The environment and where people live: Writing
The GCSE writing task for Theme 2, 'The environment and where people live', covers a home town or region, environmental problems and solutions, and how where someone lives affects their life. Examiners test whether a student can describe a home area in the present tense, a past environmental initiative or change in the perfect tense, and future environmental action in the near future or conditional, while giving a justified opinion on an environmental issue, using a subordinate clause, connectives and an impersonal structure such as il faut or on devrait, and keeping verb endings, adjective agreement and accents accurate.
Before you start
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Method
- Underline the exact instruction in each bullet (describe your area, an environmental problem, a past action, a future solution) before planning sentences.
- Assign a tense per bullet: present tense to describe your town or a current problem (il y a, la pollution augmente), perfect tense for a past action or change (la ville a construit, j'ai participé), and near future/conditional for a future solution (on va recycler, il faudrait).
- Give an opinion on an environmental issue with je pense que or à mon avis plus parce que, e.g. 'à mon avis, la pollution de l'air est le problème le plus grave parce qu'elle affecte la santé de tous.'
- Add a subordinate clause with qui, que or où, e.g. 'j'habite dans une ville où il y a beaucoup de circulation.'
- Vary connectives (mais, donc, par contre, de plus, cependant) to link causes and solutions, and vary vocabulary (pollué, propre, durable, respectueux de l'environnement).
- Include an impersonal structure such as il faut plus an infinitive, on devrait plus an infinitive or il est essentiel de plus an infinitive to propose a solution to an environmental problem.
- Check adjective agreement on words describing your town (grand/grande, pollué/polluée), verb endings on regular and irregular verbs, and accents on words like écologique, région and pollué before the final draft.
Worked example
Write about the environment and where you live in French. Mention: what your town or area is like; an environmental problem where you live; something you have done to help the environment; what should be done in the future to protect the environment. Write approximately 40 words.
- Plan: bullet 1 = present tense description with an adjective; bullet 2 = present tense naming a problem; bullet 3 = perfect tense; bullet 4 = impersonal structure with on devrait or il faudrait.
- Build bullet 1: 'J'habite dans une petite ville qui est assez calme mais un peu ennuyeuse.' - present tense, subordinate clause with qui, contrast connective mais.
- Build bullet 2: 'Le problème principal, c'est la pollution causée par les voitures.' - present tense, naming a specific cause.
- Build bullet 3: 'Le mois dernier, j'ai participé à un nettoyage de plage avec mon école.' - perfect tense with avoir.
- Build bullet 4: 'À l'avenir, on devrait investir davantage dans les transports en commun pour réduire la pollution.' - impersonal structure on devrait, purpose clause with pour plus infinitive.
- Check accuracy: qui and que are not confused (qui is the subject of the clause describing the town), participé keeps its accent, and adjective endings (petite, ennuyeuse) agree with the feminine noun ville before the final write-up.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Give the correct feminine form of the adjective 'pollué' to describe 'la rivière'.Show answer
Answer: polluée (une rivière polluée).
Q2Translate into French: 'We should recycle more.'Show answer
Answer: On devrait recycler plus (or davantage).
Q3Fill the gap: 'Il y ___ (avoir) trop de circulation dans ma ville.'Show answer
Answer: a - 'il y a trop de circulation.'
Q4Give one French word for 'the countryside'.Show answer
Answer: la campagne.
Q5Correct the error: 'Il faut proteger l'environnement pour les generations futures.'Show answer
Answer: Il faut protéger l'environnement pour les générations futures - accents were missing on protéger and générations.
Q6Give a connective meaning 'moreover/in addition'.Show answer
Answer: de plus (or en plus).
Q7Write one sentence with an opinion on plastic pollution, using a justification.Show answer
Answer: Je trouve que la pollution plastique est un problème urgent parce qu'elle détruit la vie marine.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Write about your local area and the environment in French. Mention: what your town or village is like; an environmental problem near where you live; something you do to protect the environment; what you think should change in the future. Write approximately 40 words in French.
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Write an article for an environmental campaign website. Mention: a description of the area where you live and what you like or dislike about it; the main environmental problems affecting your area or the world; something you or your school have done recently to help the environment; your opinion on whether individuals or governments are more responsible for solving environmental problems; what you would like to see change in the future. Write approximately 90 words in French.
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See real GCSE French past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
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