Preparing for a short test | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. On a un petit test bientôt, c'est ça ?

   We have a short test coming up, right?

   On a

   we have

   petit

   short; small

   test

   test

   bientôt

   soon

   c'est ça ?

   right?

   More detail

   On a means “we have” here. On can refer to people including the speaker, and the fixed translation identifies that reading. Although on takes a third-person singular verb form, a is the present-tense form of avoir for il/elle/on; the infinitive is avoir. Compare nous avons, the more explicit “we have.” Example: On a du temps. — “We have time.” Petit describes test as short or small in this sentence. Its base form is petit; here it is masculine singular because it agrees with the masculine singular noun test. The feminine singular form is petite, as in une petite erreur — “a small mistake.” This adjective describes the test; it does not express the upcoming time. Test is the noun “test.” French uses the same written form here as English, but its pronunciation and grammatical behavior are French. In this sentence it is the thing that on a; the following context supports the interpretation of an assessment covering parts of the unit. Example: Le test commence demain. — “The test starts tomorrow.” Bientôt is the adverb “soon.” It places the test’s occurrence in the near future. It does not itself mean “short”; petit gives that description. Example: On commence bientôt. — “We are starting soon.” C’est ça ? is a compact confirmation pattern meaning “right?” or “is that it?” in this context. C’est is ce plus the present form est of être, and ça is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that.” Together, with questioning intonation or a question mark, the phrase asks whether the preceding statement is correct. Example: Tu viens demain, c’est ça ? — “You’re coming tomorrow, right?” Taken together, On a un petit test bientôt states that the speaker’s group has a short test in the near future. C’est ça ? then asks the listener to confirm that understanding, giving the complete meaning: “We have a short test coming up, right?”

2. Il porte sur les parties principales de cette unité.

   It covers the main sections from this unit.

   porte sur

   covers; concerns

   parties

   sections; parts

   principales

   main

   cette

   this

   unité

   unit

   More detail

   porte sur is the fixed expression porter sur, meaning “to cover” or “to concern” in this sentence. porte is the third-person singular present form of porter: je porte, il/elle porte, ils/elles portent. Here, sur is part of the expression; it is not simply the physical-location meaning “on.” Example: Le cours porte sur la grammaire. — “The course covers grammar.” parties means “sections” here, with partie meaning “part” or “section.” It is the plural form: une partie → des parties. The feminine gender belongs to the noun partie, while the plural is marked by the final -s, which is normally not pronounced. Example: Les parties importantes sont courtes. — “The important sections are short.” principales means “main” or “principal” here and describes parties. Its base form is the adjective principal; the feminine plural form is principales. Compare un point principal (masculine singular), une idée principale (feminine singular), and des idées principales (feminine plural). In this sentence, the adjective agrees with the feminine plural noun parties. cette is the feminine singular demonstrative determiner meaning “this” or “that,” depending on context. It appears before the feminine singular noun unité: cette unité. The corresponding masculine singular form is ce, as in ce chapitre; before a vowel sound, masculine singular uses cet, as in cet exercice. The form cette itself does not identify a more specific referent than the supplied sentence does. unité means “unit.” It is a feminine singular noun, so the phrase is cette unité. Its plural is unités: deux unités — “two units.” The accent remains part of the spelling. Together, Il porte sur introduces what the subject covers, les parties principales identifies the main sections, and de cette unité specifies that these sections are from this unit. The complete utterance means: “It covers the main sections from this unit.”

3. Quelle partie dois-je réviser en premier ?

   Which section should I review first?

   Quelle

   which

   partie

   section

   dois-je

   should I

   réviser

   review

   en premier

   first

   More detail

   Quelle means “which” and introduces a choice among identifiable options. It is the feminine singular form of quel; it agrees with the noun it determines: quel with masculine singular, quelle with feminine singular, quels with masculine plural, and quelles with feminine plural. Here it agrees with partie, which is feminine singular. partie means “section” here. It is a feminine noun, and its plural is parties. In this sentence it refers to one section of the unit, while the surrounding context establishes that the unit contains multiple sections. dois-je is the present-tense first-person singular form of devoir (“must,” “have to,” or, as here, “should”) combined with subject–verb inversion. The statement order is je dois; in a question, dois-je ... ? is a formal or neutral written way to ask what the speaker ought to do. The form dois is the inflected verb form; je is the subject pronoun. Devoir is followed here by an infinitive, réviser. réviser means “to review” or “revise” for study. It is an infinitive after dois-je: Je dois réviser means “I should review.” Do not confuse this study-related use with an English sense such as editing a written text; the intended meaning here is reviewing course material. en premier means “first,” specifying the order in which the reviewing should happen. It is a reusable way to ask or state what comes first in a sequence; for example, Lis cette partie en premier. means “Read this section first.” Together, Quelle partie asks which section, dois-je réviser asks which section the speaker should review, and en premier adds that it should be the first one reviewed. The complete meaning is: “Which section should I review first?”

4. Commence par la compréhension orale, parce que ça influence souvent ta note.

   Start with listening, since it usually affects your score.

   Commence

   Start

   compréhension

   understanding

   orale

   oral / spoken

   parce que

   because / since

   ça

   it

   influence

   affects

   souvent

   often / usually

   note

   score

   More detail

   Commence is the imperative of commencer for tu: “Start.” French commonly uses commence par + noun to say what to begin with. For example, Commence par la première question. means “Start with the first question.” compréhension means “understanding” here. It is a noun; its related verb is comprendre (“to understand”), but compréhension itself is not a verb form. In compréhension orale, it refers to understanding spoken language, or listening comprehension. orale is the feminine singular form of the adjective oral, meaning “oral” or “spoken.” It describes compréhension and agrees with that feminine singular noun. The masculine singular form is oral, as in un examen oral (“an oral exam”). In the phrase compréhension orale, the adjective helps specify comprehension of spoken language. parce que introduces a reason: “because” or “since.” The clause after it explains why the speaker recommends starting with listening comprehension. ça is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” or “it.” Here, the fixed translation identifies its intended meaning as the listening-comprehension part just mentioned. The form ça does not show grammatical gender or number. influence is the present-tense form of influencer (“to affect” or “to influence”) for a third-person singular subject. Here, ça influence means “it affects.” Compare j’influence (“I affect”) and ils influencent (“they affect”); the verb form changes with the subject. souvent means “often”; “usually” is a compatible translation in this sentence. It is an adverb, so it does not change form. For example, Elle réussit souvent. means “She often succeeds.” note means “score” or “grade” here: the result received for the assessment. It is a feminine noun, as shown by ta note (“your score”). The possessive ta agrees with the noun’s grammatical gender and number, not with the person who owns it. Together, Commence par la compréhension orale means “Start with listening comprehension.” parce que ça influence souvent ta note gives the reason: “since it usually affects your score.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Start with listening, since it usually affects your score.”

5. On peut essayer quelques questions d'entraînement ensemble ?

   Can we try some practice questions together?

   On peut

   can we

   essayer

   to try

   quelques

   some; a few

   questions

   questions

   d'entraînement

   practice; training

   ensemble

   together

   More detail

   On peut means “can we” here. on is the subject form used by the fixed translation for “we,” while peut is the present-tense form of pouvoir for on (the same form as with il and elle). The construction On peut + infinitive ? is a reusable way to ask whether an activity is possible or acceptable. Example: On peut commencer ? — “Can we start?” essayer means “to try” and is an infinitive because it follows peut. Its base form is essayer; after a modal such as pouvoir, the following verb stays in the infinitive rather than being put in a finite tense. Example: On peut essayer encore. — “We can try again.” quelques indicates an unspecified small number of plural items: “some” or “a few.” It does not state an exact count. It is used with a plural noun, as in quelques questions. Compare quelques questions (“some questions”) with singular une question (“one/a question”); the article une marks singular form, while quelques requires plural form. questions is the plural of question, meaning “questions.” The plural ending is written -s: une question / des questions. In this utterance it names the items being tried. d'entraînement is de before the vowel-initial noun entraînement, with elision to d'. Together with questions, questions d'entraînement means “practice questions”: questions intended for practice. The noun entraînement is related to practicing or training, but the full phrase is the useful unit here. Example: Je prépare des exercices d'entraînement. — “I am preparing practice exercises.” ensemble means “together.” It indicates that the participants carry out the activity jointly. Example: Nous travaillons ensemble. — “We work together.” As a whole, On peut essayer quelques questions d'entraînement ensemble ? asks whether the participants can try some practice questions together. The structure is On peut + infinitive activity (essayer) + the plural items (quelques questions d'entraînement) + the manner of participation (ensemble).

6. On peut utiliser quelques questions courtes et vérifier chaque réponse.

   We can use a few short questions and check each answer.

   On peut

   we can

   utiliser

   use

   quelques

   a few

   questions

   questions

   courtes

   short

   vérifier

   check

   chaque

   each

   réponse

   answer

   More detail

   On peut combines on, the subject, with peut, the third-person singular present form of pouvoir (“can / is able to”). Here on means “we,” as confirmed by the fixed translation; in other contexts it can refer more generally to people or someone. Pouvoir is followed by an infinitive: on peut utiliser = “we can use.” utiliser is the infinitive “to use.” After a form such as peut, the following verb stays in the infinitive rather than being conjugated. Example: On peut commencer. — “We can start.” quelques is a plural determiner meaning “a few” or “some.” It indicates an indefinite small number, without stating an exact count. It accompanies a plural noun here: quelques questions. questions is the plural of the feminine noun question, “question.” The plural ending is written -s: une question → des questions. Example: J’ai une question. — “I have a question.” courtes means “short” here and describes questions. It is the feminine plural form of the adjective court: court (masculine singular), courte (feminine singular), courts (masculine plural), courtes (feminine plural). The -es form agrees with the feminine plural noun questions. vérifier is another infinitive, “to check” or “to verify.” It is coordinated with utiliser by et, and both infinitives depend on peut: On peut utiliser ... et vérifier ... — “We can use ... and check ...” chaque means “each” or “every” and presents the items one by one. It is an invariable singular determiner, so it is followed by a singular noun: chaque question, chaque réponse. It is not the same pattern as plural toutes les réponses (“all the answers”). réponse is the feminine noun “answer,” singular here. Its plural is réponses: une réponse → des réponses. In chaque réponse, the singular form follows chaque. Together, On peut utiliser gives “we can use,” quelques questions courtes gives “a few short questions,” and vérifier chaque réponse gives “check each answer.” The conjunction et links the two actions, producing: “We can use a few short questions and check each answer.”

7. Je vais revoir mes erreurs après chaque question.

   I will review my mistakes after each one.

   Je vais

   I am going to

   revoir

   review

   erreurs

   mistakes

   après

   after

   chaque

   each

   question

   question

   More detail

   Je vais uses the first-person singular present form of aller, followed by an infinitive, to form the near future: “I am going to …” or “I will …”. The subject is je; vais is the form of aller used with this subject. For example, Je vais répondre. means “I am going to answer.” revoir is the infinitive meaning “to review” here. After je vais, the following verb remains in the infinitive. Revoir can also mean “to see again” in another context, but here the object mes erreurs gives it the meaning “review.” mes erreurs means “my mistakes.” erreurs is the plural of erreur (“mistake”); the plural is visible in the final -s, although that -s is not pronounced. mes is the plural form of the possessive determiner used before plural nouns; it does not itself state how many mistakes there are. Example: Je corrige mes erreurs. means “I correct my mistakes.” après introduces what comes later in time: “after.” In this sentence it connects the reviewing with the questions, so the reviewing happens after each question. Example: Après le cours, je lis. means “After the class, I read.” chaque means “each” and is followed here by the singular noun question. It presents the questions one at a time rather than using a plural noun. question is a feminine singular noun; its plural is questions. Example: Je vérifie chaque réponse. means “I check each answer.” Together, revoir mes erreurs means “review my mistakes,” and après chaque question means “after each question.” The complete utterance therefore means “I will review my mistakes after each question.”

8. Ça devrait t'aider à te préparer.

   That should help you prepare.

   Ça

   that; it

   devrait

   should

   t'aider

   help you

   te préparer

   prepare yourself

   More detail

   Ça is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” or “it.” Here, the fixed translation identifies it as the thing that is expected to help; French uses ça as a pronoun rather than repeating that thing. It is distinct from the demonstrative adjective ce, which accompanies a noun, as in ce conseil (“this advice”). devrait is the third-person singular present conditional form of devoir, whose basic meaning is “to have to” or “must.” In this sentence, the conditional gives the softer expectation “should,” not a direct command. The useful chain is devoir → devrait; for example, Cela devrait fonctionner. means “That should work.” t'aider contains the object pronoun te before the infinitive aider (“to help”). Before a vowel, te contracts in writing to t', so t'aider means “to help you.” The pronoun is the person helped, while aider is the lexical verb. Compare m'aider (“to help me”) and nous aider (“to help us”). te préparer contains the reflexive pronoun te and the infinitive préparer (“to prepare”), meaning “to prepare yourself.” The pronoun matches the person addressed and shows that this person is also the one being prepared. In another person, the pattern changes: se préparer means “to prepare oneself/themselves,” while nous préparer means “to prepare ourselves.” Together, ça devrait expresses an expectation about that thing, and t'aider à te préparer says that its helpful effect is directed toward the listener’s own preparation. The infinitive aider is followed by à and another infinitive, giving the reusable pattern aider quelqu'un à faire quelque chose (“to help someone do something”). Thus the whole utterance means: “That should help you prepare.”