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Year 8 - French

Brussels: perfect tense intonation questions

Past experiences: -ER verbs in the present and past

Unit Summary

The perfect tense with 'avoir' for -er verbs, faire and dire is extended for all singular forms. Intonation and 'est-ce que' questions and negation in the present and perfect tenses are practised, and 'il y a' is contrasted with 'il y avait'. Open eu,oeu, open o and closed o,ô are taught.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use the perfect tense to form intonation questions with 'ce, cet, cette and ces'.

Key Notes

  • The [r] is a common sound in French and is tricky to pronounce, so keep practising your tongue-twisters!
  • 'Ce, cet, cette and ces' are demonstrative adjectives, used to specify which noun you are referring to.
  • 'Ce' means 'this' for masculine nouns, 'cet' if they start with a vowel or 'h'. 'Cette' goes before feminine nouns.
  • 'Ces' goes with all plural nouns and means 'these'.
  • We can add a demonstrative adjective to an intonation question to make it more specific.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • [r]: sound-symbol correspondence like the [r] in 'rue'
  • ce, cet, cette, ces: demonstrative adjectives indicating 'this' and 'these'
  • demonstrative adjective: a word to specificy a particular noun, indicating 'this', 'that', 'these' or 'those'
  • intonation questions: questions that are formed by raising the tone of voice at the end of a statement

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • I can express 'this' for all masculine nouns with 'ce'.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

The [r] is a common sound in French and is tricky to pronounce, so keep practising your tongue-twisters! 'Ce, cet, cette and ces' are demonstrative adjectives, used to specify which noun you are referring to.

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

sound-symbol correspondence like the [r] in 'rue'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: I can express 'this' for all masculine nouns with 'ce'. Correction: There is another way of expressing 'this' in French for masculine nouns, which is 'cet', this is for masculine nouns beginning with a vowel or an 'h'.

More Lessons In This Unit

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