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Where People Live

FoundationHigherAQA

Master Where People Live for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). This topic covers homes, local area, town and country living.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

Foundation

WorksheetFoundation · PDFMark SchemeFoundation · PDF

Higher

WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

Describing where you live combines vocabulary with the prepositions of place and some useful comparison structures.

Habiter is the core verb and takes à for towns and en, au or aux for countries: j'habite à Manchester, j'habite en Angleterre. Note habiter needs no preposition before a house type: j'habite une maison, though j'habite dans une maison is also accepted.

Describing the area uses il y a and there is scope for comparison: à la campagne c'est plus calme qu'en ville. Useful nouns are la banlieue for suburbs, le quartier for neighbourhood, and le centre-ville. Advantages and drawbacks make good developed answers.

Revision notes

The verb habiter

J'habite à Manchester, j'habite en Angleterre.

À for towns, en, au or aux for countries. Before a house type no preposition is needed: j'habite une maison, though j'habite dans une maison is also correct.

Describing the area

Il y a un cinéma, il y a beaucoup de magasins, il n'y a rien à faire.

La banlieue — suburbs. Le quartier — neighbourhood. Le centre-ville — town centre. À la campagne — in the countryside.

Comparing places

À la campagne c'est plus calme qu'en ville.

En ville il y a plus de choses à faire. Comparisons with plus, moins and aussi turn a description into an evaluation, which earns more credit.

Key points

  • Habiter takes à for towns.
  • It takes en, au or aux for countries.
  • No preposition is needed before a house type.
  • Il y a describes what an area has.
  • La banlieue means the suburbs.
  • Comparisons earn more credit than description.

Worked examples

Example 1

Translate: I live in Manchester. [2 marks]

Working

J'habite à Manchesteruse habiter with à for a town
À is used with towns for both to and inexplain the preposition

Example 2

Translate: there are lots of shops. [2 marks]

Working

Il y a beaucoup de magasinsuse il y a with the quantity expression
Des collapses to de after beaucoupapply the partitive rule

Example 3

Translate: the countryside is quieter than the town. [2 marks]

Working

La campagne est plus calme que la villeuse plus with que for the comparison
Calme agrees with campagne, which is feminine singularexplain the agreement

Common mistakes

  • Using dans for towns.

    Habiter takes à: j'habite à Paris.

  • Keeping des after beaucoup.

    It collapses to de.

  • Describing without comparing.

    Comparisons earn more credit.

  • Forgetting agreement in comparisons.

    The adjective agrees with what it describes.

Exam tips

  • Use à for towns and en or au for countries.
  • Use il y a to describe facilities.
  • Add comparisons to develop your answer.
  • Give both advantages and drawbacks.

Key terms

Habiter
To live somewhere.
La banlieue
The suburbs.
Le quartier
The neighbourhood.
Il y a
There is or there are.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.