Physical and mental wellbeing in French

• Use the present tense to talk about your current habits and routine.

• The imperfect tense can be used to talk about what you used to do.

• This guide contains a Higher Tier only listening activity.

Useful phrases to help describe regular activities to stay fit, happy and healthy include:

For example:

J’aime passer du temps dehors, dans la nature. - I like spending time outside, in nature.

Je fais du sport regulièrement parce que c’est bon pour ma santé mentale. - I do sport regularly because it’s good for my mental health.

The present tense can be used to talk about things that happen regularly.

The imperfect tense can be used to describe something that used to happen or what someone or something was like in the past.

You can use these two tenses together to describe how your habits have changed.

For example:

Quand j’étais petite, j’étais assez sportive mais, maintenant, je n’ai pas le temps. - When I was little, I was quite sporty but now I don’t have the time.

Avant, je faisais du vélo chaque semaine. Maintenant, je fais de la danse. - Before, I used to go cycling every week. Now, I do dance.

To form the present tense of regular verbs, take the ending off the infinitive and add the necessary endings for each person.

Many of the most common, high frequency verbs are irregular in the present tense including:

• avoir - to have

• être - to be

• aller - to go

• faire - to do/make

Imperfect tense verb endings

To form the imperfect tense of regular verbs, take the nous form of the present tense, remove the ons and add the following endings:

For example:

À l’école primaire, on jouait dans la cour. - At primary school, we used to play in the playground.

En quatrième, je choisissais toujours les frites pour le déjeuner. - In year 4, I always used to choose chips for lunch.

Malheureusement, on perdait souvent les matchs de foot. - Unfortunately, we often used to lose football matches.

Other useful verbs that are regular in the imperfect tense include:

• avoir - to have

• faire - to do/make

• aller - to go

For example:

J’avais des clubs après le collège. - I used to have clubs after school.

Elle faisait plus d’exercice. - She used to do more exercise.

On allait au gymnase trois fois par semaine. - We used to go to the gym three times a week.

The only irregular verb in the imperfect tense is être (to be):

Choose the correct pairs of verbs to complete the following sentences.

Press Start to begin the activity.

Find out more about using these two tenses in the Present tense regular and irregular guides and the Imperfect tense guide.

Useful vocabulary for describing lifestyle choices that aren’t helpful for maintaining physical and mental wellbeing include:

For example:

J’évite d’aller au lit trop tard pendant la semaine. - I avoid going to bed too late during the week.

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

Present tense

To say ‘not’, use ne and pas, on either side of the conjugated verb.

Use n’ before a vowel or silent h.

In the present tense, they are placed around the main verb in the sentence.

For example:

Je ne dors pas bien. - I don’t sleep well.

Perfect tense

In the perfect tense, the negative words wrap around the auxiliary avoir or être.

For example:

Ils n’ont pas bu. - They didn’t drink.

Near future tense

In the near future tense, the negative words are placed around the conjugated form of aller.

For example:

Nous n’allons pas acheter de fast-food. - We aren’t going to buy fast food.

Verbs followed by the infinitive

Where a verb is followed by an infinitive, the negative words wrap around the first verb, the one that is conjugated, and the infinitive follows it.

For example:

Je ne veux pas pleurer. - I don’t want to cry.

Remember

After a negative structure, du, de la, de l’ and des become de or d’.

For example:

On ne mange pas de légumes. - We don’t eat vegetables.

These other negative structures are also formed by wrapping the negative words around the conjugated verb:

Remember

Be careful not to confuse une personne (a person/someone) with ne … personne (no one):

For example:

Il y a une personne dans la piscine. - There is a person/someone in the swimming pool.

Il n’y a personne dans la piscine. - There isn’t anyone in the swimming pool.

Find out more about using negative forms in the Negative forms in French guide.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when describing physical and mental wellbeing.

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

To form the imperfect tense for nous, vous, ils and elles, take the nous form of the present tense, remove the -ons and add the following endings:

Other useful verbs to know that are regular in the imperfect tense are avoir (to have), faire (to do/make) and aller (to go).

For example:

Ils avaient de meilleures amies avant. - They had/they used to have better friends before.

Vous faisiez du vélo pendant l’été ? - Did you used to go cycling during the summer?

Nous allions au stade pour les matchs. - We used to go to the stadium for matches.

The only irregular verb in the imperfect tense is être:

These other negative forms are also constructed by wrapping the negative words around the conjugated verb:

Listen to the podcast extracts in which three students are discussing health apps and answer the questions.

Press or click on the purple START button when you are ready to begin the activity.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful Higher Tier vocabulary to use when describing physical and mental wellbeing.

Now you have revised the key vocabulary and grammar for talking about physical and mental wellbeing, why not have a look at the Describing my home and neighbourhood in French guide.