This exam tips covers Exam Tips & Common Errors within The environment and where people live for GCSE French. Revise The environment and where people live in Theme 3: Communication and the World Around Us for GCSE French with 15 exam-style questions and 16 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 4 of 4 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
💡 Exam Tips & Common Errors
- For speaking tasks on where you live, don't stop at "il y a…" — add an opinion: Ce que j'aime le plus, c'est… / Ce qui me dérange, c'est que…
- Environment questions often ask what individuals can do — have 3 personal actions ready with reasons: recycler, prendre les transports en commun, éviter les plastiques.
- Use on devrait / il faudrait + infinitive to recommend actions — this shifts from personal to societal level and shows wider thinking.
- Remember that adjectives like pollué, desservi, animé must agree with the noun: une ville polluée, une zone bien desservie.
- Don't confuse les déchets (rubbish/waste — what you throw away) with le gaspillage (wastefulness — the act of wasting resources).
❌ Common error: le changement du climat.
✓ Correct: le changement climatique.
Why it costs marks: AQA papers use the fixed compound noun le changement climatique (climate change), not the possessive construction le changement du climat. The adjectival form climatique is the standard register for exam writing. Using the wrong construction marks you as unfamiliar with the field's vocabulary, which affects AO2 lexical range.
❌ Common error: Je vis dans banlieue.
✓ Correct: J'habite en banlieue. (no article)
Why it costs marks: Like en ville and en France, en banlieue takes no article. Adding dans la banlieue is not wrong but implies a specific suburb rather than the suburbs generally. Using dans banlieue without an article is a grammar error that costs AO2 marks.
Practice questions for The environment and where people live
What does 'la campagne' mean in English?
Lena says: 'J'habite en banlieue.' Where does Lena live?