Describing digital media and technology in French

• Use the perfect tense to talk about how you have used media and technology in the past.

• The perfect tense is formed with an auxiliary verb and a past participle .

• This guide contains reading and listening practice.

Useful phrases to describe online activity include:

For example:

J’utilise une appli pour communiquer avec ma famille à l’étranger. - I use an app in order to communicate with my family abroad.

On peut écouter de la musique en ligne sans télécharger des chansons. - You can listen to music online without downloading songs.

Elle va prendre un selfie pour partager sur ses réseaux sociaux. - She is going to take a selfie to share on her social media.

Remember

Use the structures pour followed by the infinitive (in order to do) and sans followed by the infinitive (without doing) to create more complex sentences.

For example:

J’ai une appli pour tchatter avec mes amis. - I have an app to chat to my friends.

Nous ne pouvons pas faire les devoirs sans regarder ce site internet. - We can’t do the homework without looking at this website.

What is the perfect tense?

The perfect tense is used to talk about something that happened in the past and that is completely finished.

For example:

Nous avons joué en ligne. – We played online.

It can also be used to express the English present perfect tense.

For example:

Elles ont enregistré une vidéo. – They have recorded a video.

These are the key elements needed to form the perfect tense with avoir:

1. The subject

The subject could be a pronoun, eg je, tu or il, or a name, a person or a thing, such as ma mère or le portable.

2. The present tense of avoir

This is known as the auxiliary verb – a verb that helps to make the perfect tense.

3. The past participle of the verb

To form the past participle of regular verbs, remove the er, ir or re and add the following endings:

• parler (to speak) – parlé (spoken)

• choisir (to choose) – choisi (chosen)

• entendre (to hear) – entendu (heard)

For example:

Elle a parlé. – She spoke. / She has spoken.

Ils ont choisi. – They chose. / They have chosen.

Nous avons entendu. – We heard. / We have heard.

Some of the most commonly used verbs have irregular past participles. For example:

• être (to be) – été (been)

• avoir (to have) – eu (had)

• faire (to do/make) – fait (done/made)

Other important verbs that have irregular past participles include:

• ouvrir (to open) – ouvert (opened)

• prendre (to take) – pris (taken)

• traduire (to translate) – traduit (translated)

Choose the correct word to complete each sentence.

Press Start to begin the activity.

Find out more about the perfect tense with avoir in the Perfect tense with ‘avoir’ in French guide.

You read an interview on the radio with some teenagers who took part in an experiment to live without their smartphones for 10 days.

Eva

Je n’ai pas regardé de vidéos drôles sur mon portable mais je suis allée au cinéma avec mes amis.

Sacha

J’ai lu un livre parce que je ne pouvais lire mes blogs préférés sur mon ordinateur.

Raphaël

Je n’ai pas téléchargé de la musique sur Internet mais j’ai écouté la radio avec ma mère.

Complete the table below.

Useful vocabulary for describing different forms of digital media and technology includes:

For example:

Je ne peux pas vivre sans portable! - I can’t live without a phone!

Nous allons acheter un nouvel ordinateur demain. - We are going to buy a new computer tomorrow.

Avec le streaming, on peut regarder des émissions de télé sur Internet. - With streaming, you can watch TV programmes on the internet.

All vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

Listen to Laure talking about problems with technology. Match each complaint with the English summary.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when describing digital media and technology.

The following modal verbs have irregular past participle:

For example:

J’ai pu écouter cette chanson le weekend dernier. - I was able to listen to that song last weekend.

Hier, Sofiane a dû rechercher des informations sur Internet. - Yesterday, Sofiane had to look for information on the internet.

On a voulu trouver un nouveau jeu. - We wanted to find a new game.

Vous avez su faire les devoirs? - Did you know how to do the homework?

Now you have revised the important vocabulary and key grammar points for describing media habits and technology, why not have a look at the Describing entertainment in French guide?