GCSE French Vocabulary: Free-Time Activities

The reformed GCSE French is built on a defined vocabulary list: the DfE subject content requires about 1,200 words and phrases for Foundation tier and a further 500 for Higher tier, most of them chosen for their frequency in modern French, and every reading, listening and writing task is written from that list. Each exam board publishes its own list; the words here are taken from AQA's list, the most widely taught, and most of them are high-frequency words found on other boards' lists as well. This material works on the words of one topic: free-time activities — hobbies, reading, music and bands, sport and matches, tickets and outings, shopping, TV programmes and interests, including some false friends such as la lecture and les courses.

The quiz has twelve questions. Each shows a short French sentence with one word or phrase in capitals, and you choose its English meaning from four options. The sentences give context, so you practise the skill the reading paper also tests: working out meaning from the rest of the sentence. The words tested are le passe-temps, la lecture, le billet, gagner, passionnant, faire les courses, le groupe, s'intéresser à, l'émission, and three Higher words: dessiner, annuler and profiter de. Words marked Higher tier are on the Higher list only. The explanation of each question gives the meaning, related forms and, where useful, the word that is often confused with it.

The flashcards give eighteen words and phrases with their English meanings: le passe-temps, la lecture and le roman, le billet, l'équipe and le match, gagner and perdre, passionnant and ennuyeux, faire les courses, le groupe, la chanson and le chanteur, s'intéresser à, l'émission, la natation, jouer au and jouer de, la piscine and le stade, le musée and le théâtre, la promenade, plus Higher words.

The written work has eight tasks to complete on paper: translating sentences both ways, a gap-fill text about a concert, a short reading text about a teenager's hobbies with questions in English, choosing jouer au, jouer de, faire du or faire de la, a 50-word paragraph about your free time, working out derived words (chanteur, joueur, participation, rapidement), and explaining three false friends. Each task comes with a model answer and marking points.

All sentences and texts are original and use high-frequency vocabulary; nothing is taken from any exam paper. Use the flashcards first, then the quiz to test yourself in context, then the written tasks to use the words actively.

• Understand and use key words for hobbies, music, sport and outings
• Use jouer au / jouer de and faire du / faire de la correctly
• Avoid the false friends lecture, billet and course
• Work out the meaning of a word from its sentence context
• Recognise derived forms such as chanteur and rapidement

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the DfE GCSE subject content for French, German and Spanish (September 2025 version: vocabulary requirements) and the AQA GCSE French (8652) vocabulary list (topic: Free-time activities).