Learn tech nouns with their gender
Cambridge 0520 expects accurate device, action and social-media vocabulary — learn each noun with its article, since gender is a named accuracy fault. Devices: le portable, l'ordinateur, la tablette, le mot de passe (m, despite -e), la connexion (f). Actions: télécharger, partager, publier, se connecter. Social media: les réseaux sociaux, un compte, une application, une pièce jointe. Full lists in the note.
Vary tense: present, perfect, near future
Technology tasks reward a range of tenses. Present for a habit: je regarde mes messages tous les jours. Perfect for a done action: j'ai téléchargé une application (participle téléchargé). Near future (aller + infinitive) for a plan: je vais publier une photo. Some verbs take a linking à/de before the infinitive — commencer à, décider de. Mixing tenses in one answer targets the Range marks.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
récemment cues the perfect, not the present
récemment (recently) points to something already done, so it needs the perfect tense: j'ai téléchargé..., not the present. Candidates who miss the word default to the present and describe a habit instead. Scan for a time-frame marker (récemment, hier, la semaine dernière) before choosing your tense — the marker, not the topic, decides it.
Cited s22 Speaking Topics 4 & 5: récemment frequently missed as a past-tense cue, so candidates answered in the present.
Answering a tech bullet in the wrong tense
Writing bullets often signal a tense ('what app you downloaded' = perfect; 'what you will post' = near future). Answering in a different tense from the one signalled caps Task Completion — the most-repeated Writing failure. Risk: je télécharge (present) when the bullet asked what you have downloaded (j'ai téléchargé). Underline the tense cue before writing.
Cited every Writing sitting (s22/w22/s23/w23): ignoring the tense signalled by the task caps Task Completion.
pratique, not the loanword 'convenient'
Wanting to say an app or service is 'convenient', candidates drop in the English word instead of the French adjective. ✓ pratique = practical/convenient: les achats en ligne sont très pratiques. ✗ 'convenient' is not French and loses the accuracy mark. pratique ends in -e, so it is gender-invariant and adds -s for the plural (pratiques).
Cited w22 Writing P4 Q2 Task 4: 'convenient' used instead of pratique.
quotidienne (daily) not recognised
quotidienne (daily, as in ma vie quotidienne, 'my daily life') is often not known, so candidates misread what a 'what do you do online' question is actually asking and answer off-target. Learn quotidien/quotidienne as a habit marker: it signals a routine, so it pairs with the present tense, not the perfect.
Cited s22 Speaking Topic 4: quotidienne not well known in a 'what do you do online' context.
Mind the gender of tech nouns
Device and app nouns are commonly mis-gendered, and gender is a named accuracy fault. Learn the tricky ones: le mot de passe is masculine despite the -e; la connexion and une application are feminine; le réseau, un compte are masculine. Check the article before writing any tech noun, then agree what follows.
general FL trap
English tech words don't transfer unchanged
It's tempting to assume tech words are 'the same in every language' and drop English straight into French — but that loses accuracy marks. une application (or une appli) is correct; a bare 'app' is not; pratique must replace 'convenient'. Some borrowings ARE French — le wifi, un selfie — but each still takes a French gender and article, learned not guessed.
Cited w22 Writing P4 Q2 Task 4: English loanwords/calques compromising the French message.
Find the time-frame marker first
Find the time-frame marker first, then pick the tense: récemment, hier, la semaine dernière → perfect; tous les jours, d'habitude → present; bientôt, demain → near future (aller + infinitive). The marker, not the topic, tells you which tense to use.
Precise vocab, checked gender
Pick precise French, not a loanword: say pratique, not 'convenient'; une application, not a bare 'app'. Check the gender of every device noun before you write it — un mot de passe, une connexion, un réseau, un compte are commonly needed and commonly mis-gendered.
Vary tense and keep the à/de
In an extended answer, vary the tense — one present habit, one perfect event, one near-future plan — to earn Range. If a verb takes à or de before its infinitive (commencer à, décider de), include it; dropping the preposition is a common error.
The digital world topic covers phones, the internet, social media and communication tasks — a high-frequency topic across Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing.
Devices & connections (learn every noun with its article):
| French | English | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| le portable | mobile phone | m |
| l'ordinateur | computer | m |
| la tablette | tablet | f |
| l'écran | screen | m |
| le clavier | keyboard | m |
| le wifi | wifi | m |
| le réseau | network | m |
| la connexion | connection | f |
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