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Higher Verb Clusters: connaître and écrire

HigherHigher tier onlyAQA

Revise the connaître and écrire verb clusters for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Higher tier exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). At Higher tier these two anchor verbs pattern further high-frequency verbs across the present tense, the perfect tense, the near future, the imperative and the imperfect.

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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

Connaître and écrire are two further irregular verbs that appear frequently at Higher tier. This is a Higher-only topic.

Connaître means to know a person or place, as distinct from savoir which means to know a fact. Je connais Paris means I know Paris; je sais où il habite means I know where he lives. The forms are je connais, tu connais, il connaît, nous connaissons, vous connaissez, ils connaissent. Note the circumflex in il connaît.

Écrire means to write: j'écris, tu écris, il écrit, nous écrivons, vous écrivez, ils écrivent. The v appears in the plural forms only. Décrire follows écrire exactly, and lire behaves similarly with je lis and nous lisons.

Revision notes

Connaître versus savoir

Connaître is for people and places: je connais Paris, je connais Marc.

Savoir is for facts and skills: je sais nager, je sais où il habite. Choosing between them is examined directly, and the test is whether you could say I am acquainted with.

The forms of connaître

Je connais, tu connais, il connaît, nous connaissons, vous connaissez, ils connaissent.

The circumflex appears in il connaît only. The plural forms add -ss-, similar to regular -ir verbs.

Écrire and its family

J'écris, tu écris, il écrit, nous écrivons, vous écrivez, ils écrivent.

The v appears only in the plural. Décrire follows écrire exactly. Lire behaves similarly: je lis, nous lisons, ils lisent.

Key points

  • Connaître means to know a person or place.
  • Savoir means to know a fact or skill.
  • Il connaît carries a circumflex.
  • The plural of connaître adds -ss-.
  • Écrire means to write.
  • The v of écrire appears only in the plural.

Worked examples

Example 1

Give the nous form of connaître. [2 marks]

Working

nous connaissonsadd -ss- to the plural stem
The plural forms of connaître insert -ss- before the endingexplain the pattern

Example 2

Translate: I know Paris. [2 marks]

Working

Je connais Parisuse connaître for a place
Connaître is used for people and places, whereas savoir is for factsexplain the choice

Example 3

Give the nous form of écrire. [2 marks]

Working

nous écrivonsuse the plural stem with v
The v appears in the plural forms of écrire but not the singularexplain the change

Common mistakes

  • Using savoir for a person or place.

    Je sais Paris is wrong; it is je connais Paris.

  • Omitting the circumflex in il connaît.

    It is required in that form.

  • Adding the v in the singular of écrire.

    J'écris, not j'écrivs.

  • Forgetting the -ss- in the plural of connaître.

    Nous connaissons, not nous connons.

Exam tips

  • Apply the acquainted-with test for connaître.
  • Write the circumflex in il connaît.
  • Add the v only in the plural of écrire.
  • Remember this is a Higher-only topic.

Key terms

Connaître
To know a person or place.
Savoir
To know a fact or how to do something.
Écrire
To write, with v in the plural forms.
Circumflex
The accent in il connaît.

Related topics

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