This exam tips covers Exam Tips & Common Errors within Trap words: mais, finalement and negation flips for GCSE French. Revise Trap words: mais, finalement and negation flips in Listening Traps 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 listening paper, questions are in the order of the recording — read the options before the audio starts.
- Circle or underline negative particles in the question stem so you remember to listen for them.
- If a speaker hesitates or says enfin / c'est-à-dire, a correction or clarification is coming — do not choose yet.
- Vocabulary confusion pairs are most dangerous in photo-description questions: elle regarde ≠ elle voit.
- For time-frame traps: identify the tense of the verb before choosing — present, past or future?
❌ Common error: Hearing "je ne veux plus aller au club" and ticking option A: "She wants to go to the club."
✓ Correct: Ne…plus = no longer. The correct answer is "She no longer wants to go to the club."
Why it costs marks: This is an AO2 (understanding) mark. Selecting the positive interpretation when the negative is explicit shows the examiner that the student did not decode the listening text accurately. It is one of the most common single-mark losses on AQA Paper 1.
Practice questions for Trap words: mais, finalement and negation flips
What does 'sauf' mean in French?
What does 'actuellement' mean in French?