Accents, silent endings, homophones
P47.orthography-and-agreement.01 · Audience: guest, language-pro, it-ml
Written French betrays fluent speakers in a very specific way: the errors are inaudible. a and à, ses, ces and c'est, ou and où, terminé and terminer, j'étais and il était — identical or near-identical to the ear, distinct on paper, and every one of them is a grammar decision, not a spelling one.
The tests that resolve them cost two seconds each:
- a / à — replace with avait: works → a; doesn't → à.
- ses / ces / c'est — singular test: son → ses; pointing at something → ces; cela est → c'est.
- -é / -er — replace with vendu / vendre: whichever fits, that ending wins.
- -ais / -ait — find the subject; je takes -s, il/elle takes -t.
- ou / où — ou bien fits → no accent.
Ten items, each targeting one family. These are the same categories your notice-loop profile tracks — expect your weakest ones to reappear in the reminder deck.
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Later in Orthography & Agreement
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