Year 9 - French
School in France - then and now: -er verbs imperfect tense
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 understand and use the imperfect tense in the 1st person to describe what you do now and used to do in the context of school.
Key Notes
- [s] is pronounced as in 'maison'.
- Add 'la' to sixième, cinquième, quatrième + troisième to say school years. The lower the number, the older the pupils.
- In English, knowledge is singular + plural. When you have lots of knowledge in French, add s for plural, connissances
- Use the imperfect tense to talk about events and actions that used to happen regularly in the past.
- For the 1st person imperfect, take je + the stem of present tense 'nous' form. Add the ending -ais. e.g. 'je regardais'.
Vocabulary To Learn
- [s]: pronounced as in 'maison'
- imperfect tense: tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past, or to say what was happening
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- School years work the same in English and French.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
[s] is pronounced as in 'maison'. Add 'la' to sixième, cinquième, quatrième + troisième to say school years. The lower the number, the older the pupils.
2. Define this key language word and use it in context. '[s]'
pronounced as in 'maison'. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: School years work the same in English and French. Correction: French uses 'la' before ordinal numbers for school years, the lower the number, the higher the school year e.g. 'sixième' is equivalent to Y7 and 'cinquième' is Y8. Use 'en' to say you're in a school year e.g. 'en sixième'.
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
- Montreal - habitual and one-off past events: imperfect and perfect Study Guide
- Primary and secondary school: -er verbs imperfect tense, ordinal numbers Study Guide
- Spring holidays: perfect tense with 'être', pronouns 'moi', 'toi', 'qui' Study Guide
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