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Year 10 - French

C'est de famille ! Gender and number agreement with nouns

My personal world: Ma famille

Unit Summary

This unit revisits definite, indefinite and partitive articles, possessive adjectives, as well as adjective agreement and positioning rules. Pupils will learn one further adjective agreement rule. Lessons also further practise liaison and silent final letters.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to apply rules to ensure gender and number agreement of nouns when describing family.

Key Notes

  • There are 4 ways to turn a masculine noun into a feminine noun: add an e, change article, -n to -nne, -eur to -rice.
  • If a masculine noun ends in -e, there's no change for feminine; if it ends in -s or -x, there's no change for plural.
  • We usually make nouns plural by adding -s. Nouns ending in -eu, -(e)au, -al, or -ail make their plurals with -x.
  • [ien] sounds like 'bien', [eu/oeu] sounds like 'coeur', [eu] sounds like 'deux' and [au] sounds like 'gauche'.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • [o], [au], [eau]: all oropronounced like the [o] in moto
  • agreement: the way , adjec or nouns change according to gender and number

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • The only way to form the singular of a feminine noun is to add -e. The only way to form the plural of a noun is to add -s.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.

There are 4 ways to turn a masculine noun into a feminine noun: add an e, change article, -n to -nne, -eur to -rice. If a masculine noun ends in -e, there's no change for feminine; if it ends in -s or -x, there's no change for plural.

2. Define this key language word and use it in context. '[o], [au], [eau]'

all oropronounced like the [o] in moto. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: The only way to form the singular of a feminine noun is to add -e. The only way to form the plural of a noun is to add -s. Correction: There are 4 ways to form feminine nouns which need careful practice. Similarly, there is more than one way to form plural nouns depending upon the final letter of the singular noun.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 10 French guide library.