JAMB Syllabus for French is Out | Download PDF

JAMB 2025/2026 Syllabus for French is Out | Download PDF

Now available for download, the complete JAMB syllabus for French 2025/2026 in a PDF format. You can as well read through the syllabus on this page. It contents all the topics which questions will be set from in UTME 2025.

Syllabus Overview

Examination TypeUTME / Direct Entry
Examination Year2025/2026
SyllabusFrench
File FormatPDF
File Size214KB

The aim of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) syllabus in French is to prepare the candidates for the Board’s examination. If you are planning on taking on French in the forthcoming Jamb exams, then we recommending studying it.

General Objectives

The syllabus is designed to test candidates general ability to;

  1. Assess written comprehension in French;
  2. Apply the principles governing the structure and use of written French;
  3. Identify how French sounds work in speech production;
  4. Examine the culture of Francophone West Africa and France in relation (where possible) to home country.

Recommended: Check JAMB 2025 Syllabus For All Subjects

JAMB 2025 Syllabus for French

TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTESOBJECTIVES
1. Written Comprehension in French:

– topics of general and emergent
interest e.g. love, life, death, politics,
marriage, health, communication, child trafficking, cultism, travel, corruption, money-laundering, etc.
Candidates should be able to;

(i) deduce answers to questions on the content, intent and style of proposed texts,

(ii) apply reasoning skills.
2. Principles Governing the Structure and
Use of Written French:


I. Identification of basic form classes:

(a) Nouns: simple/compound, Singular/plural, masculine/feminine.

(b) Pronouns: personal, impersonal,
demonstrative, possessive and relative.

(c) Verbs: reflexive and non-reflexive, their moods and tenses.

(d) Adjectives: qualifying, possessive,
interrogative, demonstrative, indefinite (e.g. nul), numeral (e.g. dix) and ordinal (e.g. dixième.)

(e) Adverbs:
– common forms
i) with-ment (e.g. lentement)
ii) with préposition + noun (e.g. par avion, à cheval, en voiture, par bateau.)
– special forms (e.g. bien, vite, mal, mieux, le mieux, pire, le pis, ne…que.)
– types
– manner (e.g. debout, facilement.)
– purpose (e.g. pour + infinitive, afin de + infinitive.)
– cause and consequence (e.g. pour+
infinitive perfect, à cause de + noun.)
– concession (e.g. malgré +noun.)
– place (e.g. y, en, ici, là, là-haut, partout.)
– time (e.g. hier, aujourd’hui, avant-hier, après, demain, la veille, le matin, dans un mois.)

(f) Prépositions:
– simple (e.g. à, de, avec, avant, sur, dans.)
– compound (e.g. à côté de, au milieu de.)

(g) Conjunctions:
– of co-ordination (e.g. mais, ou, et, donc, car, cependant, ne…ni.)
– of subordination (e.g. afin que, quoique, à condition que, pour que, parce que.)

(h) Articles:
– definite, indefinite and partitive.
(i) contraction e.g. à+le = au, à+les= aux
etc.

II. Assessment of vocabulary span:
words in contemporary contexts meaning, use, opposites, synonyms

III. Importance of word order in:
(a) affirmative sentences
(b) interrogative sentences
(c) imperative sentences
(d) passive voice formation

IV. Identification and application of basic processes in language structure, e.g.

(a) conjugation – in all tenses
except l’imparfait du subjonctif, le passé composé du subjonctif, et…le plus-que-parfait du subjonctif.

(b) negation (e.g. ne…pas, ne…plus, ne rien, nul ne, ne…ni..ni, ne…personne, personne…ne, aucun….ne, rien ne….etc.)

(c) agreement (e.g. les beaux arts, il
les a vues, les photos.)

(d) pluralisation (e.g. cheval/chevaux, beau/beaux, belle/belles.)

(e) derivation:
-from adj, to adv – e.g. lent-lentement, -from adj. to adj. e.g. un – premier, -from adj. to noun – e.g. bon-bonté, riche richesse, etc -from one degree of comparison to another (using plus…que,
moins….que, aussi….que e.g. plus grand que.)

NB –special forms- (e.g. bon, meilleur, le meilleur, la meilleure, mauvais, pire, le pire.)

V. Use of French in set
expressions such as in proverbs, idioms and conventional structures as provided for in common speech acts:

(a) proverbs (e.g. tel père tel fils, petit à petit l’oiseau fait son nid.)

(b) idioms (e.g. avoir une faim de loup, crier sur le toit, mourir de peur.)

(c) conventional stretches (e.g. enchanté, c’est dommage, c’est formidable, stationnement interdit, etc.)

(d) Common figures of speech eg
métaphore, simile, hyperbole.
Métaphore – Mon père est un
lion.
Simile – Elle est maigre comme
un clou.
Hyberbole – Il avait tellement faim qu’il a mangé toute une Vache.

(e) speech acts (e.g. proposer, conseiller,
regretter, admirer, espérer, interroger,
reprocher, s’accorder, etc.)
Candidates should be able to;

i. identify what constitutes the basic structures of written French,

ii. use the principles governing the structure of written French to determine acceptability, e.g. to transform one form; one class into another,

iii. apply the structure to convey diverse messages

Candidates should be able to;

i. identify meaning of words

ii. identify meaningful constructed sentences.
3. Workings of French sounds
via:

(a) sound discrimination
(e.g. tout/tu), (fais/fée.)

(b) letter-sound correspondence (e.g. ai-/e/, eau/o/.)

(c) syllabification (e.g. con/tente/ment.)

(d) liaison (e.g. trois animaux, des enfants.)

(e) sense groups in reading e.g. J’ai mal à la tête. J’ai mal/pas à la tête / mais au dos/.
Comment vas-tu, Carol?// Comment vas-
tu demain?

(f) faux amis (e.g.librairie/library, rester/to
rest, blesser/to bless.)

(g) identification of sounds to determine similarity (e.g. maison/saison, dents/don,fond/ fonde.)
Candidates should be able to;

(i) discriminate between French sounds,

(ii) deduce meanings out of sound
combinations,

(iii) use the above to enhance effective
communication,

(iv) assess sound groupings in terms of
how they are affected by such
features as syllabification, liaison,
e-caduc; pause, intonation, etc.

Download JAMB 2025 Syllabus for French

Click the button below to download the full 2025 French syllabus on your smartphone or laptop.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The syllabus is a guide, but you should complement it with past questions, current affairs knowledge, and thorough study of recommended textbooks.

Typically, there are 40–50 multiple-choice questions for French in the UTME.

Yes, once downloaded as a PDF, you can access it offline anytime.

Click on the displayed button above or visit the official JAMB portal to download the syllabus.

No, the syllabus is subject to change yearly, and of such, you must only study with the most recent released.

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