Year 11 - French
On a fait les courses : irregular past participles, perfect tense modal verbs
Popular culture: La vie quotidienne
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit focuses on mastering the use of reflexive pronouns and verbs. It also revisits perfect and imperfect tenses, relative clauses and negation, and introduces the past participles of modal verbs. There is a further focus on avant de + infinitive and après avoir + past participle.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to describe a food shopping trip in France, using a range of past participles, including modal verbs.
Key Notes
- Three common irregular verbs and their past participles are: avoir (eu), faire (fait), boire (bu).
- [u] is pronounced as in 'tu'. Many past participles end in 'u' and rhyme with each other.
- The past participles of the four modal verbs are: dû, pu, voulu, and su.
- Modal verbs in the perfect tense use 'avoir' as the auxiliary verb.
Vocabulary To Learn
- irregular: describes a word that does not follow the regular pattern
- past participle: verb form that forms the perfect tense, together with the auxiliary verb
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- It is easy to predict the past participles of irregular verbs.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
Three common irregular verbs and their past participles are: avoir (eu), faire (fait), boire (bu). [u] is pronounced as in 'tu'. Many past participles end in 'u' and rhyme with each other.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'irregular'
describes a word that does not follow the regular pattern. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: It is easy to predict the past participles of irregular verbs. Correction: The past participles of irregular verbs must be learnt carefully. There are, however, similarities that are worth noting e.g. many irregular past participles end -u e.g. pu, voulu, cru, su.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Après avoir préparé : 'après avoir' + past participle Study Guide
- Avant de passer un examen : prepositions with the infinitive Study Guide
- Ils m'inspirent : extended writing Study Guide
- Ils s'entendent bien : reflexive pronouns Study Guide
- J'ai dû attendre : irregular past participles, modal verbs present and past Study Guide
- Je sortais la poubelle quand ... :perfect, imperfect, relative clauses, negation Study Guide
- La vie quotidienne : perfect and imperfect tenses, relative clauses and negation Study Guide
- On est prêt à tout : avant de, après avoir Study Guide
- On fait les magasins et les courses : extending vocabulary Study Guide
- On peut acheter : present tense modal verbs Study Guide
- Qui a fait le ménage ? Perfect tense, relative clauses, negation Study Guide
- Une journée dans la vie d'un groupe francophone : reflexive pronouns Study Guide
Browse all guides in the Year 11 French guide library.