GCSE French Revision

Free Time & Culture

Hobbies and free-time activities, festivals and celebrations, food, sport and healthy living.

Free Time & Culture is a core part of GCSE French. Revise the key concepts and common mistakes below, then lock them in with the free games.

Key concepts

La musiqueMusic tastes and genres, going to concerts and festivals, and talking about favourite artists.
Le cinémaFilms and going to the cinema, including film genres and giving opinions about them.
La télévisionTelevision and streaming: programmes you watch and your opinions about them.
Les célébritésCelebrities and famous people, and the role they play in popular culture.
La modeFashion and clothing trends, and how people express identity through what they wear.
Les réseaux sociauxSocial media as part of popular culture, used to follow trends, music and celebrities.
La familleFamily vocabulary: les parents (parents), les frères (brothers), les sœurs (sisters), les grands-parents (grandparents), les cousins (cousins).
Les rapportsRelationships — describing how you get on: 'Je m'entends bien avec...' (I get on well with...), 'Je me dispute avec...' (I argue with...).
Mariage / divorceMarriage and divorce vocabulary: se marier (to get married), divorcer (to divorce), le mariage, le divorce, le PACS.
Reflexive verbsVerbs with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se): se disputer (to argue), s'entendre (to get on), se fâcher (to get angry).
Adjective agreementAdjectives agree in gender and number: 'sympathique/sympathiques', 'beau/belle/beaux/belles', 'gentil/gentille'.
Tu vs vousTwo forms of 'you': tu (informal singular, friends/family), vous (formal or plural, strangers/teachers).
Les loisirsLeisure activities: le sport, la lecture (reading), la musique, les jeux vidéo (video games), le cinéma.
Jouer à vs jouer de'Jouer à' for sports/games (jouer au foot), 'jouer de' for instruments (jouer de la guitare).

Common mistakes to avoid

Questions where students often pick the tempting wrong answer — make sure you know the right one:

Do all French verbs follow one pattern?✗ Yes, every verb conjugates the same way.   ✓ No — there are regular (-er, -ir, -re) and many irregular verbs.
Does the perfect tense always use 'avoir'?✗ Yes, always 'avoir'.   ✓ No — some verbs and all reflexives use 'être' (and agree).

Practise Free Time & Culture — free games

Test yourself with these quick revision games for this topic:

See all 17 games in the Subjects Arcade →

More GCSE French topics

← All revision guides

Want to revise every topic this smart?

The Velvet Method teaches you to use AI to revise any subject — £25, lifetime access.

Explore the Course →