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A2 Lesson 3 of 3 · Capitals & Punctuation

The apostrophe and the hyphen

Know when to elide (l’, j’, qu’) and when to use a hyphen (questions, numbers, compound words).

13 min · 8 activities

In this lesson you will

  • Elide le, la, je, ne, de, que, si before a vowel
  • Use the hyphen in inversion and -t-
  • Write compound numbers with hyphens
QuizFill inDictation

Lesson summary

The key points to remember, for revision.

  • 1Elision before a vowel / silent h: l’, j’, m’, t’, s’, n’, d’, qu’.
  • 2Si → s’ only before il / ils.
  • 3Inversion with a hyphen; add -t- between two vowels: a-t-il, va-t-elle.
  • 4Numbers: vingt-deux, quatre-vingt-dix, but vingt et un, trente et un.

Key vocabulary

l’apostrophe (f.)apostrophe
le trait d’unionhyphen
l’arc-en-ciel (m.)rainbow