This exam tips covers Exam Tips & Common Errors within Question words: où, quand, combien, qui, quel for GCSE French. Revise Question words: où, quand, combien, qui, quel in Question Words and Role-Play Formulas for GCSE French with 15 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. 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
- In the AQA role-play, questions always use tu — the examiner is playing a character speaking to you informally.
- Listen for the question word in the first second of the examiner's question — it tells you the category of answer before you hear the rest.
- If you hear pourquoi, reach immediately for parce que to start your answer.
- Qu'est-ce que is a single unit — do not split or rearrange it.
- For depuis quand, the answer verb is in the present tense, not the perfect: j'apprends, not j'ai appris.
❌ Common error: Je vais ou tu veux aller? (confusing ou / où)
✓ Correct: Je vais où tu veux aller? — or more naturally: Où veux-tu aller?
Why it costs marks: ou (without accent) means or; où (with accent) means where. The accent changes the meaning entirely. In writing tasks, a missing accent on où can confuse meaning and costs AO3 accuracy marks.
Practice questions for Question words: où, quand, combien, qui, quel
What does 'où' mean in English?
What is the key difference between 'ou' and 'où' in French?