Talking about school timetables and rules in French

• Use modal verbspouvoir, meaning can/to be able to, and devoir, meaning must/to have to, to talk about school rules.

• The impersonal verbil faut followed by an infinitive can be used to talk about what must or must not be done.

• This guide contains listening and reading practice.

It is useful to be able to use the days of the week and times of the day when talking about your school week.

For example:

Le jeudi, nous avons maths à midi. – On Thursdays, we have maths at midday.

Mardi, j’ai un cours de piano à une heure. – On Tuesday, I have a piano lesson at 1.00 pm.

Note that days of the week in French do not start with a capital letter.

Useful phrases for telling the time in French include:

To say what time it is now, use il est…. For example:

ll est onze heures. – It is 11.00 am.

To say when things happen, use à. For example:

Les cours finissent à trois heures et demie. – Lessons finish at 3.30 pm.

Did you know?

You can also use à in front of a day of the week or time phrase to mean ‘See you on …’

For example:

À lundi ! - See you on Monday!

À ce soir ! - See you tonight!

À demain ! - See you tomorrow!

The two keys verbs pouvoir (can/to be able to) and devoir (must/to have to) are modal verbs. This means that they are always followed by an infinitive.

For example:

Je peux aller au collège à vélo ou à pied. – I can go to school by bike or on foot.

On doit arriver à l’heure. – We must arrive on time.

How to conjugate the verb devoir:

How to conjugate the verb pouvoir:

Find out more about using modal verbs with infinitives in the Infinitives in French guide.

Click or tap on Start to listen to a podcast of four students from different French-speaking countries talking about their school week. Choose the correct answer for each speaker.

Useful phrases to talk about things you must do at school include:

For example:

Il faut toujours apporter un stylo et une règle. You must always bring a pen and a ruler.

On doit travailler dur en cours. We have to work hard in lessons.

Je ne veux pas porter l’uniforme scolaire. I don’t want to wear school uniform.

Useful phrases to talk about things you must not do at school include:

For example:

On ne doit pas arriver en retard. We mustn’t arrive late.

C’est interdit mais mon amie utilise son portable pendant la récré. It’s forbidden but my friend uses her phone at break.

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

A useful verb to talk about school rules is il faut (it is necessary). This is an impersonal verb and is always followed by an infinitive.

Il faut usually translates in English as ‘we have to’, ‘we must’, ‘you have to’ or ‘you must’.

For example:

Il faut apporter le bon cahier. – You have to bring the right exercise book.

Il faut respecter cette règle. – We must respect this rule.

You can also use il faut with negatives to say what you must not do.

For example:

Il ne faut pas arriver en retard. – We musn’t arrive late.

Il ne faut jamais vapoter dans les toilettes. – You must never vape in the toilets.

Choose the correct impersonal verb to complete the following sentences.

Click or tap on Start to begin the activity.

Find out more about using impersonal verbs in the Impersonal verbs and expressions in French guide.

Some French students have posted their opinion of their school rules on an online forum.

Read the posts and answer the questions below in English. Give as many details as possible.

Kadime

Il faut toujours apporter son sac avec des stylos, ses cahiers et d’autres livres. C’est embêtant. J’oublie souvent quelque chose.

Patricia

En général, je suis pour l’uniforme scolaire parce que c’est facile et confortable. Il faut porter un pantalon noir en hiver et un short bleu en été.

Leila

Dans mon collège, il ne faut pas utiliser son portable en classe. Je pense que cette règle est injuste. Je voudrais l’utiliser pour apprendre.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when describing school rules.

Useful vocabulary for talking about school rules includes:

For example;

Il ne faut pas crier en classe. You mustn’t shout in class.

Use pouvoir and devoir in the perfect tense to talk about something you were able to do or that you had to do in the past. For example:

J’ai pu choisir mes matières. – I was able to choose my subjects.

On a dû aider notre prof. – We had to help our teacher.

Il est interdit de (it is forbidden to) is a useful impersonal expression to use when talking about school rules. It must be followed by an infinitive. For example:

Il est interdit de parler pendant l’examen. – It is forbidden to talk during the exam.

Impersonal verbs can be used with other common adjectives following the same pattern:

• il est followed by an adjective, de and an infinitive.

For example:

Il est important de réviser. – It is important to revise.

Find out more about using impersonal verbs with adjectives in the Impersonal verbs and expressions in French guide.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful Higher Tier vocabulary to use when talking about yourself and others.

Now you have learned about talking about school rules why not look at the Describing countries and their features guide.