Trips and excursions (AQA GCSE French): Revision Notes

Trips and excursions

This revision note covers essential French vocabulary and expressions for talking about trips, visits, and excursions. You'll learn how to describe places you visit, ask questions about tours, and express your opinions about different experiences.

Essential vocabulary for visiting places

When planning or describing trips and excursions, you'll need to know key vocabulary related to places and activities. The fundamental building blocks for discussing travel in French include terms for locations, actions, and descriptions.

French	English
application (f)	app
carte (f)	map
durer	to last
entrée (f)	entrance, starter
monter	to go up, to climb
nature (f)	nature
sortie (f)	exit
tour (f)	tower
tour (m)	tour
traverser	to cross
visite (f)	visit, excursion
vue (f)	view
entier	entire
paysage (m)	landscape

These words form the foundation for discussing any trip or excursion.

Useful phrases for asking about trips

When you want to find out about excursions or recommend activities to others, these phrases will be invaluable. Mastering these question patterns will help you navigate any tourist situation with confidence.

Asking for information:

• "Qu'est-ce qu'on peut voir dans la région?" (What is there to see in the area?)
• "Pouvez-vous me recommander une visite?" (Could you recommend an excursion?)
• "Le tour dure combien de temps?" (How long does the tour last?)

Describing duration and timing:

• "Il y a une visite en bus à trois heures cet après-midi" (There is a bus excursion at three o'clock this afternoon)
• "La visite en bateau dure deux heures" (The boat tour lasts two hours)
• "Le tour de la ville dure deux heures" (The tour of the town lasts two hours)

Making purchases and travel arrangements:

• "Je voudrais acheter une carte" (I would like to buy a map)
• "Ça coûte combien?" (How much does it cost?)
• "Je voyage avec ma sœur" (I am travelling with my sister)
• "On peut faire un tour de la ville" (We could go on tour of the town)

Expressing likes and dislikes about trips

Being able to give your opinion about experiences is crucial when discussing trips and excursions. French offers several ways to express preferences with varying degrees of intensity.

Expressing what you like: When you want to say you enjoy something, you can use several different verbs depending on the intensity of your feelings:

• Use "aimer" or "aimer bien" for general liking: "J'aime visiter les musées" (I like visiting museums)
• Use "adorer" for stronger positive feelings: "J'adore les excursions en montagne" (I love mountain excursions)
• Use "préférer" when comparing options: "Je préfère les visites guidées" (I prefer guided tours)

You can also use "c'est" or "c'était" with positive adjectives:

• "C'est agréable" (It's pleasant)
• "C'était extraordinaire" (It was extraordinary)

Positive adjectives for describing experiences:

• indispensable (essential)
• extraordinaire (extraordinary)
• étonnant (amazing)
• génial (great)
• excellent (excellent)
• idéal (ideal)
• passionnant (exciting)

Expressing dislikes: French provides equally clear ways to express negative opinions:

• Use "détester" for strong dislike: "Je déteste les longues files d'attente" (I hate long queues)
• Use "ne pas aimer" for general dislike: "Je n'aime pas les visites trop courtes" (I don't like visits that are too short)

With "c'est" or "c'était", you can add negative adjectives:

• "C'est ennuyeux" (It's boring)
• "C'était inquiétant" (It was worrying)

Negative adjectives for describing experiences:

• ennuyeux (boring)
• inquiétant (worrying)
• nul (rubbish)
• inutile (useless)
• terrible (terrible)

Grammar and pronunciation tips

Understanding the grammatical patterns and pronunciation rules will help you use these expressions correctly and sound more natural when speaking French.

Pronunciation guide:

• "visite" is pronounced "vee-ZEET"
• "excursion" is pronounced "ex-kur-SYOHN"
• "paysage" is pronounced "pay-ZAHZH"
• The 'h' in "heures" is silent: "UHR"

Translation practice