The Expert French Grammar Quiz

By: Isadora Teich
Estimated Completion Time
3 min
The Expert French Grammar Quiz
Image: shutterstock

About This Quiz

Think you know the ins and outs of French grammar? French may be known as the language of love, but it is actually a Romance language. This means that it is one of the languages, like Spanish, Portuguese and Italian that is a descendant of Latin. Latin was spoken by the Ancient Romans, which is why it is a Romance language. French is a tricky language to get a handle on, especially for English speakers, because it has a lot of elements that make it very different from English. From all of the accents, to the different pronunciations of letters, to the structure of sentences, French grammar can be a tricky thing to master.  

For a long time, French was the international language of business, and while it isn't any longer, it is still one of the most spoken languages in Europe and spoken by more than 70 million people around the world. It's spoken in about 60 countries and is the official language in 29. You can hear French in Europe, Canada and Africa. 

If you think you are ready to tackle the grammar of the world's most romantic language, then put your skills to the test with this quiz! 

What is the correct plural form of "la fleur?"
Las fleurs
Les fleural
Les fleurs
Las fleurx
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

La fleur means flower in French. It, like many other French verbs, becomes plural when an -s is added.

The french pronoun "je" means:
I
me
You
They
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

One common example of this is "Je t'aime." This means "I love you."

Which of these words has an accent aigu in it?
La cédille
Le stylo
Utiliser
Près de
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

L'accent aigu is the accent on top of the "e" in "la cédille." It means that, that "e" is pronounced with a long "a" sound.

Advertisement

How many genders are there for French nouns?
None
2
3
1
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

French nouns can be either masculine or feminine. Feminine nouns are denoted by the article "la" and masculine nouns are denoted by the article "le."

In French, present tense verbs tell you:
What is happening right now.
What happened while something else was happening.
What happened before.
What will happen.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Verbs in the present tense are things that are happening right now. For example, if someone asks you what you are doing and you are eating a meal at that moment, you might respond "Je mange."

Do verbs change grammatically to reflect when they happened?
Yes
No
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

There are over a dozen verb tenses used in French, and all of them change how a verb is a written. For example, the verb "aimer" meaning "to love" is written as "J'aime" in the present tense, but "J'aimai" in the passe simple tense.

Advertisement

Find the verb in the sentence: "Je mange du gâteau."
Je
Du
Mange
Gâteau
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This sentence means "I am eating cake." "Mange" comes from the verb "manger."

Which is the formal version of "you"?
Elle
On
Tu
Vous
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

French, like Spanish, makes use of a formal and non-formal you. Use "tu" with your friends, loved ones, and others you know. Use "Vous" with strangers and those you want to show respect toward.

Some adjectives already end in -e. What is done to make them feminine?
Nothing
Add another e
Add another a
Add a t
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Some adjectives, like "calme," already end in -e. Nothing is done to them when they are used to describe feminine nouns.

Advertisement

Is there more than one way to structure questions in French?
Yes
No
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In French, there are several ways to ask questions. These include tacking "Est-ce que" on the beginning of any affirmative statement and ending it with a question mark and inversion.

Which of these words has an accent grave in it?
Bonjour
Délicieux
Août
La bière
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

L'accent grave can be found on top of a's, e's, and u's. This indicates that the vowel beneath it should be pronounced in a shortened way.

What is the correct plural form of "le journal"?
Les journals
Las journaux
Le journax
Les journaux
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Nouns that end in -al end in -aux when made plural. Le journal, meaning the newspaper, becomes les journaux.

Advertisement

Elle is a pronoun which means ________.
They
I
She
It
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Elle" is a pronoun which means she. "Il" is he and it.

Most regular unconjugated French verbs end in:
-er or -ir
-ar
-oir, -ir, and -ar
None of the above
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

All unconjugated regular verbs except "aller," meaning to go, fall into two groups. They end in either -er or -ir, like "manger," which means to eat.

In the sentence, "La veste est verte," which is the article?
Verte
Est
La
Veste
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This sentence means "The jacket is green." La is the feminine article meaning "the."

Advertisement

Which is a present conjugation of the verb "toucher"?
Vous touchez
Vous avez touché
Que vous touchiez
Vous toucherez
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Toucher means "to touch." "Vous touchez" is formal and in the present. It means "you touch."

Do plural nouns still have gendered articles?
Yes
No
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

While words like la chemise and le café are feminine and masculine in their singular forms, they lose their gendered articles in the plural. They become les chemises and les cafés when plural.

Which word has l'accent circonflexe in it?
Après
La table
Toucher
Hôtel
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The circumflex, or l'accent circonflexe, comes from an earlier state of French, but can still be seen in many words today. This includes both hôtel and the verb être, meaning "to be."

Advertisement

In French, do adjectives change to match the genders of the nouns they describe?
Yes
No
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

All French nouns have a gender and the adjectives used to describe them generally change to reflect that. For example, the black bicycle would be "le vélo noir," but the black cup would be "la tasse noire."

Which of these does not change an adjective in French?
The noun's gender
Whether the noun is singular
Whether the noun is plural
The length of the noun
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Adjectives change in French to match the gender and number of a noun. For example "la chemise bleue" means "the blue shirt" and when plural becomes "les chemises bleues."

What is the most common way to make an adjective feminine?
Add an -e
Add a -y
Add an -i
Add an -a
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The default form of many French adjectives is masculine singular, like "bleu" which means "blue." The feminine singular form is "bleu."

Advertisement

Which of these is not a correct conjugation of the regular verb Aimer, in the present tense?
J'aime
Il aime
Vous aimez
Elle aimee
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Elle and Il mean she and he, so verbs are conjugated the same to match these pronouns. "elle aime" means "she loves" and "il aime" means "he loves."

La cédille is an accent used only with which letter?
M
F
O
C
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

La cédille can be seen in words like "garçon." It indicates that the "c" should be pronounced as an "s."

Many unconjugated irregular French verbs end in:
-re
-ir
-oir
All of the above
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

All regular verbs with the exception of "aller" end en -er or -ir. Irregular verbs often have the other 3 endings.

Advertisement

When making what types of nouns plural, do you only change the article but not the noun?
Nouns ending in -s
Nouns ending in -x
Nouns ending in -z
All of the above
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Nouns with these endings stay the same, but their article changes to make them plural. Un virus, a virus, becomes des virus when plural.

Which of these is the correct feminine form of the adjective "bon"?
Bone
Bonne
Bonnette
Bona
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Bon," meaning "good," becomes "bonne" when made feminine. For many French adjectives that end in a vowel and consonant, that consonant is doubled and an --e is added to make them feminine.

Which is the correct plural form of "le bijou"?
Les Bijous
Les Bijoux
La Bijous
Les Bijout
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Le bijou means jewel in French. In French, nouns that end in -ou either take an -s or -x to become plural.

Advertisement

Which word contains the accent mark known as le tréma?
Le forêt
Jamaïque
Le garçon
Noir
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Le tréma looks like two dots and is usually placed on the second of two vowels. It indicates that the vowels are both pronounced separately.

When speaking French, can you raise the pitch of your voice to turn a statement into a question without changing anything else?
Yes
No
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This is a popular informal way to ask questions. For example, "Vous dansez" becoming "Vous dansez?" is only a matter of pitch.

Are some French adjectives totally irregular when it comes to gender?
Yes
No
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Certain adjectives in French do not follow any of the patterns of the language when it comes to matching gendered nouns. For example "blanc," meaning "white," is masculine singular and "blanche" is the feminine singular form.

Advertisement

Which sentence is the correct way to write "She is tall" in French?
Il est grand.
Elle est grande.
Elle estent grand.
Elles sont grandes,
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Elle est grande" has the right pronoun, verb conjugation, and correct feminine verb agreement. It uses the correct conjugation of the irregular verb meaning "to be," être.

Which is the most commonly used past tense in modern French?
Passé anterieur
Conditional present
Imparfait
Passé composé
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Passé composé is used to express an action that happened in the past or already started at the time of speaking. It involves using the verb "avoir" to talk about actions that already have happened.

Which option shows the verb "choisir" conjugated into the passé composé?
Tu as choisi
Tu choisiras
Tu eusses choisi
Tu choisis
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Choisir means "to choose." Conjugated into the passé composé it reads "tu as choisi" which means "you have chosen."

Advertisement

Which is the correct way to say "The dog is happy?"
La chien est heureux.
La chien est heureuse.
Le chien est heureux.
Le chien sera heureux.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Le chien est heureux." is correct. The article, verb tense, and adjective all match up.

Which of these shows inversion correctly?
Quand veux-tu partir?
Veux-quand tu partir?
Quand veux partir-tu?
?Quand veux-tu partir.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Inversion is a formal way to ask questions where the conjugated verb and subject pronoun are switched and joined with a hyphen. "Quand veux-tu partir?" means "When do you want to leave?"

You Got:
/35
shutterstock