Festivals and Traditions (AQA GCSE French): Revision Note
Exam code: 8652
Festivals and traditions
For the topic of festivals and traditions, it is useful to be able to:
say what happens during festivals and traditions
say the dates of when festivals and traditions take place
use adverbs of quantity to add more detail about festival and traditions
Festivals and traditions: vocabulary
Some useful words and phrases for the topic of festivals and traditions are:
Category | French | Part of speech | English |
Festivals and traditions | bruit | n (m) | noise |
date | n (f) | date | |
défilé | n (m) | parade, procession | |
événement | n (m) | event | |
festival | n (m) | festival | |
Fête Nationale | n (f) | Bastille Day, French national holiday | |
jour férié | n (m) | public holiday | |
Saint Valentin | n (f) | Valentine’s Day | |
tradition | n (f) | tradition | |
historique | adj | historic | |
international(e) | adj | international | |
local(e) | adj | local | |
national(e) | adj | national | |
régional(e) | adj | regional | |
participer (à) | v | to participate, take part (in) |
The French national holiday is on the 14th of July and is called Bastille Day
It celebrates the French Revolution of 1789, where people protested to overthrow the king and stormed the Bastille prison in Paris
Category | French | Part of speech | English |
Days | lundi | n (m) | Monday |
mardi | n (m) | Tuesday | |
mercredi | n (m) | Wednesday | |
jeudi | n (m) | Thursday | |
vendredi | n (m) | Friday | |
samedi | n (m) | Saturday | |
dimanche | n (m) | Sunday | |
Months | janvier | n (m) | January |
février | n (m) | February | |
mars | n (m) | March | |
avril | n (m) | April | |
mai | n (m) | May | |
juin | n (m) | June | |
juillet | n (m) | July | |
août | n (m) | August | |
septembre | n (m) | September | |
octobre | n (m) | October | |
novembre | n (m) | November | |
décembre | n (m) | December |
Don’t use capital letters for days or months in French
To say a date in French, use le + number + month, e.g. le trois avril
Use cardinal numbers (two, ten) rather than ordinal numbers (second, tenth)
The only exception is ‘first’, which is premier, e.g. le premier avril
If the date includes a day of the week, don’t use le, e.g. mardi 3 avril
Higher tier only
These words are only required for Higher tier.
French | Part of speech | English | Examples | |
francophone | n (m) | French-speaking | Beaucoup de pays francophones célèbrent cette fête. | Many French-speaking countries celebrate this festival. |
roi | n (m) | king | Le roi est un symbole important dans cette fête historique. | The king is an important symbol in this historic festival. |
brûler | n (m) | to burn | Le feu brûle pendant toute la nuit dans ce festival. | The fire burns all night during this festival. |
Unlock more, it's free!
Did this page help you?