French B1: Intermediate

At B1 speech stops being a run of separate sentences. An opinion comes with a reason, a story has a beginning and an end, and a misunderstanding can be cleared up without anyone stepping in to help.

Mistakes still happen, but they no longer get in the way of being understood. This is the level at which a language becomes usable at work.

Tenses and if-sentences8

Verbs: modals, subjunctive13

Can, must, want

B1Modals in the past«Must» has no past in English; here it has two.B1Mustn’t and needn’t«mustn’t» and «needn’t» — you already make this distinction.B1Guessing with devoir«must have» puts the past on the wrong verb here.B1Advising and recommending«should» and «you’d better», with the same threat inside.

The subjunctive

B1Subjunctive: the forms«that he be» is the one English survivor — and it is the whole idea.B1When to use the subjunctiveHere the conjunction carries the mood; in English it carries nothing.B1Avoiding the subjunctiveHere the conjunction changes shape, not the verb.

The passive

B1Passive with êtreThe participle agrees — and «he was told» cannot be built.

Verb + infinitive

B1Verb + à + infinitiveThe verbs of starting, learning and managing.B1Verb + de + infinitiveLargely the group English marks with -ing.B1The gérondif: en parlantEnglish -ing does five jobs; en plus -ant does one.B1Verbs that take both à and deThe same verb, two prepositions, two meanings — as with an English particle.B1Adjective + à/de + infinitiveeasy to read and it is easy to read look the same in English and differ here.

Articles, nouns and pronouns9

The nouns

B1Gender that changes meaningOne word, two articles, two different things.B1Compound nounsTwo nouns, with à or de deciding between them.B1Collective nounsCollective nouns take the singular, and gens has no singular.B1Jobs in the feminineFour patterns, and a group that does not move.

The adjectives

B1Degree words: trop, assez, si«enough» moves to the front, and the sentence wants to continue.B1The adjective without its nounNo «one» and no «ones» — and quelque chose wants a de.

The pronouns

B1Order of two pronounsA fixed order, and no ear to check it against.

Prepositions

B1Verbs with prepositions«to» is not de, and often it is nothing at all.B1Adjectives + prepositionYou already learn «proud of»; the lists simply differ.

Spelling, sound and style3

Fine points and style

B1c'est and il est: the borderline casesWhere the basic rule stops helping: verdicts, the time, written style.B1tout and même: all, sameOne word for all, every and whole — and it agrees.B1Spoken French: dropped neThe word that falls away is the negation itself.

Sentence structure5

Joining sentences

B1Relative pronouns: dont, oùThe preposition goes first, and whose comes back with an article.B1Conjunctions: bien que, parce queEnglish lost its subjunctive, so the French list has to be learnt as a list.

Reported speech

B1Reported statementsEnglish that is optional; French que never is.B1Reported questionsOne English what becomes two French words.B1Reported orders and requestsAlmost the English construction — and then demander asks for à.

Word lists at level B1

Lists: 59 · words: 2200

All word lists →

Reading texts at level B1

Sentences from this level’s topics

Il travaille à la poste depuis dix ans.He has worked at the post office for ten years.

Il n’y a plus de papier dans la salle de bains.There is no paper left in the bathroom.

Tout le monde connaît cette chanson.Everyone knows this song.

La nouvelle directrice commence lundi.The new director starts on Monday.

Practise level B1 only