Usage Note
Exam is an informal clipping of examen ('examination') used widely in spoken French among students. While examen is the standard written form, exam appears freely in informal registers and text messages: j'ai un exam demain ('I have an exam tomorrow'). The plural is des exams.
Examples
"J'ai raté mon exam de maths."
Natural Translation
I failed my math exam.

Free starter pack
Building your French vocabulary?
Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.
Related Words
Explore French by topic