My Local Area: Grammar and Phonics (AQA GCSE French): Revision Note
Exam code: 8652
The impersonal verb il y a is a very useful phrase across a variety of topics, and it's even better if you can use it in different tenses. It is important to use adjectives correctly to describe your local area, including their position as well as agreement. Let's look at these grammar points in more detail.
Impersonal verbs: il y a
Impersonal verbs are only used with the pronoun il meaning ‘it’ in French, never ‘I’, ‘you’ etc.
Impersonal verbs and structures often do not translate word-for-word into English
Il y a is an impersonal verb meaning ‘there is’ or ‘there are’
il y a un église
there is a church
il y a des ponts
there are some bridges
Use il n’y a pas de to say ‘there are not’ or ‘there is not’
There is no article needed when using the negative form
De changes to d’ before a vowel or silent ‘h’
il n’y a pas de cinéma
there isn’t a cinema
il n’y a pas d’usines
there aren’t any factories
To say what there used to be, use the imperfect tense - il y avait
il y avait un café
there used to be a café
To say what there will be, use the simple future tense - il y aura
il y aura une piscine
there will be a swimming pool
Il y a can also mean 'ago' when used with a time phrase
il y a deux ans
two years ago
Adjectives before nouns
Most adjectives in French come after the noun
A small number come before the noun
This group is often called BAGS adjectives, as they relate to beauty, age, goodness and size
Category | French | English | Examples | |
Beauty | beau | beautiful | Ma ville a un beau parc. | My town has a beautiful park. |
joli | pretty | J’habite dans une jolie rue. | I live on a pretty street. | |
Age | jeune | young | Une jeune famille habite près de chez moi. | A young family lives near me. |
nouveau | new | Mes voisins ont un nouvel appartement. | My neighbours have a new apartment. | |
vieux | old | Il y a un vieux château. | There is an old castle. | |
Goodness | bon | good | Il y a un bon restaurant dans mon quartier. | There is a good restaurant in my area / district. |
mauvais | bad | C’est un mauvais quartier le soir. | It’s a bad area /district in the evenings. | |
Size | grand | big | Ma ville a un grand centre commercial. | My town has a big shopping centre. |
petit | small | Nous avons un petit jardin. | We have a small garden. | |
Some of these BAGS adjectives have irregular forms:
English | masculine singular | masculine singular (before a vowel or silent ‘h’) | feminine singular | masculine plural | feminine plural |
beautiful | beau | bel | belle | beaux | belles |
new | nouveau | nouvel | nouvelle | nouveaux | nouvelles |
old | vieux | vieil | vieille | vieux | vieilles |
Higher tier only
This grammar is only required for Higher tier.
The adjective ancien can come before or after the noun
Its position changes its meaning
Before the noun it means ‘former’
mon ancien voisin habite loin maintenant
my former neighbour lives far away now
After the noun it means ‘ancient / old’
le pont ancien est au centre du village
the ancient / old bridge is in the centre of the village
My local area: phonics
The letter ‘h’ is almost always silent in French
hôpital
historique
[au], [eau], closed [o] and [ô] sound the same in French
gauche
beau
joli
hôtel
Examiner Tips and Tricks
It is important to know how to say and spell French words accurately. The sounds covered here can appear in any words throughout the course.
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