Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Back to Study HubBrowse Year 8 French Guides

Year 8 - French

How do you say that? Articles, 'il y a' and 'il n'y a pas'

Say and write new words in French: gender, nouns, alphabet

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils revisit and consolidate prior grammar learning, known vocabulary and sounds of the language. They specifically revisit articles, gender and number, possessive adjectives, il y a, il n'y a pas de and the French alphabet.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to recall a number of nouns with their definite and indefinite articles and say what there is and isn't using 'il y a' and 'il n'y a pas de'.

Key Notes

  • Sound-symbol correspondences help us with spelling and pronunciation of new and familiar vocabulary.
  • All nouns have a grammatical gender in French, masculine or feminine.
  • The indefinite article is 'un' for masculine singular nouns, 'une' for feminine singular nouns and 'des' for plurals.
  • The French definite articles are 'le, 'la', 'l''and 'les'.
  • Use 'il y a' + indefinite article/number say what there is and 'il n' y a pas' + de/d' to say what there isn't.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • sound-symbol correspondence: relationship between letters and their sounds
  • noun: word for a person, place or thing
  • gender: grammatical categorisation of all nouns as masculine or feminine

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Use the same articles after 'il y a' and 'il n'y a pas'.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Sound-symbol correspondences help us with spelling and pronunciation of new and familiar vocabulary. All nouns have a grammatical gender in French, masculine or feminine.

2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'sound-symbol correspondence'

relationship between letters and their sounds. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: Use the same articles after 'il y a' and 'il n'y a pas'. Correction: Use the indefinite article, depending on gender and number after 'il y a' but after 'il n' y a pas', always use de regardless of gender/number and d' for any nouns starting with a vowel.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 8 French guide library.