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Year 7 - French

What you can and can't do: negation with modal verbs + infinitive

Summer activities: modal verbs in two-verb structures

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils extend their knowledge of two-verb structures as modal verbs with dependent infinitives are introduced. 'Devoir' 'vouloir' and 'pouvoir' in singular persons are taught so pupils can express what they want to, have to and can do on holidays. SSCs -ien and -tion are revisited.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use modal verbs in negative structures and questions to talk about summer activities.

Key Notes

  • [ien] sounds like 'bien'.
  • [(a)in] sounds like 'train'.
  • In a two-verb sentence, make sentences negative by adding ne ... pas around the first verb, which should be conjugated.
  • Swap the position of the subject pronoun and conjugated modal verb to ask inversion questions.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • [ien]: pronounced as in 'bien'
  • [(a)in]: pronounced as in 'train'
  • negation: two elements, e.g. 'ne … pas', around the main verb expressing negative meaning
  • two-verb inversion: an inversion question using a two-verb structure: verb + pronoun + infinitive, e.g. 'Aimes-tu sortir ?'

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • 'Ne ... pas' goes around both verbs in a two-verb sentence.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

[ien] sounds like 'bien'. [(a)in] sounds like 'train'.

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

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

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: 'Ne ... pas' goes around both verbs in a two-verb sentence. Correction: 'Ne ... pas' surrounds the first verb in a two-verb sentence. If a sentence contains a modal verb and an infinitive, it will surround the conjugated modal verb.

More Lessons In This Unit

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