This module is about making French sentences hold together. Articles, adjectives and verbs all change form to match the words around them, and pronouns must point clearly to the right noun.
It sits early in the French learning guide because writing and speaking both depend on it. The French pathway on this site is Foreign Language 0520, so check the current syllabus on the Cambridge page for how the skills are assessed.
What does this module cover?
Four connected skills: choosing the right article, matching adjectives to nouns, matching verbs to subjects, and keeping pronouns clear. Together they decide whether a short description or message reads as correct French.
What should you know before you start?
You need the sound and spelling habits from sound, spelling and intelligibility, plus a small vocabulary of nouns, colours and common verbs such as être, avoir, aimer and habiter. You do not need any past tenses.
An orienting example
Look at this sentence: Ma petite sœur porte une robe verte et des chaussures blanches.
Every word is working.
Ma is feminine because sœur is feminine. Petite goes before the noun and is feminine.
Verte follows robe and agrees with it.
Blanches is feminine plural to match chaussures. The verb porte matches ma petite sœur, which stands for elle.
Now try to change one word, such as sœur to frère. Almost every other word changes, which is exactly what agreement means. The lessons teach you to make those changes on purpose.
In what order should you study the lessons?
- Choose articles in an original short description: start here, because almost every noun needs an article and the negative rule appears everywhere.
- Check adjective placement and agreement in context: the noun’s gender and number now drive the adjective.
- Track subject and verb agreement in a paragraph: move from one sentence to a whole paragraph of changing subjects.
- Repair an ambiguous pronoun reference: make sure each pronoun points to one clear noun.
Finish with the integrated practice set, which mixes all four skills.
Which traps catch most learners?
- Keeping un, une, du or des after a negative instead of using de.
- Placing every adjective before the noun because that is the English order.
- Letting a nearby noun decide the verb ending instead of the real subject.
- Writing il or elle when two nouns could fit.
How should you use the practice set?
Write your answers before opening any solution. If a mistake repeats, the practice page tells you which lesson to revisit. Keep a short list of the rules you miss and test them again on another day, with new sentences of your own.
When you want a teacher to read your sentences live, our online one-to-one French tuition works from your own writing. Next in the subject, present-time expression puts these foundations to work in everyday statements.