Identify who a sentence is about
By UK GCSE French · independent study · myAudience
Original illustration generated with OpenAI imagegen for myAudience; fictional teaching scene. · Original generated artwork; no exam-board art or photograph reproduced.
Identify who a sentence is about
A short French sentence often begins with the person it describes. Je means I; tu addresses one familiar person. Il and elle can mean he and she, but also refer back to a noun. Nous means we. Vous can address several people or one person politely. The verb ending must fit the subject, so recognising the subject helps you read accurately.
Être describes identity, location or a state. Learn its present forms as a connected pattern: je suis, tu es, il est, elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont, elles sont. These are not regular er endings. In the invented sentence « Nous sommes dans la bibliothèque », the plural subject nous explains why sommes is needed.
An illustration can support a possible description without proving a person’s thoughts or biography. « Elle est dans la bibliothèque » says where she is. « Elle est heureuse » would assert how she feels; a picture alone cannot establish that. Keep a reading answer tied to information actually stated in the text.
Vocabulary in use: une personne is a person, un ami is a male friend and une amie is a female friend; la bibliothèque means the library. Read « Léa est mon amie. Elle est dans la bibliothèque. » The second sentence refers back to Léa. The accent in bibliothèque and the circumflex in êtes are parts of their written forms.
Worked example: Complete « Nous ___ dans la bibliothèque » using être.
Identify nous as first-person plural.
Select the present form sommes; do not use the singular est.
Answer: Nous sommes dans la bibliothèque.
Check your understanding: Change « Léa est dans la bibliothèque » into a sentence beginning with elle.
Answer: Elle est dans la bibliothèque.
Why: Elle replaces Léa; est stays third-person singular. No new claim is added.