GCSE French Revision

Identity & Relationships

Talking about family, friends, relationships and describing yourself and others.

Identity & Relationships 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 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).
La francophonieCommunity of French-speaking countries; the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie has 88 member states.
Le MaghrebNorth-west Africa: Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia — colonised by France and a major source of post-war immigration.
L'Afrique subsaharienne francophoneIncludes Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Cameroon — official French alongside national languages.
Le QuébecFrench-speaking province of Canada; Law 101 (1977) made French the sole official language.
La colonisationFrench colonial empire reached its peak in the early 20th century; decolonisation accelerated 1956–62.
Le créoleCreole languages spoken in Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion — French-based but distinct.
Les amisFriends and friendship: describing personality and what you do together.
Les relationsRelationships with family and friends, including getting on well or arguing, using verbs like 's'entendre'.

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 Identity & Relationships — free games

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