AQA
AQA reading combines comprehension questions in English with translation into English. Practise precise details, plausible meanings from context and complete translations, not just recognisable keywords.
Official AQA French specification (PDF)GCSE · French · reading
For Years 9–11 · Learn, try, checkGCSE French Reading: Find the Evidence
Scan for evidence, separate intentions from outcomes and try an original passage with explained answers.
Scan first. Translate only when it helps.
Read the questions before the passage. Circle the kind of information each needs: a person, a place, a reason, a date or an attitude. Skim for the topic, then scan for the evidence for one question at a time.
- Identify who is speaking and who each pronoun refers to.
- Locate the relevant sentence, then read just before and after it.
- Notice whether the question is about the past, the present or a plan.
- Answer with the requested detail, not everything you can translate.
A familiar keyword is a signpost, not automatically the answer. The sentence may reject that option or describe another person.
Small words change the whole answer
Ne…pas rejects an idea; ne…plus means no longer; ne…jamais means never. D’habitude indicates a routine, hier a past event and demain a future context.
Je voulais aller à la piscine, mais finalement je suis resté à la maison.
The pool was the intention; staying home was the outcome. Inference must fit the text: you can infer the plan changed, but not why unless a reason is given.
Cognates such as important can help, but actuellement means currently, not actually. Une librairie is a bookshop, not a library.
Read a short original passage
Original practice · not an exam paper
A different Saturday
D’habitude, Léa retrouve ses amis au centre commercial le samedi. La semaine dernière, elle n’y est pas allée : elle a aidé son frère à réparer son vélo. Elle pensait que ce serait ennuyeux, mais elle a beaucoup aimé cette activité. Samedi prochain, ils iront au parc ensemble s’il fait beau. Léa ne veut plus passer tout son week-end dans les magasins.
- Where does Léa usually meet her friends?
- Why did she not go there last week?
- How did her actual opinion differ from her expectation?
- What condition affects next Saturday’s plan?
- Translate: Léa ne veut plus passer tout son week-end dans les magasins.
Try the questions before opening the answers. Underline evidence in the passage rather than guessing from your own experience.
Reveal answers and explanations
- At the shopping centre: D’habitude identifies the routine.
- She helped her brother repair his bike: the clause after the colon explains the change.
- She expected it to be boring but enjoyed it: pensait and mais separate expectation from experience.
- Good weather: s’il fait beau introduces the condition, not a confirmed forecast.
- Léa no longer wants to spend her whole weekend in the shops. Ne…plus means no longer, not never.
Work around an unfamiliar word
First decide its job. Is it a thing, an action or a description? Use articles, endings and the surrounding sentence. A contrast may tell you whether a description is positive or negative even if you cannot translate it exactly.
Original practice · not an exam paper
Use context, not a dictionary
Le trajet était pénible : le bus était plein et il faisait très chaud.
Does the unknown description of the journey suggest comfort or difficulty? Which two details support your choice?
Reveal answers and explanations
Difficulty: the bus was full and it was very hot. French pénible means difficult / unpleasant; Spanish agotador means exhausting. The context supports a negative meaning, not an exact guessed translation of every word.
Translate the meaning, including the small words
For translation into English, identify the subject and verb before writing. Keep the tense, negative, comparison and time marker. Then make the English natural without adding information.
Nous n’allons plus au cinéma parce que les billets sont trop chers.
Check the translation
We no longer go to the cinema because the tickets are too expensive. “No longer” and “too” are essential; omitting them changes the meaning.
Common traps: translating word by word, losing a negative, turning a past habit into a one-off event and leaving out a clause.
Check the assessment for your board
Confirm your board and tier with your teacher. These are original learning resources, not official papers or a grade prediction.
Pearson Edexcel GCSE
Pearson Edexcel GCSE reading has comprehension questions and responses in English, followed by translation into English. Question types include multiple-choice, multiple-response and short answers. Read how many options or details are needed.
Pearson Edexcel GCSE French speaking guide
Official Pearson Edexcel GCSE French specification (PDF)GCSE guidance uses the specifications first taught in September 2024, first examined in 2026. Older GCSE task formats are not interchangeable with these.
Carry the skill into your next answer
Move between understanding language and using it. Pick a related resource rather than starting another long checklist.
Ready to say it aloud?
The website supports broad revision. The ScoreMySpeech app stays specialist: French and Spanish speaking practice with feedback, not full reading, listening or writing assessment.