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Endings: -tion, -ien and -er

FoundationHigherAQA

Practise Endings: -tion, -ien and -er 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). Endings such as -tion, -ien, -er and -ez follow set pronunciation patterns.

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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

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Higher

WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

Three common word endings have fixed pronunciations that must be learned, because none matches English expectations.

The ending -tion is pronounced syon, not shun as in English. Nation, attention and information all end this way, which is one of the most audible differences between the two languages.

The ending -ien gives a nasal sound, as in bien, italien and musicien. The ending -er on a verb infinitive gives an ay sound with no r: parler, manger, aller. Note that -er on a noun may be different — hiver sounds its r, since it is not an infinitive.

Revision notes

The ending -tion

Pronounced syon, not the English shun.

Nation, attention, information, question. Since these words often look identical to their English equivalents, the pronunciation difference is the main thing to get right.

The ending -ien

Gives a nasal sound.

Bien, italien, musicien, rien. The n is not sounded separately — the whole ending is a nasal vowel, following the usual nasal rule.

The ending -er

On a verb infinitive it gives an ay sound with no r: parler, manger, aller.

On a noun it may be different: hiver sounds its r. The distinction depends on whether the word is an infinitive, so the grammar determines the pronunciation.

Key points

  • -tion is pronounced syon, not shun.
  • Nation and attention end this way.
  • -ien gives a nasal sound.
  • Bien and italien contain it.
  • -er on an infinitive gives an ay sound.
  • -er on a noun may sound the r.

Worked examples

Example 1

State how the ending -tion is pronounced in nation. [2 marks]

Working

It is pronounced syonstate the sound
This differs from the English shun endingnote the contrast

Example 2

State how the -er ending is pronounced in parler. [2 marks]

Working

As an ay sound with no rstate the sound
This applies because parler is a verb infinitiveexplain the reason

Example 3

Explain why hiver and parler end differently in sound. [2 marks]

Working

Parler is a verb infinitive, so the r is silent and it ends in an ay soundexplain parler
Hiver is a noun, so the r follows the CaReFuL rule and is soundedexplain hiver

Common mistakes

  • Pronouncing -tion as shun.

    It is syon in French.

  • Sounding the r in an infinitive.

    Parler ends in an ay sound.

  • Sounding the n in -ien.

    It is a nasal vowel.

  • Applying the infinitive rule to nouns.

    Hiver sounds its r.

Exam tips

  • Read -tion as syon every time.
  • Check whether an -er word is an infinitive.
  • Treat -ien as a nasal ending.
  • Watch for English lookalikes with different sounds.

Key terms

-tion
An ending pronounced syon.
-ien
A nasal ending as in bien.
-er infinitive
An ending giving an ay sound.
Cognate
A word that looks the same in both languages.

Related topics

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