Year 9 - French
Montreal - habitual and one-off past events: imperfect and perfect
How things used to be: imperfect tense, ordinal numbers
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
Pupils are introduced firstly to -er verbs in the imperfect tense to describe habitual events in the past. The imperfect of common irregular verbs is added, before pupils then contrast one-off and habitual events with the perfect vs imperfect tenses, practising this with known and new vocabulary.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to use the imperfect and perfect tenses to talk about one-off events and events that happened regularly.
Key Notes
- Adjectives ending -al in English often end in -al or more commonly -el in French. The feminine form is -elle.
- Use the perfect tense for specific one-off past events and the imperfect for regularly repeated past events.
- Use the present tense of avoir/être and a past participle to form the perfect tense.
- Use the present tense of the 'nous' form, remove -ons and add -ais/ait for the singular imperfect tense.
- The verb shows if the action used to happen all the time or was a single, completed event; time phrases give detail.
Vocabulary To Learn
- imperfect tense: tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- You can use a time phrase to show whether you mean a completed action in the past or a regular past event/activity.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
Adjectives ending -al in English often end in -al or more commonly -el in French. The feminine form is -elle. Use the perfect tense for specific one-off past events and the imperfect for regularly repeated past events.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'imperfect tense'
tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: You can use a time phrase to show whether you mean a completed action in the past or a regular past event/activity. Correction: In French, the verb alone already shows whether you mean a completed action in the past (use the formation rule for the perfect tense) or a regular past event/activity (use the formation rule for the imperfect tense). Time phrases can also be added.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Celebrities: perfect and imperfect Study Guide
- Childhood: present and imperfect tenses, 'il y a' meaning 'ago' Study Guide
- Childhood: then and now: key - RE and -IR verbs in the imperfect tense Study Guide
- Montreal - a diverse city: imperfect tense singular Study Guide
- Primary and secondary school: -er verbs imperfect tense, ordinal numbers Study Guide
- School in France - then and now: -er verbs imperfect tense Study Guide
- Spring holidays: perfect tense with 'être', pronouns 'moi', 'toi', 'qui' Study Guide
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