DELF A1 tests the most basic level at which a language is used, called the "discovery" stage. At this stage, you need to be able to interact in simple ways. You'll be expected to be able to speak about yourself and your immediate environment.
|
DELF A1 Test Sections |
Duration |
Mark out of |
|
Listening |
Approximately |
25 |
|
Reading |
30 minutes |
25 |
|
Writing |
< 30 minutes |
25 |
|
Speaking |
10 mins prep then 5 - 7 mins |
25 |
Exam duration : 1 hour 15 minutes
* Total mark out of 100
* Overall pass mark: 50/100
* Pass mark per test: 5/25
Next steps
We can help you practise your DELF A1 French grammar to perfection - sign up for a free account to get your personalized study program based on your French level test.
Our technology works out what you already know and what you don’t so that you can work through the curriculum at your own pace.
Listen to sample recordings for DELF A1 listening section to get an idea of the difficulty of each level and the sort of situations presented. Or download a sample paper for DELF A1 here.
Don't forget, you can also take a look at our detailed A1 exam tips.
Practising CEFR French Levels A0 and A1 with Kwiziq French
If you're registered to take the DELF A1 exam and you want to really smash it, then you should perfect your French grammar first.
We'll help you go into all the detail you need as well as giving you plenty of material to practise so when you get to the exam, you'll feel full of confidence.
What do the CEFR French Levels cover?
The CEFR levels go from AO up to C2. We’ll automatically test you on exactly what you need to work on, based on the stage you’re at, but if you're curious about what we cover, here's the detail.
Level A0 Grammar
Although there is a DILF exam to cover Level A0, it's only available to take in France. Level A0 is really 'survival French' covering the absolute basics of the language. Even if you're taking DELF A1 we strongly advise you practise and perfect everything in A0 as well, so let's look at that first:
A0 Nouns & Articles
We cover seven topics, including:
| Using le, la, l' to say "the" |
| Using un or une to say "a" |
| Plural of "the" and "a" : les and des |
| To make most nouns plural, add -s at the end (unless it already ends in -s -x or -z) |
A0 Adjectives and Adverbs
We cover six topics, including:
| Adjectives (describing words) following c'est are always masculine |
| Adjectives in the feminine form usually take -e |
| Adjectives in plural form usually take -s |
| Position of Adjectives - usually placed after the noun |
| Position of Adjectives - common adjectives that go BEFORE the noun |
A0 Numbers, Dates and Time
| Numbers - how to express decimals |
| How dates are expressed in French |
A0 Verbs and Conjugation
| Je becomes j' with verbs beginning with a vowel (elision) |
| Le présent (Present Tense) - avoir, J'ai, Tu as, Vous avez |
| Le présent (Present Tense) - être, Je suis, Tu es, Vous êtes |
| Le présent (Present Tense) - aller, Je vais, Tu vas, Vous allez |
| Le présent (Present Tense) - faire, Je fais, Tu fais, Vous faites |
A0 Forming Questions
| Questions - Qu'est-ce que... c'est / c'est que ça/cela ? |
A0 Pronouns
| Say your name: Je m'appelle, Tu t'appelles and Vous vous appelez |
| Tu and vous are used for three types of "you"! |
A0 Idioms
| Avoir faim / soif : To be hungry / thirsty |
| Avoir chaud / froid : To be hot / cold |
| Avoir (nombre) ans : to be (number) years old |
| Say where you come from with je viens de |
| Il y a : there is/there are |
| Describing things with c'est (it is) |
| Say where you live with J'habite à |
Level A1 Grammar
As you can see, there's a huge amount to cover in A1 French. You'd probably pass your DELF A1 exam knowing just a fraction of this, but since you can't know what you'll be tested on, you should practise as much as possible. Also, remember the exam is a means to an end: perfecting your A1 French is the real goal.
A1 Nouns & Articles
We help you practise 17 topics, including
| When and when not to use le, la, les (8 topics, it gets complicated) |
| Contractions: à + le > au, de + le > du ... |
| Using du, de la, de l' to express "some" or "any" (2 topics) |
| Plural forms of nouns – special cases (5 topics) |
| plus 3 bonus topics |
A1 Adjectives and Adverbs
| How adjectives change according to gender and number (8 topics) |
| Formation of adverbs - regular Forms |
| How to expression posession (3 topics) |
| Plural of beau, nouveau and vieux |
| Adjectives following personne, rien, tout le monde, quelqu'un are always masculine |
A1 Prepositions
| Prepositions - locations: to/from general places: à, de |
| Prepositions - time: à |
| Prepositions - locations: chez |
| Prepositions - time: après, avant |
| Prepositions - relative positions: à côté de, en face de, en dehors de, près de, loin de |
| Prepositions with infinitives - noun + à + verb-infinitive indicates function |
| Prepositions - locations: dans, en |
| Prepositions - sur and dans are used differently to English for street and transportation |
| Prepositions - use à (to) and de (from/of) with cities |
| Expression of purpose: in order to |
| Prepositions - relative positions: dans, sur, devant, derrière, entre, sous |
| Prepositions - transport: à, en, par le |
| Prepositions - joining nouns – à means with/made with, but de is used with materials |
| Prepositions - use en with feminine countries and au(x) with masculine countries |
| Prepositions - joining nouns – à/de change the function/meaning |
A1 Numbers, Dates and Time
| Dates: from the ... to the |
| Numbers - large numbers |
| Formation of numbers from 70 to 99 |
| Numbers - forming ordinal numbers |
| Numbers - arithmetic |
| Telling the time |
| Numbers - approximate numbers |
| Morning / Day / Evening - matin/matinée, jour/journée, soir/soirée |
| Numbers - ordinal numbers - differences in French use from English |
A1 Verbs and Conjugation
| Le présent (Present Tense) - Conjugation of Regular -er verbs |
| Le présent (Present Tense) - Conjugation of Regular -ir verbs |
| Le présent (Present Tense) - Conjugation of Irregular Verb avoir, être, aller, faire (4 topics) |
| Le Futur Proche Tense - Verb aller + infinitive |
| Verb basics - 6 forms for 9 pronouns and their meanings |
| Compound subjects are replaced with subject pronouns nous, vous, ils/elles |
| Reflexive Verbs - Futur Proche - aller + infinitive |
| Reflexive Verb - Present tense basics - s'habiller, se réveiller, se lever, s'amuser, se laver, se coucher (6 topics) |
| Le présent (Present Tense) - Conjugation of irregular verbs venir/tenir, prendre, apprendre, comprendre, etc (12 topics) |
| Le présent - Usage - differences between French and English use of the present tense (3 topics) |
A1 Forming Questions
| Forming YES/NO questions - three simple forms |
| Forming YES/NO questions - by inverting - present tense |
| Forming questions - by inverting - with names, things and emphasis |
| Forming YES/NO questions - by inverting - present tense special case: puis-je |
| Questions - qui, que/quoi, quand, où, comment, pourquoi, combien (who, what, when, where, how, why, how many) ? |
| Questions - What...? C'est quoi... / Qu'est-ce que... |
A1 Negatives
| Negation - simple tenses - ne... pas |
| Negation - compound tenses - ne... pas |
| Negative expressions - ne… jamais |
| Negative expressions - non plus |
| The partitive article – in negative sentences |
| Answering negative questions with Si and affirmative with Oui. |
| Negative expressions - ne … pas du tout |
A1 Pronouns
| Pronouns : ça |
| Simple cases of use - moi, toi, lui, elle (me, you, him, her) |
| Disjunctive/stress pronouns - simple cases of use - nous, vous, eux, elles |
| "He/she is..." and "It is"/"They are" (il/elle/ils/elles) |
| On can mean "we" (as can nous) and "one" and "people" |
| Indefinite pronouns - tout le monde |
| Direct/indirect object pronouns me/te/nous/vous |
| Demonstrative pronouns - c'est versus ce sont |
A1 Idioms
| Faire de / jouer à : how to talk about leisure activities |
| Jouer de : to play an instrument |
| Talking about the weather: using Il fait |
| Talking about the weather - il y a |
| Avoir peur de: to be afraid / to be scared of |
| Je voudrais versus je veux |
| Idiomatic expressions with aller: health (aller bien) |
| Idiomatic expressions with être: ça m'est égal, I don't mind |
| To like - plaire vs aimer |
| Idiomatic expressions with faire: cela ne fait rien |
| Avoir besoin de to express "to need" |
| Avoir mal à : expression of located pain |
| Idiomatic expressions with être: être à to express possession |
| Être en train de : expression of the Continuous Present |
| Expressions of timeliness - general |
| Idiomatic expressions with être: Ça y est |
| Faire les courses versus faire les magasins |
