Learn each family noun with its article
Gender is not guessable from meaning, so learn the article (le/la) with every family noun. Watch the pairs that are genuinely different words, not an agreement change: le cousin / la cousine, le fils / la fille, le frère / la sœur. Note les parents is masculine plural and l'oncle is masculine. The full family table is in the study note; this recall is examiner-marked, not machine-checked.
Adjectives agree in gender and number
A descriptive adjective changes its ending to match the gender and number of the person: une fille intelligente, des amis gentils. Most adjectives follow the noun; a small BAGS set precedes it (beau, joli, jeune, vieux, nouveau, bon, grand, petit, gros). Hair and eyes use avoir + noun — j'ai les yeux bleus — where the adjective agrees with the plural noun les yeux, not the person. Full paradigms are in the study note.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
être vs avoir when describing a person
Two verbs describe two different things, and candidates swap them. Personality = être + adjective: elle est timide, NOT "elle a timide". Physical features = avoir + noun: il a les yeux bleus, NOT "il est les yeux bleus". The error runs both ways and distorts the whole structure. Rule: être = what someone IS; avoir = what someone HAS.
Cited w22 41 Q2 Task 1 — best-friend description: "elle a timide" for "elle est timide"; "il est les yeux bleus" for "il a les yeux bleus".
Agreement slips even when the gender is known
Agreement errors persist even when the writer knows the noun's gender: they use a feminine article correctly, then leave the masculine adjective a sentence later — content instead of contente for ma mère. The fix is a habit: every time you write an adjective, ask "which noun does this describe — masculine or feminine, singular or plural?" before moving on.
Cited w22 42 Q3(a): candidates knew the noun was feminine from the title yet still left the adjective masculine.
Keep the cedilla and accents on adjectives
Nationality and other accented adjectives need their accent/cedilla — it is not optional. français → française → français → françaises all keep the cedilla (ç); "francais/francaise" is penalised under Accuracy, which names missing accents alongside gender and article choice. Check each adjective keeps its accent (é, è) or cedilla (ç) through every form.
Cited s23 41 Accuracy: missing accents/cedillas named scoring-critical alongside spelling, gender and article choice.
sensible and librairie are false friends
Some describing-yourself words look English but mean something else, and using the English sense distorts the message. sensible means sensitive, not "sensible" (that is raisonnable or sage). librairie means bookshop, not "library" (une bibliothèque). Learn these as fixed pairs: French word → its real English meaning, not the look-alike.
cousin/cousine, fils/fille: different words
Some family pairs are not an agreement change but genuinely different words for male and female: le cousin / la cousine, le fils / la fille. Unlike an adjective (grand → grande), you cannot derive one from the other by adding -e — each is learned with its own article. Picking the wrong one changes who you mean, so it is a meaning error, not a spelling slip.
Most adjectives follow the noun, not precede
English puts the adjective first ("a kind girl"); French normally puts a descriptive adjective after the noun: une fille intelligente, un ami généreux — not "une intelligente fille". Only a small BAGS set (beau, joli, jeune, vieux, nouveau, bon, grand, petit, gros) goes before the noun. Copying English word order for other adjectives is an accuracy error.
Not every adjective just adds -e for feminine
Agreement is not always "add -e for feminine, -s for plural". True for many (grand → grande), but false for common groups: -eux → -euse (heureux), -f → -ve (sportif), doubling (bon → bonne). Adjectives already ending in -e (jeune, timide) don't change; irregulars are learned: beau → belle. Over-applying "just add -e" is where marks are lost.
Cross-sitting Writing Accuracy boilerplate: agreement of adjectives named scoring-critical in nearly every Writing report, all four sittings (s22/w22/s23/w23).
Describe a person in a fixed, checked order
Build every description in the same order: (1) who it is (ma sœur); (2) physical with avoir (elle a les yeux verts); (3) personality with être (il est drôle); (4) one opinion with a reason. Separate avoir and être steps stop the two verbs being confused.
Justify opinions to lift the Range mark
In Writing Q3 and Speaking, most candidates only link with parce que, which caps a middle band. For higher Range, vary it: car, a relative pronoun (qui/que), an opinion verb (je trouve que...) or a comparison. One justified opinion beats several bare facts.
Do an agreement audit before you finish
Before moving on, re-read every adjective against the noun it describes — masculine or feminine, singular or plural. This one habit catches the agreement slips (content for contente) and dropped accents that examiners flag under Accuracy every sitting.
Talking about yourself, your family and your friends is one of the most reliably tested topics in Speaking topic conversations and Writing Q2/Q3 — learn the vocabulary with its article, and the adjective agreement pattern, together.
Family members (always learn with the article — gender is not predictable from meaning):
| French | English |
|---|---|
| le père / la mère | father / mother |
| le frère / la sœur | brother / sister |
| le demi-frère / la demi-sœur | half-brother / half-sister |
Full notes, flashcards, Q&A and the topic quiz for every premium subject.
Premium plans are US$8.99/month or US$49.99/year — first month free.
Studying with a parent's blessing? Show them this.
