Exercises: Module 02 — Greetings and Basic Communication¶
Instructions¶
Complete each exercise in order. Exercises increase in difficulty. Write your answers in French without consulting notes first, then verify.
Easy Exercises (1–3)¶
Exercise 1¶
Difficulty: Easy Objective: Practice numbers 70–100.
Write out the following numbers in French words. Pay special attention to 70–99.
Exercise 2¶
Difficulty: Easy Objective: Days, months, and dates.
Write the following dates in full French sentences using the format C'est le [date] [month].
Exercise 3¶
Difficulty: Easy Objective: Tell the time.
Write the time as a full French sentence (Il est...) for each of the following:
Medium Exercises (4–6)¶
Exercise 4¶
Difficulty: Medium Objective: Write a self-introduction.
Write a 5-sentence introduction in French as if you were introducing yourself to a French class. Include: your name, your nationality (with correct gender), where you are from, where you live now, and one thing about yourself (job/study/hobby).
Exercise 5¶
Difficulty: Medium Objective: Nationalities and gender agreement.
Rewrite each sentence, changing the subject from masculine to feminine (or vice versa), and adjusting the nationality adjective accordingly.
1. Thomas est américain. → Marie ___
2. Elle est japonaise. → Il ___
3. Marc est brésilien. → Sofia ___
4. Anna est allemande. → Klaus ___
5. Il est espagnol. → Elle ___
Exercise 6¶
Difficulty: Medium Objective: Register — formal vs. informal.
Rewrite the following informal sentences in formal French. Change every element that is register-specific (pronouns, verb forms, vocabulary).
1. T'as l'heure ?
2. Tu viens d'où ?
3. Salut, comment tu t'appelles ?
4. Ouais, ça va. Et toi ?
5. À plus !
Hard Exercises (7–8)¶
Exercise 7¶
Difficulty: Hard Objective: Write and analyze a formal introduction dialogue.
Write a 12-line dialogue (6 lines each) between two people meeting formally at a business conference. One is French, the other is from a country of your choice. The dialogue must: - Use vous throughout - Include an exchange of names, nationalities, and professions - Include a mention of a date or time (e.g., when the next meeting is) - Use at least 3 of the essential conversation phrases from the module - End with an appropriate formal farewell
After writing the dialogue, note which register markers you used and why each was appropriate.
Exercise 8¶
Difficulty: Hard Objective: Correct errors in a piece of student writing.
The following text was written by a student. It contains 8 errors (capitalization, number spelling, date format, register mixing, and agreement errors). Find all 8 errors, explain each one, and rewrite the corrected version.
Je suis Américain. Je m'appelle David et j'ai trente-et-un ans.
Aujourd'hui c'est le un Novembre. Mon anniversaire est le
quatre-vingts-neuf décembre — ah non, je veux dire le vingt-neuf décembre.
Je parle Anglais et un peu de Français. À bientôt, salut !
Expert Exercise (9)¶
Exercise 9¶
Difficulty: Expert Objective: Cultural and linguistic analysis of French number systems.
The French vigesimal counting system (60 = soixante, 70 = soixante-dix, 80 = quatre-vingts, 90 = quatre-vingt-dix) is unique among major European languages. Answer the following:
- What is a "vigesimal" counting system? Name one other culture or language that uses base-20 counting.
- How does Belgian/Swiss French solve this complexity (septante, huitante/octante, nonante)? Why are these forms not used in France despite being more logical?
- Write a realistic scenario where the 70–99 number system could cause a genuine communication error (e.g., misheard prices, ages, addresses) and explain how context prevents or causes misunderstanding.
- French ordinal numbers (first, second, third) are formed differently from English: premier, deuxième/second, troisième. Write the ordinals from 1st to 10th in French, noting the two options for "second/deuxième" and when each is preferred.