Translation into English
French sentences into natural English, keeping every tense, person and negative.
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Translation into English, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know how the translation into English is set
It is Section B of the reading paper with both boards, worth 10 marks: at least 35 words of French at Foundation and 50 at Higher with AQA, and five short sentences at Foundation or a short passage at Higher with Edexcel. Translation here means giving the meaning fully and appropriately, so the marks go on carrying every part of it across in clear, natural English.
Translate the meaning, not word by word
French and English put words together differently. J'ai quinze ans is I am fifteen, not I have fifteen years; j'aime la musique is I like music; une maison blanche is a white house; le samedi is on Saturdays. Read the whole sentence, understand it, then write what an English speaker would say.
Keep every tense and every person
The verb tells you who and when. The perfect j'ai joué is I played or I have played, nous sommes allés is we went, je jouais is I used to play or I was playing, and je vais voir is I am going to see. On can mean we, you or people, so choose what reads naturally.
Account for every word, including the small ones
Small words carry meaning: très, aussi, toujours, beaucoup, tous les jours. Missing ne ... pas or ne ... jamais reverses a sentence, and son can be his or her, so let the context decide. Tick off each French word as you translate it.
Learn the phrases that cannot be translated literally
Some phrases work as whole units: il fait beau is the weather is nice, j'ai faim is I am hungry and il faut is you have to. At Higher, je viens d'arriver is I have just arrived and j'habite ici depuis deux ans is I have lived here for two years.
Use the context for a word you are unsure of
If one word is unfamiliar, translate everything around it and let the sentence suggest what it means. A sensible word that fits keeps the meaning of the sentence; a gap or a nonsense phrase loses it.
Read your English back as a whole
When you finish, read your translation as if you had never seen the French. Fix anything that is not natural English (word order, a missing word, an odd phrase) and check that every sentence keeps its tense.
Translation into English key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Translation
- Putting the meaning of a text into another language. At GCSE it means giving the meaning fully and appropriately, not a word-for-word copy.
- Rendering
- How you express the meaning in the other language. A good rendering keeps every detail and reads naturally.
- Word order
- The order words go in. French usually puts adjectives after the noun, as in un vélo rouge, so English swaps them: a red bike.
- Idiom
- A phrase whose meaning is not the sum of its words, such as avoir faim (to be hungry) or il fait froid (it is cold).
- False friend
- A French word that looks like an English one but means something else, such as le collège (secondary school) or actuellement (currently).
- Time frame
- When the action happens. Keep it the same in English: j'ai joué is I played, je joue is I play and je vais jouer is I am going to play.
- on
- A pronoun that can mean we, you, one or people in general. Translate it with whichever reads most naturally: on peut nager is you can swim.
Common mistakes in Translation into English
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Translating word by word, so j'ai quinze ans becomes I have fifteen years.
Understand the whole sentence first, then write what an English speaker would say: I am fifteen. Learn the phrases with avoir and faire as whole units.
Changing the tense, such as writing we go for nous sommes allés.
Check every verb before you write it in English. Nous sommes allés is we went, nous allons is we go and nous allons aller is we are going to go.
Leaving out small words like très, aussi, toujours or a negative.
Every word is part of the meaning you are marked on. Tick off each French word as you translate it, and make sure ne ... pas and ne ... jamais appear in your English.
Writing English that does not read naturally, such as the dog of my brother for le chien de mon frère.
Your translation should read like English: my brother's dog. Move adjectives in front of the noun too, so une voiture rouge is a red car.
Leaving a gap for an unfamiliar word.
Translate everything around it, then make a sensible guess from the context. A plausible word keeps the meaning of the sentence; a gap loses it.