· 30 lists · 1225 words

Language and expression

The words for talking about words.

What holds these lists together

The lists for what you need once you stop merely speaking and start talking about speech: the grammar of French in its own terms, the scaffolding of an essay or a rebuttal, the language in which you retell a story or a film. They belong together because they describe one situation — a class, an exam, a conversation about a book — whose words occur in no everyday exchange. Two traps sit right at the start. Une phrase is a whole sentence, and une dissertation is the structured essay every French pupil writes, not a thesis. And where English has one word, «language», French has two: la langue you speak and le langage, a way of speaking.

The 30 lists

B2Talking about languageThe words that describe what you are learning.46 words B2Writing and arguingThe phrases that hold a piece of writing together.28 words B2Telling stories, book and filmThe words for talking about a story.38 words C1Register and toneSaying the same thing formally, neutrally, or in passing.38 words C1A language stay abroadThree weeks in the country, and what they actually do for you.35 words C1Verbs of SayingWho says a thing in what way — and what the chosen verb quietly claims about it.51 words C1Blame and responsibilityPinning it on someone, clearing them, footing the bill — and by what standard.40 words C1Ethics and moralityThe terms in which an argument about right and wrong is actually conducted.47 words C2Light, colour, surfaceWords for what you actually see, rather than bright and shiny.61 words C2SemioticsHow one thing comes to stand for another.23 words C2NarratologyWho is telling this, and how do they know?22 words C2LinguisticsSound, form, change and the argument about what is correct.57 words C2Epigraphy and palaeographyHow to read what stands in stone or on parchment.23 words C2LexicographyHow a dictionary is made, and what it cannot say.31 words C1Idiomatic expressionsImages you have to know — they cannot be worked out.38 words C1Abstract conceptsCause, intention, premise — the words that sit above the things.39 words C2Idioms: position and the next moveWhat you do when things get tight, said in pictures.47 words C2Presenting and dodgingWhat somebody does with a statement instead of merely saying it.46 words C2Second language acquisitionHow a second language actually gets in.32 words C2Noises and voicesWords for what is actually heard, instead of saying that something made a noise.46 words C2Translating and interpretingThe words for what gets decided between two languages.44 words C2Smell and tasteWords for two senses that have to make do with about five in daily life.40 words C2Adjectives of evidential forceFrom watertight to far-fetched.47 words C2Weighing up and qualifyingThe phrases that sit between the sentences, not inside them.36 words C2Inferences and fallaciesValid, sound, refuted — and the names of the missteps.59 words C2PhilosophyGrounding, distinguishing, refuting — the craft itself.40 words C2Testing a claimThe phrases that weigh a statement instead of repeating it.45 words C2Rhetoric and figuresThe names for what a sentence does to the person reading it.41 words C2Game theoryMoves, payoffs and equilibria: deciding against people who think back.43 words C2Philosophy of scienceHypothesis, testability, explanation — what makes a claim scientific.42 words

Spread across the levels

The category runs across the levels — it is an area, not a difficulty. If you practise it, you can also choose a level at the top of the practice page and then get only the part that sits there.

Level	Words	Share
B1	13	1 %
B2	117	10 %
C1	244	20 %
C2	851	69 %

Practise this category

Multiple choice and gaps, across all 30 lists and all 1225 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.