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Year 4 - French

Family activities: translating French present tense into English

Activities: singular regular -ER verbs

Unit Summary

In this unit, in the contexts of the Menton Carnival and family activities, pupils deepen their knowledge of different 'e' sounds, practise uses 'de' and use -er verbs in the present. They use prior knowledge of adjective agreement to describe photos of Menton's colourful citrus fruit sculptures.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to translate French present tense sentences into English.

Key Notes

  • Accents can change the pronunciation of a letter in French. The SSCs [e], [è] and [é] make different sounds.
  • 'Manger' (to eat) and 'passer' (to spend) are two regular -er verbs.
  • In French, there is only one way to talk about things in the present tense: 'je regarde'.
  • In English, there are two ways to refer to the present: 'I watch' and 'I am watchin'.
  • Regular -er verbs have the following endings in the singular form: 'je' -e, 'tu' -es, 'il' -e and 'elle' -e.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • [e]: pronounced as in 'cheval'
  • [é]: pronounced as in 'répéter'
  • [è]: pronounced as in 'frère'
  • -er verb: a verb which has an infinitive form ending in -er
  • present tense: describing an action that is currently happening, or an event that happens regularly

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Accents are interchangable and do not change the pronunication of a letter. For example, [é] and [è] make the same sound.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Accents can change the pronunciation of a letter in French. The SSCs [e], [è] and [é] make different sounds. 'Manger' (to eat) and 'passer' (to spend) are two regular -er verbs.

2. Define this key language word and use it in context. '[e]'

pronounced as in 'cheval'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: Accents are interchangable and do not change the pronunication of a letter. For example, [é] and [è] make the same sound. Correction: Accents are not interchangable, they can change the pronunication of a letter. For example, [é] and [è] make different sounds.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 4 French guide library.