How to get full marks on the translation task French to English at GCSE

In the reading paper, you have to translate a short passage from French to English. In the AQA paper, the question is out of 9 marks and in the Edexcel paper, the question is out of 7 marks.

  In this post, you are going to find about the skills assessed in this task and get the maximum mark for this task.

1. Know your vocabulary including false friends

It is really important that you dedicate time every week to learning new vocabulary and revise topics regularly. 

You can expect to see "false friends" in the translation task. These are words that look like an English word but have a different meaning. 

Example : "attendre" means "to wait" and not " to attend", "un car" means " a coach" not "a car"


2. Understand the difference between JE, ON, NOUS, IL , ELLE , ILS

Look the full passage first and identify who speaks (JE, ON, NOUS) and read carefully if there is a change of pronoun, where the passage suddenly talks about someone else (IL, ELLE, THEY).

Je = I    

On = we

Nous= we

Il = he 

Elle = she

Ils = they

Example : J'adore faire du shopping avec ma mère. Elle est toujours généreuse et elle me donne de l'argent de poche.


3. Understand the difference MON/ MA/ MES and SON/ SA/ SES

These are possessive articles. This links back to the previous point. If you have notice a challenge of subject (from JE to ELLE), make sure the possessive article agree.

MON/ MA/ MES = MY

SON/ SA / SES = HIS or HER

Example:  Le week-end dernier, c'était l'anniversaire de mon frère. Ses amis ont organisé une fête pour lui.


4. Understand how verbs are formed in various tenses

The passage to translate will have verbs in different tenses and you will be expected to show that you have recognised them and translated them accurately.

Example: 

Je vais = I go

Je suis allé(e) = I went

Je vais aller = I am going to go

J'irai = I will go

On va = we go

On est allé = We went

On va aller = we are going to go

On ira = We will go


5. Understand time phrases

In the short passage, time phrases will be very useful to identify the change of time frame and also get your tenses right in the translation.


Example :

d’habitude - usually
maintenant - now
quelquefois / parfois  - sometimes
le week-end dernier - last weekend
 hier - yesterday
demain - tomorrow
l’année prochaine - next year
dans l’avenir - in the future

Example: 

Foundation

Je déteste mon nouveau professeur de maths. Hier, je n’ai pas compris ses instructions alors il était fâché avec moi. Après l’école, je suis allé au centre sportif où j’ai fait de la natation. Samedi prochain, mon père va avoir quarante-deux ans.

I hate my Maths teacher. Yesterday, I did not undertand his instructions so he was crossed/ angry with me. After school, I went to the sports centre where I went swimming. Next Saturday, my dad is going to be forty-two years old.


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