Everyday life (Edexcel GCSE French): Revision Notes
Everyday life
Daily routine vocabulary
Understanding how to talk about your daily routine is essential for GCSE French. Here are the key terms you'll need:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le matin (m) | morning |
| l'après-midi (m) | afternoon |
| le soir (m) | evening |
| le petit-déjeuner (m) | breakfast |
| déjeuner (m) | lunch |
| les devoirs (mpl) | homework |
| se lever | to get up |
| partir/quitter | to leave |
| rentrer | to return/go home |
| French | English |
|---|---|
| alors | so, well, then |
| fois (f) | time |
| vie (f) | life |
| ailleurs | somewhere else |
| quotidien/quotidienne | daily |
| sortir | to go out |
Notice that some nouns are marked with (m) for masculine, (f) for feminine, and (mpl) for masculine plural. This information is crucial for using the correct articles and adjectives.
Example sentences in context:
- Je me lève à huit heures le matin. (I get up at eight o'clock in the morning.)
- Après les devoirs, je sors avec mes amis. (After homework, I go out with my friends.)
- Le soir, je rentre à la maison. (In the evening, I return home.)
Grammar focus: Before and after
When describing the sequence of daily activities, you'll need these important structures for expressing temporal relationships:
Before doing something
avant de + infinitive = before doing something
- Avant d'aller au collège, je prends le petit-déjeuner. (Before going to school, I have breakfast.)
After doing something
après avoir + past participle = after doing something
- Après avoir pris mon petit-déjeuner, je suis allé au collège. (After having breakfast, I went to school.)
Exam tip: Remember that with après avoir, you need the past participle of the main verb. This structure shows that one action was completed before another began.
Describing when things happen
French has many useful expressions for describing frequency and timing in your daily routine:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| généralement | generally |
| normalement | normally |
| souvent | often |
| chaque jour | every day |
| de temps en temps | from time to time |
| quelquefois | sometimes |
| après | after |
| French | English |
|---|---|
| avant | before |
| ensuite | then (next) |
| finalement | finally |
| auparavant | previously |
| parfois | sometimes |
| puis | then/next |
| enfin | finally |
Worked Example: Using Time Expressions
Step 1: Choose appropriate time expressions Généralement, je me lève tôt le matin. (Generally, I get up early in the morning.)
Step 2: Add variety with different expressions Quelquefois, je vais en ville avec mes amis. (Sometimes, I go into town with my friends.)
This shows how varying your time expressions makes your French more sophisticated.
Advanced grammar: Using être
For higher grades, you might want to use être as an auxiliary verb instead of avoir. This happens with certain verbs of movement and reflexive verbs.
Critical Rule: When you use être as the auxiliary verb, the past participle must agree with the subject. This is a common exam mistake to avoid!
Examples:
- 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.)
Notice how arrivé becomes arrivée when the subject is feminine.
Translation practice
Practice applying these structures with these translation exercises:
French to English:
- Je me lève tôt le matin et ensuite, je prends mon petit-déjeuner.
- Après avoir fait mes devoirs, je sors avec ma famille.
English to French: 3. Before going to school, I have breakfast. 4. Sometimes I go to the cinema in the evening.
Worked Example: Translation Solutions
- I get up early in the morning and then I have my breakfast.
- After doing my homework, I go out with my family.
- Avant d'aller au collège, je prends le petit-déjeuner.
- Quelquefois je vais au cinéma le soir.
Notice how the time expressions and grammar structures are correctly applied in each translation.
Exam guidance
These strategies will help you achieve higher grades in your French exams:
Writing tips:
- Use a variety of time expressions to make your writing more sophisticated
- Include both avant de and après avoir structures to show sequence
- Vary your vocabulary - don't just use puis (then) repeatedly
- For higher grades, try using être constructions where appropriate
Speaking tips:
- Practice describing your daily routine using different time expressions
- Be ready to talk about weekend routines as well as weekday ones
- Use connectives to link your ideas smoothly
Key Points to Remember:
- avant de + infinitive is used for "before doing something"
- après avoir + past participle is used for "after doing something"
- Time expressions help make your French more natural and sophisticated
- With être auxiliary verbs, the past participle agrees with the subject
- Practice using a variety of vocabulary to avoid repetition in exams