Helping your child edit their French assignments

An editing checklist makes it much easier to spot mistakes. As your child makes their way through the list, they get to read over their work and apply the concepts they’ve learned in class.

Reading a text out loud is ideal for detecting the following issues:

• Missing words
• Lack of clarity
• Long-winded sentences
• Incorrect syntax

Syntax refers to the rules of sentence construction. In basic sentences, the elements below should be verified:

• Sentence structure
• Construction of phrases
• Syntactic function of phrases

Punctuation is crucial. It shapes the tone and meaning of a text. As illustrated below, the choice of punctuation can change the entire meaning of a sentence:

• Tu n’aimes pas les fleurs = making a statement
• Tu n’aimes pas les fleurs? = asking a question

Your child should always have a dictionary or vocabulary list on hand when editing an assignment. If your child is unsure of a word’s spelling, it’s important that they look it up right away. The more they see the same word, the easier it’ll be for them to remember how it’s spelled.

Homophones are words that share the same pronunciation but are spelled differently and have different meanings.

• A/à
• Ce/se
• Ces/ses/c’est/s’est/sait/sais
• Bientôt/bien tôt
• Etc.

Infinitive er verbs are often confused with past participles ending in é. Here’s a great trick that’ll help your child spell these homophones correctly every time:

• If the verb can be replaced by mordre (to bite) and still be grammatically correct, it should end in er
• If the verb can be replaced by mordu (bitten) and still be grammatically correct, it should end in é
• Example: Elle a écouté (mordu) son enseignant parler (mordre).

Start by identifying all adjectives and determiners, and then check for agreement.

Adjectives are used to categorize and describe.

• They must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify (e.g., La jolie robe de Julie).
• Examples: jolie, petit, international, secondaire, rouge, etc.

Determiners are used to introduce nouns.

• They must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify (e.g., La jolie robe de Julie).
• Examples: la, mon, tes, sa, une, deux, aucun, cette, etc.

To determine the subject of a sentence, turn the sentence into a question by placing Qu’est-ce qui (what) or Qui est-ce qui (who) in front of the verb.

• Sentence: Le petit Louis joue dans la cour d’école.
• Question: Qui est-ce qui joue dans la cour d’école?
• Answer: Louis.
• Result: The verb should be in the third-person singular.