IGCSE French Minimum Core Vocabulary by Topic

This Minimum Core Vocabulary List has been arranged by topic primarily as a guide for teachers to assist in planning schemes of work and preparing candidates for the assessment. Please note that this list should not be seen as a self-study aid and candidates may need help from their teacher to interpret some items correctly.

The assessment tasks in Sections 1 and 2 of the Listening and Reading Papers (Papers 1 and 2), Role Plays A (Paper 3) and Section 1 of the Writing Paper will be based on the Minimum Core Vocabulary List. The assessment may contain some unfamiliar vocabulary but this will not be tested.

This list does not attempt to contain all articles, interrogatives, demonstratives, possessives, indefinites and pronouns and should be used in conjunction with the List of Grammar and Structures. Neither does it attempt to contain all derivatives and feminine/plural forms of words listed, nor compound nouns, if they can be formed by joining words listed in their literal meanings. Candidates should, however, be expected to be familiar with these.

In addition, it is expected that candidates will already be familiar with the following:

• Numbers: ordinal, cardinal, fractions (la moitié, le tiers, le quart), une dizaine etc
• Days of the week: lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche
• Months of the year: janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin, juillet, aôut, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre
• Seasons: automne, hiver, printemps, été
• Colours: blanc, bleu, brun, gris, jaune, marron, noir, orange, rose, rouge, vert, violet
• Continents: Afrique, Amérique (Amérique du sud, Amérique du nord, États-Unis d’Amérique), Antarctique, Asie, Australie, Europe (et l’Arctique)
• Measure words: kilogramme, kilo, gramme, kilomètre, mètre (à… mètres) (à… kilomètres de), litre
• Time (including telling the time): heure, minute, seconde, et quart, et demie, moins le quart, midi, minuit
• Points of the compass: nord, est, sud, ouest
• Towns, countries and nationalities
• Candidate’s own nationality + country of residence
• Candidate’s own language(s) + any other language(s) studied
• Candidate’s own religious festivals and special days.

The context for the vocabulary contained in this list is the daily life and pursuits of people living in Francophone regions. In the examination, textual material will either be rooted in Francophone culture or will seek to explore links between other cultures and French-speaking regions.

GENERAL NOTIONS