How do you know when to use « a » or « à » in French?

a is the verb avoir, so you can replace it with avait: elle a deux enfants → elle avait deux enfants. à is a preposition (to, at, in) and never can: je vais à Montréal.

What is the difference between « ces », « ses », « c’est » and « s’est »?

ces points at things (these, those), ses means his or her for several things (swap with mes), c’est means it is (swap with c’était), and s’est is a reflexive verb in the past: elle s’est levée.

Is it « quand » or « quant »?

quand means when and can be replaced by lorsque: quand il pleut. quant only exists in quant à, “as for”: quant à moi, je reste.

Is Darts free to play?

Yes. The first 6 levels are free with no sign-up, and levels 7 to 12 are free with an account, which also saves your stars on every device. Levels 13 to 30 come with Premium, together with every 3D game’s later levels and all the mock tests.

French homophones practice: a darts game for a ou à and more

Les fléchettes

French homophones sound the same and are spelled differently, so your ear can’t help you: a or à, ces or ses, quand or quant. In this darts game every dart is a sentence with a gap, and the board is split into wedges, one per spelling. Aim, throw, and hit the right one. Thirty levels go from a ou à to quoique and davantage, and every wrong dart shows you the swap test that settles it.

3 min a round
30 levels
First 6 levels free, no sign-up
Writing
Reading

3D game: plays full screen on phones.

Loading the 3D game…

30 levels, 5 worlds

From the basics to exam speed

Each level is one round of about 3 minutes. Win a star to open the next level, and replay for three stars. The first 6 levels are free with no sign-up, levels 7–12 with a free account, and Premium opens all 30.

World 1 · levels 1–6
The corner pub
Les classiques
The first homophones: a or à, et or est, ou or où.
· Free, no sign-up
World 2 · levels 7–12
Seaside bar
Les petits mots
son / sont, on / ont, ce / se, sa / ça, then ces, ses, c’est, s’est.
· Free account
World 3 · levels 13–18
Sugar shack
Les pièges du quotidien
la / là / l’a, peu / peut, mais / mes, quand / quant, sans / s’en.
· Premium
World 4 · levels 19–24
Paris bistro
Les terminaisons
manger, mangé, mangez? Then leur / leurs, quel / qu’elle and tout / tous.
· Premium
World 5 · levels 25–30
Neon arcade
Le niveau B2
plutôt / plus tôt, quoique / quoi que, ni / n’y, si / s’y, davantage, then everything.
· Premium

How to play

1Read the sentence: one word is missing, and it sounds like the others on the board.
2Aim at the wedge with the right spelling and let go. The treble and double rings pay a bonus.
3A wrong word shows what each one is and a quick swap test to tell them apart.

What it trains

Telling apart the homophones that cost the most marks in written French: a / à, et / est, ou / où, son / sont, on / ont, ce / se, ces / ses / c’est / s’est, la / là / l’a, peu / peut, quand / quant / qu’en, leur / leurs, quel / qu’elle, tout / tous, the -é / -er / -ez endings of verbs, and B2 pairs like plutôt / plus tôt.

Why it matters for TCF and TEF Canada

In the TCF Canada and TEF Canada writing tasks, examiners mark spelling and grammar together, and homophone mistakes are among the most frequent errors they see. They are easy points to lose in every paragraph, and easy to win back once the swap tests are automatic, which helps your writing score toward NCLC 7 for Express Entry.

Practise writing in the real format: TCF Canada writing practice · TEF Canada writing practice

Learn while you play

Rules and tips to remember

Swap it with the imparfait
If avait fits, write a; if était fits, write est; if avaient fits, write ont: il a faim → il avait faim. If nothing fits, it’s à, et or on.
Swap the possessive
son, sa and ses can become mon, ma and mes; ces can’t, but it takes -là after the noun: ces livres-là.
Swap the verb ending with vendre
Not sure between manger, mangé and mangez? Put vendre, vendu or vendez in its place: you can hear which one is right.