CEFR A2 · Élémentaire

A2 French - Elementary

The past tense arrives. You stop describing the present and start telling people what happened.

Levels: 14
Grammar points: 96
Active vocabulary: ≈1,000 words
Certified by: DELF A2

Where A2 counts. The level asked for a first multi-year French residence permit.

What you can do at A2

Talk about the past with the passé composé and the imparfait.
Handle routine exchanges: appointments, shopping, travel, work.
Describe your background, your surroundings and your immediate needs.
Read short, simple texts and find specific information in them.

Story length

200–400 words · 5–8 pages

Typical study time

160–200 guided hours

French you meet here

hier · parce que · j'ai fait

Study-time figures are the guided-hour ranges commonly published by French language schools, counted cumulatively from zero. They describe a classroom average, not a promise.

Why A2 is the level it is

A2 is where French acquires a past. The whole level turns on two tenses - the passé composé and the imparfait - and on the question English never asks you: not "when did it happen" but "what kind of happening was it". A finished event takes the passé composé, a background state or a repeated habit takes the imparfait, and the same verb switches meaning depending on which you pick. Je savais is "I knew"; j'ai su is "I found out".

The other half of A2 is agreement and object pronouns: choosing between avoir and être as the auxiliary, making the participle agree when it has to, and replacing whole noun phrases with le, la, lui, y and en. That last set is what makes real French sound compressed compared with a textbook, and it is exactly the thing that is painful to drill and painless to absorb from stories.

This is also the level at which most self-taught learners stall. A1 has visible momentum - every week you can say something you could not say before. A2 is consolidation, and consolidation feels like standing still. It is not; it is the level that decides whether B1 takes six months or three years.

The A2 curriculum, unit by unit

14 levels and 96 grammar points, in the order Gallus teaches them. Each unit lists its must-know forms with a real example - the supporting points are covered inside the stories.

A2.1 Pronoms objets directs (COD) 7 points

Pronoms COD: le / la / l' / les

Tu connais Marie ? Oui, je la connais. Ce film ? Je l'ai vu.

Direct object pronouns: him/her/it/them

Position du COD (avant le verbe conjugué)

Je le vois. Je ne le vois pas. Je peux le voir.

COD before verb; before infinitive when it's the infinitive's object
A2.2 Passé Composé avec avoir 7 points

Passé composé avec avoir (verbes réguliers)

J'ai parlé, tu as fini, il a attendu, nous avons mangé

PC with avoir: -er→é, -ir→i, -re→u

Participes passés irréguliers courants

faire→fait, avoir→eu, être→été, dire→dit, écrire→écrit, lire→lu, voir→vu, boire→bu

Common irregular past participles with avoir

PC négatif

Je n'ai pas mangé. Il n'a pas vu le film. Nous n'avons pas fini.

Negation of passé composé: ne... pas around auxiliary
A2.3 Passé Composé avec être 7 points

PC avec être (verbes de mouvement/état)

je suis allé(e), tu es venu(e), il est parti, elle est arrivée, ils sont restés

DR & MRS VAN DER TRAMP: aller, venir, partir, arriver, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, rester, tomber, rentrer, retourner, passer

Accord du participe passé avec être

Elle est allée. Ils sont partis. Elles sont venues. Il est né.

Past participle agrees with subject (gender + number) when aux = être

PC des verbes réfléchis

Il s'est levé. Elle s'est habillée. Ils se sont vus.

Reflexive verbs use être in PC
A2.4 L'Imparfait 7 points

Imparfait (formation)

parler→parlais/parlait/parlions; être→étais; avoir→avais; faire→faisais

Imperfect: stem = nous-form present minus -ons + -ais/-ais/-ait/-ions/-iez/-aient

Imparfait: description passée

Il faisait beau. La rue était calme. Elle avait les yeux bleus.

Imperfect for past states and background descriptions

Imparfait: habitude passée

Quand j'étais enfant, je jouais dans le jardin. Le dimanche, nous allions chez mamie.

Imperfect for repeated/habitual past actions
A2.5 Pronoms EN & Y 7 points

Pronom EN (quantité / de + chose)

Tu as des frères ? Oui, j'en ai deux. Du café ? J'en veux bien.

EN replaces de + noun or partitive + noun - avoids repetition

Pronom Y (à + lieu / à + chose)

Tu vas à Paris ? Oui, j'y vais. Il pense à son travail ? Il y pense.

Y replaces à + place or à + thing
A2.6 L'Impératif 7 points

Impératif présent (verbes réguliers)

Parle ! Parlez ! Parlons ! / Finis ! Finissez ! / Attends ! Attendez !

Imperative: 3 forms (tu/vous/nous) - no subject pronoun

Impératif: -er verbs drop the -s (tu form)

Mange ! (not manges) / Parle ! (not parles) / Va ! (not vas)

Tu-form imperative of -ER verbs: no -s
A2.7 Comparatif & Superlatif 7 points

Comparatif: plus / moins / aussi + adj + que

Elle est plus grande que lui. Ce film est moins intéressant que l'autre.

Comparative: more / less / as ... as

Comparatif irrégulier: bon→meilleur, bien→mieux

Ce restaurant est meilleur. Il parle mieux que moi.

Irregular comparatives for bon and bien
A2.8 Futur Simple 7 points

Futur simple régulier

je parlerai, tu finiras, il prendra, nous serons, vous aurez, ils iront

Future: infinitive + -ai/-as/-a/-ons/-ez/-ont (drop -e for -re verbs)

Futur simple irréguliers essentiels

être→sera, avoir→aura, aller→ira, faire→fera, pouvoir→pourra, vouloir→voudra, venir→viendra

Most common irregular future stems
A2.9 Conditionnel Présent 7 points

Conditionnel présent (formation)

je parlerais, tu finirais, il serait, nous aurions, vous iriez, ils feraient

Conditional: future stems + imperfect endings (-ais/-ais/-ait/-ions/-iez/-aient)

Conditionnel de politesse

Je voudrais un café. Pourriez-vous m'aider ? J'aimerais savoir...

Softened requests and desires
A2.10 Pronoms Relatifs - Qui, Que, Où 7 points

Pronom relatif QUI (sujet)

L'homme qui parle est mon père. C'est elle qui a téléphoné.

qui = who/that - subject of relative clause

Pronom relatif QUE/QU' (objet direct)

Le livre que je lis est intéressant. La femme que tu connais...

que = who/that/which - direct object of relative clause
A2.11 Négations avancées & Restriction 7 points

Ne...que (restriction = seulement)

Je n'ai que dix euros. Il ne travaille que le matin.

ne...que = only (not a true negative - du/de la don't change to de)

Ne...plus / Ne...jamais

Il ne fume plus. Je n'habite plus à Paris. Elle ne ment jamais.

ne...plus = no more/no longer; ne...jamais = never
A2.12 Adverbes & Expression de la quantité 6 points

Formation des adverbes en -ment

rapide→rapidement, lent→lentement, heureux→heureusement

Regular adverbs: feminine adjective + -ment
A2.13 Depuis, Pendant, Il y a & Durée 7 points

Depuis + présent (action continue)

J'habite ici depuis dix ans. Il travaille depuis ce matin.

depuis + present = ongoing since/for (action still happening)

Il y a + durée (passé révolu)

Il est arrivé il y a trois jours. Je l'ai vu il y a longtemps.

il y a + duration = ago (completed)
A2.14 Pronoms & Indéfinis A2 6 points

Pronoms possessifs: le mien / le tien / le sien...

C'est ton livre ? Non, c'est le mien. Ce sont ses affaires - les siennes.

Possessive pronouns: mine/yours/his-hers/ours/yours/theirs

How to actually get through A2

Stop translating tense, start reading aspect

Do not ask which French tense matches the English one. Ask whether the event is a closed box or an open background. Once that question becomes automatic, the passé composé / imparfait choice stops being a coin flip.

Collect the être verbs as a group

The handful of verbs that take être in the passé composé are mostly verbs of movement and change of state. Learn them as one closed set now and you never have to guess an auxiliary again.

Force yourself to use y and en

You can survive A2 without them by repeating the full noun phrase, and it will mark you as a learner for years. Notice them every time they appear in a text, then start substituting them in your own sentences deliberately.

Read slightly above your level

A2 is the first point at which comprehensible input really pays. Text where you understand most of it and have to infer the rest is where acquisition happens; text you understand completely teaches you nothing new.

A2 French - frequently asked questions

What is the difference between passé composé and imparfait?

The passé composé narrates completed events that move a story forward: j'ai ouvert la porte. The imparfait paints the background, describes states, and covers repeated or habitual actions: il pleuvait, je prenais toujours le bus. Most French sentences about the past use both at once - the imparfait sets the scene, the passé composé says what happened in it.

How long does it take to reach A2 in French?

Roughly 160–200 cumulative guided hours from zero, so about double what A1 took. Most learners get there in eight months to a year and a half at a steady daily pace, with the spread coming almost entirely from consistency rather than talent.

Is A2 enough to live in France?

It is enough to handle daily errands, appointments and simple work exchanges, and it is the level currently required for a first multi-year residence permit. It is not enough to follow a fast conversation between two French people, watch television comfortably, or read the press. That is B1 territory.

What vocabulary should I know at A2?

Around 1,000 active words: daily routine, food and shopping, transport, housing, work, health, weather, feelings and enough connectors - d'abord, ensuite, parce que, mais - to make two sentences into a paragraph rather than a list.

Why does my French feel stuck at A2?

Because A2 is where the wins stop being visible. You are consolidating tenses and pronouns rather than unlocking new abilities, so progress is real but hard to feel. The fix is volume of input rather than new material: read more at the level you are at instead of jumping ahead to grammar you cannot yet use.

Previous level

A1 - Beginner

Next level

B1 - Intermediate

The whole roadmap: 61 levels, 424 grammar points

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