To lift a simple answer into a top-band one, you join your ideas together and compare things. This lesson covers comparatives & superlatives (plus / moins / aussi … que), how to build adverbs in -ment, the everyday prepositions and their contractions (au, du, aux, des), how to say which country you go to (en / au / aux), and the conjunctions that stitch clauses together.
Edexcel iGCSE topics. Every example is drawn from the five topic areas — je vais en France (home & abroad), le français est plus utile que l'italien (education & employment), ma sœur est plus âgée que moi (personal life & relationships), la pollution augmente rapidement (the world around us) and je nage mieux que lui (social activities, fitness & health).
Work through each screen and answer the questions as you go — some ask you to recognise the right form, some ask you to produce it by typing. Collect ⭐ stars and press Start.
To compare, wrap your adjective with a word for more / less / as, and finish with que ("than / as"):
Remember agreement: the adjective still agrees with the noun it describes — elle est plus grande que moi (she is taller than me).
To say something is the most or the least, add the article le / la / les before plus / moins + adjective:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le plus grand | the tallest (m) |
| la plus grande | the tallest (f) |
| les plus grands | the tallest (pl) |
| le moins cher | the least expensive |
Tip: the article agrees with the noun — a girl is la plus grande, a boy is le plus grand.
French has two words for better, and mixing them up is a classic trap. Which one you use depends on whether you are describing a noun or a verb:
From bon (good). Describes a noun: ce livre est meilleur (this book is better).
From bien (well). Describes a verb: je chante mieux (I sing better).
Never say plus bon — the comparative of bon is meilleur, and the comparative of bien is mieux.
An adverb tells you how something is done ("slowly", "happily"). To build most French adverbs, take the feminine form of the adjective and add -ment:
| adjective (m → f) | adverb |
|---|---|
| lent → lente | lentement (slowly) |
| heureux → heureuse | heureusement (happily) |
| doux → douce | doucement (gently) |
Two shortcuts: if the adjective already ends in a vowel, just add -ment (vrai → vraiment). And -ant → -amment, -ent → -emment: récent → récemment (recently).
A few very common adverbs don't follow the -ment rule at all — learn them cold:
Careful: rapide is the adjective ("quick"), rapidement and vite are the adverbs ("quickly"). Adjectives describe nouns; adverbs describe verbs.
French squashes à or de together with le / les. Pick the correct contraction.
You cannot leave à le or de le side by side — they fuse. Learn the four forced contractions:
| combination | becomes |
|---|---|
| à + le | au |
| à + les | aux |
| de + le | du |
| de + les | des |
No fusion with la or l': à la maison and de l'école stay as two words. Only le and les trigger the contraction.
Prepositions tell you where or how. Keep these high-frequency ones ready:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| à / de | to, at / of, from |
| en / dans | in / inside |
| sur / sous | on / under |
| avec / sans | with / without |
| chez / pour | at (someone's) / for |
| entre / devant / derrière | between / in front of / behind |
Handy one: chez means "at the house/place of" — chez moi (at my place), chez le médecin (at the doctor's).
Tap an adjective on the left, then tap its -ment adverb on the right.
"To / in" a country depends on its gender and whether it is plural:
| type of country | use |
|---|---|
| feminine or starts with a vowel | en France, en Espagne |
| masculine | au Portugal, au Canada |
| plural | aux États-Unis |
Most countries ending in -e are feminine and take en: en France, en Italie, en Espagne. le Portugal and le Canada are masculine, so au.
An adjective describes a noun; an adverb describes a verb. Sort each word.
Conjunctions join two ideas into one sentence — the fastest way to sound more fluent:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| et / mais / ou | and / but / or |
| donc / car | so / because (for) |
| parce que / puisque | because / since |
| quand / lorsque | when / when (formal) |
| si / comme | if / as, like |
| pendant que | while |
Two words for "because": parce que starts an explanation, while car (= "for") links it after a comma. Both push your answers into the higher bands.
Small words in front of an adjective or adverb change the degree:
Word order: the intensifier sits before the adjective — assez rapide (quite quick), un peu fatigué (a little tired).
Comparative: plus / moins / aussi + adjective + que (plus grand que = taller than).
Superlative: le / la / les plus (moins) + adjective (le plus grand).
Irregulars: bon → meilleur (adjective), bien → mieux (adverb).
Adverbs: feminine adjective + -ment (lentement); vowel just add -ment (vraiment); -ant→-amment, -ent→-emment (récemment); irregular bien, mal, vite.
Contractions: à+le=au, à+les=aux, de+le=du, de+les=des.
Countries: en France (fem/vowel), au Portugal (masc), aux États-Unis (pl); chez moi = at my place.
Conjunctions & intensifiers: et, mais, parce que, quand, si…; très, trop, assez, beaucoup, un peu.
Join two ideas and compare them — that's a top-band habit. Press Finish to see your score.
You've built joining ideas for Edexcel International GCSE French. 🎉
Your stars: 0 / 0
Next in the spine: Higher-tier structures — the subjunctive, pluperfect and depuis. Then lock this in with the Evaluate confidence quiz.