Year 8 - French
Illness and accidents: irregular past participles, perfect tense questions
Past events: the perfect tense, questions
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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 extend their knowledge of the perfect tense as they practise asking intonation, inversion and est-ce que questions in the perfect tense. They learn irregular past participles, practise the two English translations (I did, I have done) for the French perfect tense
Lesson Summary
You will learn to say what hurts in the present and what hurt in the past (present perfect) using irregular past participles.
Key Notes
- The SSC [j/soft g] is pronounced as in 'jambe'. The letter 'g' can be soft or hard in French: 'la gare', 'la gymnase'.
- The SSC [gn] is pronounced as in 'ligne'.
- The expression 'avoir mal' means to be 'in pain' or 'hurt'. 'J'ai eu mal' is the perfect tense: 'I have had, had pain'.
- 'Eu' is an irregular past participle. Other irregular past participles are 'fait' (faire), 'bu' (boire), 'dit' (dire).
- Perfect tense questions can be translated in two different ways: 'Tu as bu ?' - 'Did you drink?', 'Have you drunk?'.
Vocabulary To Learn
- [j/g]: pronounced as in 'jambe'
- [gn]: pronounced as in 'ligne'
- avoir mal: expression meaning to be 'in pain' or 'hurt'
- past participle: verb that forms the perfect tense, usually together with a present tense form of 'avoir'
- perfect tense: a verb tense that describes completed actions in the past, e.g. 'I listened', 'you played'
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- All past participles follow the regular -er verb pattern: change the -er to -é: 'j'ai commencé' ('I started').
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
The SSC [j/soft g] is pronounced as in 'jambe'. The letter 'g' can be soft or hard in French: 'la gare', 'la gymnase'. The SSC [gn] is pronounced as in 'ligne'.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. '[j/g]'
pronounced as in 'jambe'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: All past participles follow the regular -er verb pattern: change the -er to -é: 'j'ai commencé' ('I started'). Correction: Some past participles are irregular and do not follow the regular -er verb pattern: 'j'ai fait' ('I did').
More Lessons In This Unit
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