Identity and relationships with others: Reading comprehension (Set 2)
Foundation-tier reading practice for identity and relationships with others introduces the core reading skills needed for the theme: recognising family and friendship vocabulary, matching adjective endings to the person they describe, and spotting a single ne...pas or ne...jamais that reverses a sentence's meaning. Texts are short, first-person descriptions of family members and friends, and questions are mostly straightforward multiple choice and true/false items rather than multi-clause connectives, building the technique needed before tackling longer, more complex identity texts.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Read the introduction line to find out who is speaking and how many people are in the family or friendship group being described.
- Underline every family or relationship noun (frère, soeur, beau-père, demi-soeur, meilleur ami/amie) and note whether it is masculine or feminine.
- For each adjective describing a person, check its ending to work out who it describes: an 'e' ending is usually feminine, so bavarde must describe a girl or woman even if her name is not repeated in that sentence.
- Watch for ne...pas / ne...jamais around the verb - a single pas flips a whole sentence from positive to negative, and foundation questions often hinge on spotting it.
- For multiple-choice questions, cross out any option that reuses a word from the passage but attaches it to the wrong person or detail.
- Check the tense of avoir and être: j'ai/il a (present) gives an ongoing fact such as age, while je suis/il est gives a description - do not assume either is describing the past.
Worked example
Read this line and choose the correct answer: 'Mon frère Hugo n'est pas bavard, mais ma soeur Léna est très bavarde.' Qui est bavard/bavarde ? (a) Hugo (b) Léna (c) les deux (d) ni l'un ni l'autre
- Find the negative around Hugo: n'est pas bavard means Hugo is NOT talkative, so option (a) is wrong.
- Find the adjective describing Léna: bavarde, with a feminine ending, describing Léna directly, with no negative in front of her clause.
- Because Hugo is excluded by the negative and Léna is confirmed as talkative, 'les deux' (both) cannot be correct either.
- The correct answer is (b) Léna.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1What does 'Mon beau-père s'appelle Marc' tell you about Marc?Show answer
Answer: He is the speaker's stepfather and his name is Marc.
Q2In 'Elle n'a pas de frères', does the speaker have any brothers?Show answer
Answer: No - the negative ne...pas de means she has no brothers at all.
Q3Which part of the word 'généreuse' tells you it describes a female?Show answer
Answer: The final -e ending shows the adjective is in the feminine form, so it describes a girl or woman.
Q4True or false: 'Nous nous entendons bien' means the people mentioned argue a lot.Show answer
Answer: False - s'entendre bien means to get on well, the opposite of arguing.
Q5Translate: 'J'ai deux demi-soeurs et un demi-frère.'Show answer
Answer: I have two half-sisters/stepsisters and one half-brother/stepbrother.
Q6Spot the error: 'Ma mère est très patient.'Show answer
Answer: The adjective needs the feminine ending to agree with mère: it should read patiente.
Q7In 'Mon oncle est célibataire', is the uncle married?Show answer
Answer: No - célibataire means single/unmarried.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Lis le texte et réponds aux questions. Je m'appelle Camille et j'ai treize ans. Dans ma famille, nous sommes cinq. Mon père s'appelle Denis ; il est grand et assez calme. Ma mère, Isabelle, est très active et elle adore le sport. J'ai un frère, Théo, qui a dix ans. Il n'est pas timide du tout, il est même très bavard ! Ma petite soeur, Anaïs, a sept ans et elle est adorable, mais parfois un peu difficile. Nous n'avons pas d'animaux à la maison, mais j'aimerais bien avoir un chat un jour. (a) How many people are there in Camille's family? (b) What is Théo's personality like, according to the text? (c) True or false: the family has a cat. (d) How old is Anaïs? (e) Give one word used to describe Camille's mother.
Show mark scheme
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Lis le texte et réponds aux questions. Ma meilleure amie s'appelle Salomé. Nous nous connaissons depuis l'école primaire et nous nous entendons vraiment bien. Salomé est très drôle et généreuse ; elle n'est jamais méchante avec personne. Elle a un frère jumeau, Nathan, qui est complètement différent d'elle : il est plutôt timide et calme. Le week-end, Salomé et moi aimons faire du shopping ensemble, mais nous ne regardons jamais les mêmes séries à la télévision, parce qu'elle préfère les comédies et moi, j'adore les films d'horreur. Ses parents sont très sympas aussi, et ils m'invitent souvent à dîner chez eux. (a) How long have the writer and Salomé known each other? (b) Give two adjectives used to describe Salomé. (c) True, false or not mentioned: Salomé's brother is very talkative. (d) What is one difference between the writer and Salomé mentioned in the text? (e) According to the text, how do Salomé's parents treat the writer?
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 5 available
See real GCSE French past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the identity and relationships with others: reading comprehension (set 2) worksheet pack - 6 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.
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