Grammar

Grammar is the backbone of the French language, and mastering it is essential for achieving high marks in AQA A-Level French. This topic covers the core grammatical structures you need to manipulate French accurately in speaking, writing, and translation. You will study verb tenses (present, perfect, imperfect, future, conditional, pluperfect, subjunctive), noun-adjective agreement, pronouns (direct, indirect, relative, emphatic), prepositions, and sentence structures like the passive voice and negation. Understanding these rules allows you to express complex ideas with precision, which is crucial for the essay and translation components of the exam.

Why does grammar matter so much? In the AQA A-Level exam, your grammatical accuracy is assessed across all papers: Paper 1 (Listening, Reading, Writing) includes translation into French and a discursive essay; Paper 2 (Writing) requires you to write an essay on a film or literary text; and Paper 3 (Speaking) tests your ability to respond spontaneously and accurately. Examiners look for a range of structures and tenses used correctly. A strong grasp of grammar not only boosts your marks but also gives you the confidence to tackle complex topics like the subjunctive or the passive voice without hesitation.

Grammar fits into the wider subject as the technical toolkit for communication. Without it, even the best vocabulary and ideas can fall flat. As you progress through the course, you will build on basics from GCSE (e.g., present tense, simple negatives) and move into more advanced areas like the subjunctive mood, which is used after expressions of emotion, doubt, or necessity. By the end of the course, you should be able to switch between tenses naturally and use a variety of sentence structures to argue, describe, and narrate effectively.