Year 7 - French
Describe places: common irregular and pre-nominal adjectives
Paris and Nice: adjective placement
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils learn and practise the position of certain common adjectives before the noun. They practise irregular feminine forms of some high frequency adjectives. Pupils also revisit ç and soft c and a range of other SSCs as they revisit high frequency vocabulary in describing places.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to describe a French town using pre-nominal and common irregular adjectives.
Key Notes
- The letter 'c' is naturally soft (sounds like 's') before 'e' or 'i'. It is hard (sounds like k) before 'a', 'o' or 'u'.
- The 'c' is sometimes softened before 'a', 'o' or 'u' with a cedilla: 'ç'.
- Many adjectives add an 'e' in the feminine form. Some adjectives are irregular in the feminine e.g. beau (m), belle (f).
- Most adjectives come after the noun in French: 'un livre intéressant'.
- Some adjectives go before the noun. These adjectives refer to beauty, age, good/bad and size (BAGS): 'un vieux vélo'.
Vocabulary To Learn
- [c]: makes a soft sound (like 's') before 'e' or 'i': 'ici', makes a hard sound (like 'k') before 'a', 'o' and 'u': canard
- [ç]: makes a soft sound before 'a', 'o' or 'u', pronounced as in 'français'
- irregular feminine adjective: an adjective in the feminine form that does not follow the regular pattern: 'beau' (m), 'belle' (f)
- pre-nominal adjective: a BAGS adjective (beauty, age, good/bad or size) that goes before the noun: 'un vieux vélo'
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- All adjectives go after the noun in French, the opposite to the word order of nouns and adjectives in English.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
The letter 'c' is naturally soft (sounds like 's') before 'e' or 'i'. It is hard (sounds like k) before 'a', 'o' or 'u'. The 'c' is sometimes softened before 'a', 'o' or 'u' with a cedilla: 'ç'.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. '[c]'
makes a soft sound (like 's') before 'e' or 'i': 'ici', makes a hard sound (like 'k') before 'a', 'o' and 'u': canard. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: All adjectives go after the noun in French, the opposite to the word order of nouns and adjectives in English. Correction: Most adjectives do go after the noun in French, however some adjectives go before the noun, these are pre-nominal adjectives. They refer to age, beauty, goodness and size (BAGS).
More Lessons In This Unit
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