PrepMyFrench
PrepMyFrench
Glossary
Plain-English definitions for every term that comes up when you prep for the French proficiency exams used in Canadian immigration.
Also: Test d'Évaluation de Français, TEF Canada exam
TEF Canada (Test d'Évaluation de Français pour le Canada) is a French proficiency exam administered by the Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Paris Île-de-France. It is accepted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for Express Entry, Provincial Nominee Programs, and Canadian citizenship applications.
ReadAlso: Test de Connaissance du Français, TCF Canada exam
TCF Canada (Test de Connaissance du Français pour le Canada) is a French proficiency exam administered by France Education International. It is accepted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for Express Entry, Provincial Nominee Programs, and Canadian citizenship — and is the most commonly taken French exam by Express Entry applicants.
ReadAlso: Canadian Language Benchmark 7, NCLC 7
CLB 7 (Canadian Language Benchmark 7) is the French proficiency level required for most Express Entry programs to award maximum CRS points for French as a first official language. CLB 7 corresponds to TEF Canada scores (tests after Dec 2023, 0–699 scale) of 207-232 (reading), 249-279 (listening), 428-471 (writing), 456-493 (speaking) — and equivalent ranges on TCF Canada (NCLC 7).
ReadAlso: French CRS points, French Express Entry bonus
Express Entry French refers to the French-language CRS points awarded to permanent residence applicants under Canada's Express Entry system. Applicants who demonstrate CLB 7 or higher in French — through TEF Canada or TCF Canada — earn 25-50 additional CRS points, often the deciding factor in receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
ReadAlso: TEF speaking, TCF speaking
Expression Orale is the speaking section of the TEF Canada and TCF Canada exams. Candidates respond to scenario-based prompts — typically asking for information or convincing someone of a position — under time pressure. The section is scored on grammar, vocabulary range, pronunciation, fluency, and task completion.
ReadAlso: TEF writing, TCF writing
Expression Écrite is the writing section of TEF Canada and TCF Canada. Candidates produce 60-200-word responses to specific tasks — often a forum response, a complaint letter, or a persuasive argument. Graders score grammar, vocabulary range, coherence, register, and task completion against official rubrics.
ReadAlso: TEF listening, TCF listening
Compréhension Orale is the listening section of TEF Canada and TCF Canada. Candidates listen to audio recordings — dialogues, announcements, interviews, radio segments — and answer multiple-choice questions testing comprehension of explicit information, gist, speaker intent, and inference.
ReadAlso: TEF reading, TCF reading
Compréhension Écrite is the reading comprehension section of TEF Canada and TCF Canada. Candidates read short authentic texts — news articles, advertisements, emails, instructions — and answer multiple-choice questions testing explicit comprehension, vocabulary in context, and inference.
ReadAlso: Diplôme d'études en langue française, DELF exam
DELF (Diplôme d'études en langue française) is an official French-language diploma issued by the French Ministry of Education and administered by France Éducation international. It certifies CEFR levels A1, A2, B1, and B2, and — unlike TCF or TEF test results — the diploma is valid for life.
ReadAlso: Diplôme approfondi de langue française, DALF exam
DALF (Diplôme approfondi de langue française) is the official advanced French diploma issued by the French Ministry of Education, certifying CEFR levels C1 and C2. Like DELF, it is valid for life, and holders are exempt from the language tests French universities require of foreign applicants.
ReadAlso: Second Language Evaluation, SLE test
The Second Language Evaluation (SLE) is the Government of Canada's official test of second-official-language ability, administered by the Public Service Commission for bilingual federal positions. It has three components — reading comprehension, written expression, and an oral language assessment — each rated level A, B, or C.
ReadAlso: French subjunctive, subjunctive mood
The subjonctif is a French mood used in subordinate clauses after expressions of emotion, doubt, necessity, desire, judgment, and certain conjunctions. It usually appears after que and signals that the action is subjective, uncertain, required, or emotionally evaluated rather than presented as a plain fact.
ReadAlso: French perfect tense, compound past
The passé composé is the most common French past tense for completed actions and events. It is formed with the present tense of avoir or être plus a past participle. It often moves a story forward, especially when contrasted with the imparfait for background or repeated actions.
ReadAlso: French imperfect tense, l'imparfait
The imparfait is a French past tense used for habits, ongoing past actions, background descriptions, age, time, weather, and repeated situations. It is formed from the nous form of the present tense minus -ons, plus endings such as -ais, -ait, -ions, and -aient.
ReadAlso: French past tense difference, imparfait ou passé composé
Imparfait vs passé composé is the central French past-tense contrast. Use imparfait for background, description, habit, or ongoing action. Use passé composé for completed, specific events. In narrative French, imparfait sets the scene and passé composé advances the action.
ReadAlso: French simple future, le futur simple
The futur simple is the French tense for future actions, predictions, promises, and formal future statements. It usually uses the infinitive as a stem plus endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, and -ont, with irregular stems such as ser-, aur-, ir-, fer-, and pourr-.
ReadAlso: near future, aller + infinitive
The futur proche is the common spoken French future formed with the present tense of aller plus an infinitive, as in je vais partir. It expresses near, planned, or conversational future actions and is usually easier and more natural than futur simple for immediate plans.
ReadAlso: French conditional, conditionnel présent
The conditionnel is a French mood used for hypothetical situations, polite requests, advice, reported future from a past viewpoint, and unreal conditions. The present conditional uses futur simple stems with imparfait endings, as in je voudrais, tu pourrais, and nous irions.
ReadAlso: French pluperfect, past perfect
The plus-que-parfait is the French past perfect tense used for an action that happened before another past action. It is formed with the imparfait of avoir or être plus the past participle, as in j'avais fini or elle était partie.
ReadAlso: complément d'objet direct, direct object
COD means complément d'objet direct, the direct object of a French verb. It receives the action without a preposition and usually answers what or whom. In je mange une pomme, une pomme is the COD; in je la mange, la is the direct object pronoun.
ReadAlso: complément d'objet indirect, indirect object
COI means complément d'objet indirect, the indirect object of a French verb. It is introduced by a preposition, often à or de, and usually answers to whom, for whom, about what, or from what. In je parle à Marie, à Marie is the COI.
ReadAlso: y and en, French adverbial pronouns
Y and en are French adverbial pronouns that replace prepositional phrases. Y usually replaces à plus a place or thing; en usually replaces de plus a thing, source, or quantity. They go before the conjugated verb in most simple sentences.
ReadAlso: Dr Mrs Vandertramp, être verbs
Vandertramp verbs are a memory group of common French movement and state-change verbs that use être instead of avoir in compound tenses. They include aller, venir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, arriver, partir, retourner, rester, and tomber.
ReadAlso: French conditional sentences, phrases avec si
Si-clauses are French conditional sentences built with si plus a tense pattern. Real conditions use si + présent followed by futur or présent. Unreal present conditions use si + imparfait followed by conditionnel. Unreal past conditions use si + plus-que-parfait followed by conditionnel passé.
ReadAlso: partitive articles, du de la des
Partitive articles are French articles used for an unspecified amount of something, especially food, drink, abstract nouns, and mass nouns. The main forms are du, de la, de l', and des, often translated as some or any in English.
ReadAlso: definite articles, le la les
Definite articles are French articles used for specific nouns, general categories, languages, days, body parts in many expressions, and nouns already known in context. The forms are le, la, l', and les, all usually translated as the in English.
ReadAlso: indefinite articles, un une des
Indefinite articles introduce non-specific French nouns. The singular forms are un and une, meaning a or an, and the plural form is des, often meaning some. They agree with the noun's gender and number and are required more often than in English.
ReadAlso: French adjective agreement, accord des adjectifs
Adjective agreement is the French rule that adjectives change form to match the gender and number of the noun they describe. Most feminine forms add -e and most plural forms add -s, but many endings have special patterns such as -eux to -euse or -if to -ive.
ReadAlso: French adjective order, place des adjectifs
Adjective placement is the French rule for whether an adjective comes before or after the noun. Most adjectives follow the noun, but common short adjectives of beauty, age, number, goodness, and size often come before it. Some adjectives change meaning by position.
ReadAlso: Beauty Age Number Goodness Size, French adjectives before nouns
BANGS adjectives are common French adjectives that usually come before the noun because they express Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, or Size. Examples include beau, joli, jeune, vieux, premier, dernier, bon, mauvais, grand, petit, and gros.
ReadAlso: qui que dont où, French relative pronouns
Relative pronouns connect a noun to a subordinate clause in French. The main forms are qui for a subject, que for a direct object, dont for de-related meanings, où for place or time, and lequel after many prepositions. The choice depends on grammatical function.
ReadAlso: COD pronouns, le la les
Direct object pronouns replace a COD in French. The main forms are me, te, le, la, nous, vous, and les. They usually come before the conjugated verb, as in je le vois, and before the auxiliary in compound tenses.
ReadAlso: COI pronouns, lui leur
Indirect object pronouns replace a COI referring to a person in French. The main third-person forms are lui for to him or to her and leur for to them. Like other object pronouns, they normally appear before the conjugated verb.
ReadAlso: French object pronoun order, order of pronouns
Pronoun order is the fixed sequence French uses when several object pronouns appear before a verb. In standard order, me/te/se/nous/vous come before le/la/les, then lui/leur, then y, then en. Affirmative commands use a different order after the verb.
ReadAlso: me te se nous vous se, pronoms réfléchis
Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject in French and are used with pronominal verbs. The forms are me, te, se, nous, vous, and se. They appear before the verb in statements and before the auxiliary in compound tenses.
ReadAlso: verbes pronominaux, reflexive verbs
Pronominal verbs are French verbs used with a reflexive pronoun that matches the subject, such as se laver, se souvenir, or s'intéresser. They can be reflexive, reciprocal, idiomatic, or passive in meaning. In compound tenses, they use être as the auxiliary.
ReadAlso: French gerund, en + participe présent
The gérondif is the French construction en plus the present participle, such as en parlant or en étudiant. It functions like an adverb and expresses simultaneity, manner, cause, condition, or contrast. Its subject must be the same as the subject of the main verb.
ReadAlso: present participle, -ant form
The participe présent is the French -ant verb form built from the nous form of the present tense minus -ons, plus -ant. It is usually invariable and can replace some relative clauses or express a simultaneous action in formal written French.
ReadAlso: past participle, French past participle
The participe passé is the French past participle used in compound tenses, passive voice, and adjective-like forms. Regular endings include -é for -er verbs, -i for many -ir verbs, and -u for many -re verbs, with frequent irregular forms such as fait, pris, mis, écrit, and venu.
ReadAlso: conjonctions de subordination, French subordinate clauses
Subordinating conjunctions introduce dependent clauses in French. Common examples include que, quand, lorsque, si, parce que, puisque, bien que, pour que, avant que, jusqu'à ce que, and à moins que. Some require the indicative, while others require the subjunctive.
ReadAlso: conjonctions de coordination, mais ou et donc or ni car
Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, or independent clauses of equal grammatical status in French. The traditional list is mais, ou, et, donc, or, ni, and car, often memorized as Mais où est donc Ornicar?
ReadAlso: French negation, ne pas
French negation usually wraps ne and pas around the conjugated verb, as in je ne parle pas. Other negative patterns include ne jamais, ne plus, ne rien, ne personne, ne aucun, ne ni ni, and ne que, though ne que expresses restriction rather than true negation.
ReadAlso: French only construction, restriction in French
Ne...que is a French restrictive structure meaning only. It is not true negation, even though it uses ne. The que is placed before the restricted element: je ne bois que de l'eau means I drink only water.
ReadAlso: discours indirect, indirect speech
Reported speech, or discours indirect, reports someone's words without quoting them directly. French changes pronouns, time expressions, and sometimes verb tenses according to the reporting verb. Direct je viendrai demain can become il a dit qu'il viendrait le lendemain.
ReadAlso: interrogation indirecte, embedded questions
Indirect questions embed a question inside a statement or another question in French. They do not use inversion. Yes/no questions use si, and information questions keep the question word, with forms such as ce que and ce qui when needed.
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