Self, family and pets

Almost every Speaking exam and every personal-description Writing task opens the same way: who are you? You can answer fully with just four verbs.

1. Your name — s'appeler (to be called / to call oneself). This is a reflexive verb, so it carries a little extra word (me, te, s'):

French	Pronunciation	English
Je m'appelle Marie	zhuh ma-PELL	My name is Marie
Tu t'appelles comment ?	tew ta-PELL ko-MON	What's your name? (informal)
Il / Elle s'appelle Paul	eel / ell sa-PELL	He / She is called Paul

2. Your age — avoir (to have). A classic English-speaker trap: in French you have your age, you are not it. Say j'ai treize ans (I am thirteen — literally "I have thirteen years"). Never drop the word ans (years).

French	Pronunciation	English
J'ai treize ans	zhay trez on	I am 13 (years old)
Tu as quel âge ?	tew a kel ahzh	How old are you?
Il a quinze ans	eel a kanz on	He is 15

3. Where you live — habiter (to live) — and être (to be) for nationality. J'habite à Londres (I live in London); J'habite en Angleterre (I live in England). For nationality use être: Je suis anglais (I am English, masc.) / Je suis anglaise (fem.).

Worked mini-example — a full self-introduction. Bonjour ! Je m'appelle Sara, j'ai quatorze ans et j'habite à Singapour. Je suis singapourienne. → "Hello! My name is Sara, I'm fourteen and I live in Singapore. I am Singaporean." Four verbs, one complete introduction.

French family words almost always come in a masculine / feminine pair, and you should learn each one with its article (le / la) so you never forget its gender.

French	Pronunciation	English
le père	luh pair	father
la mère	la mair	mother
les parents	lay pa-RON	parents
le frère	luh frair	brother
la sœur	la sur	sister
le grand-père	luh gron-pair	grandfather
la grand-mère	la gron-mair	grandmother
les grands-parents	lay gron-pa-RON	grandparents
l'oncle (m)	LON-kluh	uncle
la tante	la tont	aunt
le cousin / la cousine	luh koo-ZAN / la koo-ZEEN	cousin (m / f)
le fils	luh feess	son
la fille	la fee-yuh	daughter / girl
le demi-frère	luh duh-mee-frair	half-/step-brother
la belle-mère	la bell-mair	stepmother / mother-in-law

A useful verb here is avoir again: J'ai un frère et deux sœurs (I have one brother and two sisters). To say you are an only child: Je suis fils unique (boy) / Je suis fille unique (girl).

Worked mini-example. Dans ma famille, il y a quatre personnes : mon père, ma mère, ma sœur et moi. → "In my family there are four people: my father, my mother, my sister and me." The phrase il y a (there is / there are) is a workhorse — learn it now.

To say my, your, his/her in French you use possessive adjectives, and the rule surprises every English speaker: they agree with the noun that follows (its gender and number), not with the person who owns it.

Owner	+ masc. noun	+ fem. noun	+ plural noun
my	mon père	ma mère	mes parents
your (informal)	ton frère	ta sœur	tes frères
his / her	son chien	sa sœur	ses amis

The biggest shock: son and sa do not tell you whether the owner is male or female. Son père means his father or her father — it agrees with père (masculine), full stop. Sa mère means his mother or her mother.

One special rule for sound. Before a feminine noun that starts with a vowel, you swap ma/ta/sa for mon/ton/son to avoid two vowels clashing: mon amie (my female friend), never ma amie; son école (his/her school).

Worked mini-example. Translate "her brother and his sister": both use the noun's gender. Her brother = son frère (frère is masculine). His sister = sa sœur (sœur is feminine). The English owner is irrelevant.

Once you can name people you need to describe them — appearance and personality. The golden rule of French adjectives is agreement: the adjective changes its ending to match the gender and number of the person.

The basic pattern: add -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for feminine plural.

Masculine	Feminine	English
grand	grande	tall / big
petit	petite	short / small
intelligent	intelligente	intelligent
amusant	amusante	funny / fun
fort	forte	strong

Some adjectives are irregular and worth memorising:

Masculine	Feminine	English
beau	belle	good-looking / beautiful
gentil	gentille	kind
sportif	sportive	sporty
gros	grosse	fat / big
vieux	vieille	old
roux	rousse	red-haired

A few adjectives never change (invariable colours and sympa): marron (brown), orange (orange), sympa (nice). And adjectives already ending in -e look the same in both genders: jeune (young), timide (shy), calme (calm), célèbre (famous).

Position. Most descriptive adjectives go after the noun: les cheveux bruns (brown hair), les yeux verts (green eyes). A small group go before — remember them with BAGS (Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size): un beau garçon (a good-looking boy), une vieille femme (an old woman), une petite sœur (a little sister).

Useful descriptive sentences:

• Il a les cheveux courts et les yeux bleus. — He has short hair and blue eyes.
• Elle est grande, mince et très sympa. — She is tall, slim and very nice.
• Mon frère est paresseux mais ma sœur est travailleuse. — My brother is lazy but my sister is hard-working.

Worked mini-example. Describe a tall, kind mother: start from masculine grand and gentil, then make them feminine because mère is feminine → grande, gentille. Result: Ma mère est grande et gentille. (My mother is tall and kind.)

Pets (les animaux domestiques) are a guaranteed Speaking and Writing topic. The verb is avoir again, plus an article.

French	Pronunciation	English
un chien	uhn shyan	a dog
un chat	uhn sha	a cat
un lapin	uhn la-PAN	a rabbit
un poisson rouge	uhn pwa-SON roozh	a goldfish
un oiseau	uhn wa-ZOH	a bird
un cheval	uhn shuh-VAL	a horse
une tortue	ewn tor-TEW	a tortoise
une souris	ewn soo-REE	a mouse
un hamster	uhn am-STAIR	a hamster

Saying you have a pet: J'ai un chat (I have a cat); Nous avons deux chiens (We have two dogs).

Saying you have none — the key rule. After a negative (ne… pas), the article un/une/des changes to de (or d' before a vowel): Je n'ai pas de chien (I don't have a dog); *Je n'ai pas **d'*animal (I don't have a pet). Do not keep un here.

Wanting one: Je voudrais un chien (I would like a dog) — je voudrais (I would like) is a polite, high-value phrase.

Worked mini-example. Answer As-tu un animal ? (Do you have a pet?) two ways. With a pet: Oui, j'ai un chat qui s'appelle Minou. (Yes, I have a cat called Minou.) Without: Non, je n'ai pas d'animal, mais je voudrais un lapin. (No, I don't have a pet, but I'd like a rabbit.)

The single fastest way to move from a low to a high mark is to give an opinion and justify it, then join your ideas with connectives. Examiners explicitly reward this.

Opinion verbs and phrases:

French	Pronunciation	English
j'aime	zhem	I like
j'adore	zha-DOR	I love
je n'aime pas	zhuh nem pa	I don't like
je déteste	zhuh day-TEST	I hate
je préfère	zhuh pray-FAIR	I prefer
à mon avis	a mon a-VEE	in my opinion
je pense que	zhuh pons kuh	I think that

Reasons — use parce que (because): *J'adore ma sœur **parce qu'*elle est gentille. — I love my sister because she is kind. (parce que → parce qu' before a vowel.)

Connectives — join your ideas:

French	English
et	and
mais	but
aussi	also / too
ou	or
car	because / for
cependant	however
par contre	on the other hand

Building a high-mark sentence, step by step.

1. Basic: J'ai un chien. (I have a dog.)
2. • opinion: J'adore mon chien. (I love my dog.)
3. • reason: J'adore mon chien parce qu'il est mignon. (…because he is cute.)
4. • connective + contrast: J'adore mon chien parce qu'il est mignon, mais il est un peu paresseux. (…but he is a bit lazy.)

That final sentence shows an opinion, a justification, two adjectives and a contrast connective — exactly the range that earns marks in Paper 3 and Paper 4.

Worked mini-example. Upgrade Ma mère est gentille into a high-mark answer: add an opinion verb and a contrast → À mon avis, ma mère est très gentille et travailleuse, mais elle est aussi un peu stricte. (In my opinion, my mother is very kind and hard-working, but she is also a bit strict.)

The personal-information questions in the Speaking exam are predictable. Learn each question and a model answer, and you can adapt them on the spot.

Question (French)	English	Model answer
Comment t'appelles-tu ?	What's your name?	Je m'appelle…
Quel âge as-tu ?	How old are you?	J'ai … ans.
Où habites-tu ?	Where do you live?	J'habite à…
Tu as des frères et sœurs ?	Do you have siblings?	J'ai un frère et une sœur. / Je suis fille unique.
Comment est ta famille ?	What is your family like?	Ma famille est petite et sympa.
As-tu un animal (de compagnie) ?	Do you have a pet?	Oui, j'ai un chat. / Non, je n'ai pas d'animal.
Comment est ton/ta… ?	What is your … like?	Il/Elle est grand(e) et gentil(le).
Tu t'entends bien avec ta famille ?	Do you get on well with your family?	Oui, je m'entends bien avec mes parents.

Three ways to form a question (good to recognise and to use):

1. Rising intonation (easiest): Tu as un chien ? (You have a dog?)
2. Est-ce que…: Est-ce que tu as un chien ?
3. Inversion (most formal): As-tu un chien ?

All three mean "Do you have a dog?" — the inversion form impresses examiners in writing.

A ready-made paragraph you can adapt: Je m'appelle Léa, j'ai quinze ans et j'habite à Lyon. Dans ma famille, il y a quatre personnes : mes parents, mon petit frère et moi. Je m'entends bien avec ma mère parce qu'elle est patiente, mais mon frère est parfois pénible. J'ai aussi un chien qui s'appelle Rex ; je l'adore ! → "My name is Léa, I'm fifteen and I live in Lyon. In my family there are four people: my parents, my little brother and me. I get on well with my mother because she is patient, but my brother is sometimes annoying. I also have a dog called Rex; I love him!"

Worked mini-example. Adapt the frame Tu t'entends bien avec ta famille ? into your own answer: Oui, je m'entends bien avec ma sœur parce qu'elle est amusante, mais je me dispute parfois avec mon frère. (Yes, I get on well with my sister because she is funny, but I sometimes argue with my brother.)