequency expressions
These expressions will help you describe how often you do activities and make your French sound more natural.
| French | English | French | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| généralement | generally | chaque jour | every day |
| normalement | normally | de temps en temps | from time to time |
| souvent | often | parfois | sometimes |
Expressing sequence and order
When describing your daily routine, these sequence words help organise your description logically.
| French | English | French | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| après | after | ensuite | then (next) |
| avant | before | finalement | finally |
| puis | then/next | enfin | finally |
Grammar focus: expressing 'before' and 'after'
Learning to express temporal relationships is crucial for creating flowing descriptions of your daily activities. French has specific structures for talking about actions that happen before or after other actions.
Before doing something: Avant de + infinitive
When you want to say "before doing something" in French, you use avant de followed by the infinitive form of the verb.
Key Structure: Avant de + infinitive
This structure is essential for describing the sequence of daily activities. Never use a conjugated verb after "avant de" - always use the infinitive.
Worked Examples: Using "Avant de"
- Avant d'aller au collège, je prends le petit-déjeuner. (Before going to school, I have breakfast.)
- Avant de sortir, je fais mes devoirs. (Before going out, I do my homework.)
- Avant de me coucher, je lis un livre. (Before going to bed, I read a book.)
After doing something: Après avoir + past participle
To express "after doing something," you use après avoir followed by the past participle of the verb.
Key Structure: Après avoir + past participle
This structure requires you to know the past participles of verbs. The past participle doesn't change when using "avoir" as the auxiliary (unless there's a direct object pronoun before the verb).
Worked Examples: Using "Après avoir"
- Après avoir pris mon petit-déjeuner, je suis allé au collège. (After having breakfast, I went to school.)
- Après avoir fini mes devoirs, je regarde la télé. (After finishing my homework, I watch TV.)
- Après avoir étudié, je sors avec mes amis. (After studying, I go out with my friends.)
Describing a typical day
Building a natural-sounding description of your daily routine requires combining vocabulary, time expressions, and sequence words effectively. Here's how you might describe an ordinary weekday using the vocabulary and structures above:
Le matin, je me lève à huit heures et je prends le petit-déjeuner. Avant de quitter la maison, je regarde la télé ou j'écoute de la musique. L'après-midi, je vais en ville avec mes amis ou on achète des cadeaux.
Le soir, je reste chez moi ou je sors avec ma famille. On va souvent au cinéma parce que ma mère adore regarder des films amusants.
Translation and Analysis:
(In the morning, I get up at eight o'clock and have breakfast. Before leaving the house, I watch TV or listen to music. In the afternoon, I go into town with my friends or we buy presents. In the evening, I stay at home or go out with my family. We often go to the cinema because my mother loves watching funny films.)
Notice how this description uses time markers (le matin, l'après-midi, le soir), frequency words (souvent), and the "avant de" structure to create a natural flow.
Advanced grammar: using être as auxiliary
When describing actions that have already happened, some verbs use être instead of avoir as the auxiliary verb. This is particularly important when using the "après être" construction.
Critical Rule: Past Participle Agreement
When using être as an auxiliary verb, the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number. This is a common source of mistakes for French learners.
Worked Examples: Agreement with Être
- Après être arrivé, il a mangé son déjeuner. (After arriving, he ate his lunch.)
- Après être arrivée, elle a mangé son déjeuner. (After arriving, she ate her lunch.)
- Après être arrivés, ils ont mangé leur déjeuner. (After arriving, they ate their lunch.)
Notice how the past participle arrivé changes:
- arrivé (masculine singular)
- arrivée (feminine singular)
- arrivés (masculine plural)
Pronunciation tips
Proper pronunciation will help you sound more natural when describing your daily routine.
Key Pronunciation Guidelines:
- Silent letters: Many French words end in silent consonants. Temps is pronounced "tan" (the 'p' and 's' are silent)
- Nasal sounds: Words like matin and enfin have nasal sounds - don't pronounce the 'n' separately
- Liaison: When après comes before a vowel sound, link them together: après avoir sounds like "ah-pray-za-vwar"
Translation practice
Practice is essential for mastering these structures. Work through these examples to test your understanding.
Translation Exercise
French to English:
- Je me lève tôt le matin et ensuite je prends mon petit-déjeuner.
- Après avoir fini mes devoirs, je sors avec mes amis.
English to French: 3. Before going to bed, I watch television. 4. Generally, I have lunch at school.
Answers:
- I get up early in the morning and then I have my breakfast.
- After finishing my homework, I go out with my friends.
- Avant de me coucher, je regarde la télévision.
- Généralement, je déjeune au collège.
Key Points to Remember:
- Use avant de + infinitive to say "before doing something"
- Use après avoir + past participle to say "after doing something"
- Frequency words like généralement, souvent, and parfois help make your descriptions more natural
- Sequence words (ensuite, puis, finalement) help organise your daily routine descriptions
- When using être as an auxiliary verb, remember that the past participle must agree with the subject