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il manque, il vaut mieux and il vaut la peine de

HigherHigher tier onlyAQA

Understand il manque, il vaut mieux and il vaut la peine de for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Higher tier exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). Il manque is followed by a noun, while il vaut mieux and il vaut la peine de are followed by an infinitive.

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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.

This is a Higher tier only topic, so there's no Foundation paper — only the Higher worksheet and mark scheme below.

Higher

WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

Three further impersonal expressions appear at Higher tier and each has its own structure. This is a Higher-only topic.

Il manque means there is missing or is lacking: il manque un livre means a book is missing. The thing missing follows directly with no preposition.

Il vaut mieux means it is better to, and takes a direct infinitive with no de: il vaut mieux partir. This absence of de distinguishes it from il est difficile de. Il vaut la peine de means it is worth doing, and this one does take de: il vaut la peine de visiter le musée.

Revision notes

Il manque

Means there is missing or is lacking.

Il manque un livre — a book is missing. Il manque deux personnes — two people are missing. The thing missing follows directly with no preposition.

Il vaut mieux

Means it is better to, and takes a DIRECT infinitive with no de.

Il vaut mieux partir — it is better to leave. Il vaut mieux attendre. Adding de here is wrong, which distinguishes it from il est difficile de.

Il vaut la peine de

Means it is worth doing, and this one DOES take de.

Il vaut la peine de visiter le musée — it is worth visiting the museum. The contrast with il vaut mieux is worth noting carefully, since the two look similar.

Key points

  • Il manque means there is missing.
  • The missing thing follows directly.
  • Il vaut mieux means it is better to.
  • Il vaut mieux takes no de.
  • Il vaut la peine de means it is worth.
  • Il vaut la peine does take de.

Worked examples

Example 1

Translate: a book is missing. [2 marks]

Working

Il manque un livreuse il manque with the noun
The missing item follows directly with no prepositionexplain the structure

Example 2

Translate: it is better to leave. [2 marks]

Working

Il vaut mieux partiruse il vaut mieux with a direct infinitive
No de is used, unlike il est difficile deexplain the absence of de

Example 3

Explain the difference in structure between il vaut mieux and il vaut la peine. [2 marks]

Working

Il vaut mieux takes a direct infinitive with no deexplain the first
Il vaut la peine requires de before the infinitiveexplain the second

Common mistakes

  • Adding de after il vaut mieux.

    It takes a direct infinitive.

  • Omitting de after il vaut la peine.

    This one requires it.

  • Adding a preposition after il manque.

    The missing thing follows directly.

  • Confusing the two il vaut expressions.

    One takes de and the other does not.

Exam tips

  • Learn which expressions take de and which do not.
  • Follow il vaut mieux with a bare infinitive.
  • Include de after il vaut la peine.
  • Remember this is a Higher-only topic.

Key terms

Il manque
There is missing or lacking.
Il vaut mieux
It is better to, with no de.
Il vaut la peine de
It is worth doing, with de.
Impersonal expression
A phrase with il as an empty subject.

Related topics

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