This exam tips covers Exam Tips & Common Errors within Higher vocabulary: people and lifestyle for GCSE French. Revise Higher vocabulary: people and lifestyle in Theme 1: People and Lifestyle for GCSE French with 15 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic appears regularly enough that it should still be part of a steady revision cycle. 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
- One correctly used bien que + subjonctif in a Higher writing task can lift you from Band 3 to Band 4 for AO3.
- Don't overuse subjunctive — one or two well-placed uses are worth more than multiple attempts where you get the form wrong.
- In reading, when you see bien que, quoique, à condition que — expect a subjunctive after it. Use this to parse the sentence structure.
- Higher vocabulary words like le bien-être, la dépendance, les inégalités also appear in reading and listening texts — recognising them passively is as important as producing them.
❌ Common error: Bien que je suis stressé, je continue à travailler.
✓ Correct: Bien que je sois stressé, je continue à travailler.
Why it costs marks: Bien que always triggers the subjunctive. Using the indicative (suis) after bien que is one of the most penalised Higher-tier errors because it shows the student has attempted but incorrectly applied a complex structure. The subjunctive form of être in the je form is sois — memorise it.
Practice questions for Higher vocabulary: people and lifestyle
What does the French noun 'le bien-être' mean in English?
Which sentence correctly uses 'être au chômage'?