Healthy living and lifestyle: Translation into English
Translation into English, applied to the healthy living and lifestyle theme, is the skill of translating French sentences about diet, exercise and daily routine into fluent, natural English rather than a literal gloss. In this theme it means correctly converting reflexive daily-routine verbs into natural English without a reflexive object (se lever = to get up, not to get oneself up), modal + infinitive structures (il faut, devoir), and idioms such as avoir mal à and venir de + infinitive, always checking the finished English sentence reads as something a native English speaker would actually write.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Read the whole French sentence (or every sentence in a passage) before translating anything, so a later clause does not force you to go back and rewrite an earlier line.
- Identify the tense and person of each French verb (present, perfect with avoir/être, imperfect) using time markers such as tous les jours, hier soir, depuis, and decide the matching English tense before writing.
- Convert reflexive daily-routine verbs into natural English without a literal reflexive object: se lever = to get up, se coucher = to go to bed, se détendre = to relax, se doucher = to have a shower - never 'to lift oneself' or 'to relax oneself'.
- Convert modal + infinitive structures into natural English modals: il faut + infinitive = you need to/it is necessary to, devrait + infinitive = should, doit + infinitive = has to/must.
- Translate idioms by meaning, not word for word: avoir mal à + [body part] = to have a [body part]-ache/for something to hurt, venir de + infinitive = to have just done something, avoir faim/soif = to be hungry/thirsty.
- Write a full draft in English, matching the meaning and register of the French, not its word order.
- Read the finished English sentence back and check it sounds like something a native English speaker would actually say, not a French sentence with English words substituted in.
Worked example
Translate into English: Pour rester en bonne santé, il faut se coucher tôt, mais hier soir je me suis couché très tard parce que j'avais mal à la tête et je viens de prendre un comprimé.
- Chunk the sentence: 'Pour rester en bonne santé, il faut se coucher tôt' / 'mais hier soir je me suis couché très tard' / 'parce que j'avais mal à la tête' / 'et je viens de prendre un comprimé'.
- 'il faut se coucher tôt' is an impersonal obligation, translated naturally as 'you need to go to bed early', not 'it is necessary to lie oneself down early'.
- 'je me suis couché très tard' is the reflexive se coucher in the perfect tense, giving natural English 'I went to bed very late', not 'I laid myself down'.
- 'j'avais mal à la tête' is the idiom avoir mal à in the imperfect, giving 'I had a headache', not a literal 'I had bad at the head'.
- 'je viens de prendre un comprimé' is venir de + infinitive, giving 'I have just taken a tablet', not 'I come from taking a tablet'.
- Full translation: To stay healthy, you need to go to bed early, but last night I went to bed very late because I had a headache and I have just taken a tablet.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1Translate into English: Je me lève à sept heures tous les matins.Show answer
Answer: I get up at seven o'clock every morning.
Q2Translate into English: Il faut boire beaucoup d'eau pendant l'exercice.Show answer
Answer: You need to drink lots of water during exercise.
Q3Translate into English: Elle vient de finir son entraînement de natation.Show answer
Answer: She has just finished her swimming training.
Q4Translate into English: Mon frère a mal au dos depuis qu'il fait de la musculation.Show answer
Answer: My brother has had a bad back since he started weight training.
Q5Translate into English: On devrait manger moins de plats préparés et plus de fruits.Show answer
Answer: We/One should eat fewer ready meals and more fruit.
Q6Translate into English: Je me détends en général en lisant avant de me coucher.Show answer
Answer: I generally relax by reading before going to bed.
Q7Translate into English: Elle ne mange plus de viande depuis deux ans.Show answer
Answer: She has not eaten meat for two years.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Translate this passage into English: Pour être en forme, il faut faire de l'exercice régulièrement et bien dormir. D'habitude, je me lève à six heures et demie et je fais un peu de jogging avant l'école. Le week-end dernier, je me suis couché très tard parce que j'étais avec des amis, et le lendemain matin j'avais mal à la tête et j'étais très fatigué. Je viens de décider de mieux organiser mon emploi du temps.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 8 available
Translate this passage into English: Beaucoup de jeunes ne mangent pas assez équilibré, et cela m'inquiète un peu. Personnellement, j'essaie de manger cinq fruits et légumes par jour et je ne bois jamais de boissons gazeuses. Ma grand-mère vient de me donner un conseil: il faut toujours prendre le temps de bien manger, même quand on est pressé.
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 healthy living and lifestyle: translation into english worksheet pack - 3 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 healthy living and lifestyle: translation into english, 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.