Year 9 - French
Historical figures: imperfect tense
Ongoing past events: imperfect tense
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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 re-examine être and avoir in the imperfect tense in singular form, and add aller and faire in the imperfect what people used to do. The imperfect is then contrasted with the perfect tense to distinguish between ongoing vs specific events. The verb 'voir' is introduced.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to use the imperfect tense in the singular forms to understand and describe historic figures.
Key Notes
- The imperfect tense is used to talk about things that used to happen regularly in the past.
- To form, take the nous form of the present tense, remove -ons, add -ais (1st/2nd persons) or -ait (3rd persons).
- The imperfect tense of il y a is il y avait, which means 'there used to be' or 'there was/were'.
Vocabulary To Learn
- 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
- The imperfect tense is always translated as 'used to' in English.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain what you can now say or understand in this lesson.
The imperfect tense is used to talk about things that used to happen regularly in the past. To form, take the nous form of the present tense, remove -ons, add -ais (1st/2nd persons) or -ait (3rd persons).
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, or to say what was happening. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.
3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.
Mistake: The imperfect tense is always translated as 'used to' in English. Correction: The imperfect tense is often translated as 'used to' in English but sometimes the simple past is used instead to convey repeated past actions.
More Lessons In This Unit
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