Holiday & accommodation nouns, with articles
Core vocabulary splits into three groups, each learned with its article. Destinations: les vacances (f, always plural), l'étranger (m, à l'étranger = abroad), la mer (au bord de la mer). Accommodation: l'hôtel (m), le camping (m, the campsite — a false friend), l'auberge de jeunesse (f). Activities: se baigner, bronzer, faire de la randonnée. Gender is not predictable — learn the article with the word. Full tables in the note.
Perfect for events, imperfect for scene
Holiday narration combines the two past tenses. Perfect for the sequence of completed actions: je suis allé(e) à la plage, j'ai nagé dans la mer. Imperfect for weather and background: il faisait beau, l'hôtel était confortable. Movement verbs (aller, partir, arriver, rester) take être, so the participle agrees with the subject (elle est allée, ils sont partis); most others take avoir, with no agreement. The table stays in the note.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
vacances is always plural
In English 'a holiday' is singular, but French les vacances is always grammatically plural, even for one trip. ✗ Ma vacance était fantastique → Mes vacances étaient fantastiques. ✗ Les vacances est finie → Les vacances sont finies. Every adjective and verb agreeing with vacances must be plural, whatever the number of trips.
Flagged w22 43 Accuracy — vacances used as singular.
j'ai allé is wrong — aller takes être
Holiday writing is full of movement verbs — where the auxiliary trap bites. ✗ J'ai allé en Espagne → Je suis allé(e) en Espagne. ✗ Nous avons parti → Nous sommes parti(e)s. Aller, partir, arriver, rester, rentrer (Dr and Mrs Vandertramp) take être, and their participle agrees with the subject. Most activity verbs (visiter, manger, nager) take avoir.
Auxiliary choice a named weak point (s23 43 Q3b; w23 22 Q4c).
travailler (work) ≠ voyager (travel)
English speakers confuse two unrelated verbs because 'travel' looks like travailler: travailler = to work, voyager = to travel. The nouns split the same way: le travail = work, le voyage = the trip. Writing je veux travailler en France for 'I want to travel to France' changes the meaning entirely — a false friend examiners name directly.
travail/travailler confused with voyage/voyager — named in Writing Key Messages (s22 41).
le camping = the campsite, not the activity
le camping is another false friend: it is the campsite (the place), not the activity. For 'to go camping' use faire du camping; le camping alone means the site — Nous sommes restés dans un camping près de la plage. Learn le camping as a place-noun and faire du camping as the activity.
(general FL trap)
déjà signals a past tense
déjà (already) is a strong past-tense signal, and candidates who miss it answer in the present. In j'ai déjà visité Paris (I have already visited Paris) you must keep the perfect, not slip to je visite. Other past cues: l'été dernier, il y a deux ans, hier. Spot the time marker before choosing the tense.
déjà as a past-tense cue, a recurring Speaking/Reading trap (s22 Card 1; s23 Card 1).
Agree être-verb participles (allé → allée)
With être-verbs the participle must AGREE with the subject in gender and number — a step candidates forget after getting the auxiliary right. ✗ elle est allé → elle est allée; ✗ ils sont parti → ils sont partis; ✗ nous sommes resté → nous sommes resté(e)s. avoir-verbs take no such agreement (j'ai visité stays the same), so être-verbs need the extra check.
(general FL trap)
Not every past verb takes avoir
Because most French verbs take avoir in the perfect, candidates over-generalise and assume all holiday verbs do too. ✗ 'Aller is normal, so j'ai allé' → it is je suis allé(e): aller is a fixed être-verb (with partir, arriver, rester, rentrer...), and with être the participle agrees with the subject. Always check 'is this on the être list?' first.
Être-verb recognition/agreement a named recurring weak point (s23 43; w23 22).
Scene (imperfect), events (perfect), opinion
Build a past-holiday answer in three layers: (1) set the scene in the imperfect (il faisait beau); (2) sequence the events in the perfect, checking each auxiliary (je suis allé(e), j'ai nagé); (3) finish with an opinion and a connective (c'était formidable parce que...).
Ask 'is it on the être list?' first
Before each perfect-tense holiday verb, ask: is it on the être list (aller, partir, arriver, rester...)? If yes, use être and agree the participle with the subject; if no, use avoir with no agreement. Doing this first stops the common j'ai allé slip.
Anchor with time markers; vary connectors
Anchor the time frame with markers — l'été dernier, il y a deux ans, déjà ('already') — so your tenses stay consistent. Then lift Range with an opinion and connectors beyond parce que (donc, cependant), rather than repeating parce que.
This topic covers holiday destinations and accommodation vocabulary, holiday activities, and — most examined — narrating a past holiday using the perfect and imperfect tenses together. The examiner digest repeatedly names the être/avoir auxiliary choice and the plural noun vacances as scoring-critical accuracy points.
Destinations and places (learn with the article):
| French | English |
|---|---|
| les vacances (f, always plural) | the holiday(s) |
| à l'étranger | abroad |
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