Everyday Customs and Traditions in the French-Speaking World
Vocabulary for everyday customs and traditions in the French-speaking world covers nouns such as une coutume (a custom), une tradition, les bonnes manières (good manners) and le savoir-vivre (etiquette); greeting customs including se faire la bise (to kiss on the cheek in greeting) and se serrer la main (to shake hands); and mealtime vocabulary such as un repas en famille, se mettre a table and une entrée, a false friend meaning a starter course rather than an entrance. Examiners test whether candidates can describe social customs accurately and explain how they differ from customs in the UK.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn the core noun set with gender: une coutume (feminine), une tradition (feminine), les bonnes manières (feminine plural), le savoir-vivre (masculine, a fixed compound meaning good manners/etiquette).
- Learn the greeting customs with their reflexive verbs: se faire la bise (to kiss on the cheek, common between friends and family in France) and se serrer la main (to shake hands, more formal or between people who do not know each other well).
- Learn the false friend une entrée: on a French menu it means a starter course, not the entrance to a building, which is une entrée in the building sense too - the meaning depends entirely on context, so a text about a meal will use the food sense.
- Learn mealtime vocabulary: un repas en famille, se mettre à table (to sit down to eat), à table! (an interjection meaning 'dinner's ready!'), un plat typique (a typical/traditional dish).
- Learn the verb respecter les coutumes (to respect customs) and pair it with a comparison structure, e.g. en France, on respecte davantage... que au Royaume-Uni, to build cross-cultural comparison sentences.
- Practise describing a custom in three parts: what happens, when it happens, and why it matters, so an answer reads as an explanation rather than a bare fact.
- When reading or listening, watch for a speaker contrasting French customs with those of another country using par rapport à (in relation to/compared with) - this signals the comparison the question is testing.
Worked example
Translate into French: 'In France, it is a tradition to kiss people on the cheek when you greet them, whereas in England, we usually shake hands.'
- Translate the opening location and impersonal structure: en France, c'est une tradition de...
- Translate 'to kiss people on the cheek when you greet them' using the reflexive idiom: se faire la bise quand on salue quelqu'un.
- Translate the contrast marker 'whereas' with alors que or tandis que.
- Translate the English custom with the correct reflexive verb: en Angleterre, on se serre généralement la main.
- Combine into one sentence: 'En France, c'est une tradition de se faire la bise quand on salue quelqu'un, alors qu'en Angleterre, on se serre généralement la main.'
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1What does une entrée mean on a French menu, and what does it NOT mean here?Show answer
Answer: It means a starter course; it does not mean an entrance/entry, even though the word looks the same.
Q2Translate into English: 'Chez nous, on se fait toujours la bise pour dire bonjour.'Show answer
Answer: At our house, we always kiss on the cheek to say hello.
Q3Give the French for 'good manners.'Show answer
Answer: les bonnes manières
Q4Translate into French: 'We sit down to eat at eight o'clock every evening.'Show answer
Answer: On se met à table à huit heures tous les soirs.
Q5What is le savoir-vivre, and what is its gender?Show answer
Answer: Etiquette/good manners/social know-how - masculine (le savoir-vivre).
Q6Give one French verb meaning 'to shake hands.'Show answer
Answer: se serrer la main
Q7Correct the error: 'Nous sommes arrivés dix minutes en avance devant l'entrée du restaurant pour commander notre plat préféré.' (identify which word is ambiguous and clarify it means the building entrance here, not a starter)Show answer
Answer: This use of entrée correctly means the entrance to the restaurant, since the context (arriving outside) makes clear it is not the food sense; no correction is needed, but a reading text about the meal itself would use entrée to mean starter.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Lisez ce texte, puis répondez aux questions en anglais. 'Quand on rend visite à une famille française, il est poli d'apporter un petit cadeau, comme des fleurs ou une boite de chocolats. Au repas, on attend que tout le monde soit servi avant de commencer à manger, et on garde les mains sur la table, pas sur les genoux. Par rapport aux États-Unis, où les repas sont souvent plus rapides, un repas en famille en France peut durer deux heures ou plus.' (a) What is it polite to bring when visiting a French family? Give two examples. (2 marks) (b) According to the text, what should you wait for before eating, and where should your hands be? (2 marks) (c) How does a French family meal compare to a meal in the United States? (2 marks)
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 6 available
Translate this passage into English: 'Le dimanche, il est encore courant que toute la famille se réunisse pour un grand repas, avec plusieurs plats typiques de la région. C'est l'occasion de respecter une vieille coutume et de passer du temps ensemble.'
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 7 available
See real GCSE French past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the everyday customs and traditions in the french-speaking world worksheet pack - 7 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
Next topics
Not quite what you needed?
Tell us what is missing on everyday customs and traditions in the french-speaking world, or which topic to write up next. Every request is read, and we reply to every one.
Build a full practice pack.
This topic is one of hundreds in the library - pick the ones a student needs and generate a printable PDF in minutes.