GRADE 8 french – Reading for Fluency Quiz
1. Which is the correct French phrase for "at 5 o'clock"?
Use à with a specific clock time: «à cinq heures» = at five o'clock. «Dans cinq heures» means in five hours (after five hours).
2. Which single word is the correct French for "midday"?
«Midi» means midday (12:00). «Minuit» is midnight, «matin» is morning; «midiée» is not correct.
3. How do you say 7:30 in spoken French?
For half past an hour use «et demie» after the hour: «Il est sept heures et demie.» («dix-neuf heures trente» is 19:30, 7:30 pm in 24-hour format.)
4. Which preposition is correct for saying "in January" in French?
Use en with months: «en janvier». «Au mois de janvier» is also possible, but «à janvier» and «dans janvier» are incorrect.
5. Which French sentence means "I will arrive in ten minutes" (i.e., after ten minutes)?
Use «dans» to indicate a future point after a delay: «J'arriverai dans dix minutes.» («J'arrive dans dix minutes» is present used for near future but the future tense requested is «j'arriverai».)
6. Which sentence correctly expresses an action that started in the past and continues now?
Use depuis plus a starting point to say an action began in the past and continues: «J'apprends... depuis 2019.»
7. How do you say "quarter to nine" in French?
To say 15 minutes before the hour use «moins le quart»: «Il est neuf heures moins le quart» = 8:45.
8. Which is the grammatically correct way to say 12:30?
«Midi» is masculine, so the adjective «demi» is invariable here: «midi et demi». (After «heure» you say «et demie» because «heure» is feminine.)
9. Which French word means "yesterday"?
«Hier» = yesterday. «Demain» = tomorrow, «aujourd'hui» = today, «maintenant» = now.
10. How do you say "I was born in May" in French (correct preposition)?
Use en with months to say when someone was born: «Je suis né en mai.» (For a female speaker: «Je suis née en mai.»)
11. Which sentence means "I will come in three days" (i.e., after three days)?
«Dans» + time = after that amount of time. «En trois jours» means within three days (duration to complete something).
12. How do you say "from Monday to Friday" in French?
Use the contracté forms: «du ... au ...» for ranges of days: «du lundi au vendredi.»
13. Which sentence best expresses an ongoing action in the past: "Yesterday at 5pm I was watching TV"?
Use the imparfait for an ongoing past action: «je regardais» describes what was happening at that time.
14. Which expression is the standard French for "three days ago"?
«Il y a trois jours» means 'three days ago'. «Depuis trois jours» would mean 'for three days' (and usually continuing).
15. How do you write 18:00 correctly in French (24-hour clock)?
Correct 24-hour clock form: «dix-huit heures». Note the plural «heures» and no extra s on «dix-huit».
16. Which phrase is the correct French for "last week"?
For time expressions place the adjective after the noun: «la semaine dernière» = last week. Other forms are incorrect or change meaning.
17. Which is the usual order to say "next Monday" in French?
Place prochain after the day: «lundi prochain» = next Monday. «Pour lundi prochain» can be used in scheduling but the standard name is «lundi prochain».
18. Which sentence is the correct French for "After finishing my homework, I went to bed"?
Use «après + infinitive perfect» to express 'after doing something': «Après avoir fini..., je suis allé...» is grammatically correct.
19. How do you say "I studied for two hours" (duration) in correct French?
Use pendant to express a completed duration: «pendant deux heures.» «Depuis» would imply the action is still ongoing.
20. Which is the correct way to say "I eat at noon"?
Use à for a specific time of day: «à midi» = at noon. The others are incorrect prepositions.
21. Which preposition indicates an approximate time, as in "around 3 o'clock"?
Use vers to indicate approximation: «vers trois heures» = around three o'clock. «À trois heures pile» means exactly at three.
22. Which is the correct French for "for three months" when giving a duration (not a start date)?
Use pendant to state a duration (how long): «pendant trois mois.» «Depuis trois mois» implies the action started three months ago and continues.
23. How do you say 8:50 using the "moins" construction?
When expressing minutes before the next hour use «moins»: 8:50 = «neuf heures moins dix» (ten minutes to nine).
24. Which is the correct written French for "every day"?
The correct plural expression is «tous les jours». «Tous» agrees with «jours» and the article is «les».
25. Which is the correct way to say "I studied the whole morning" in French?
Use «toute la matinée» because «matinée» is feminine: «toute» agrees with «la matinée.»