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Year 9 - French

Emergency services: -er verbs in the perfect tense with 'être'

Past and present events: perfect tense, negation, questions

Unit Summary

Pupils deepen their knowledge of the perfect tense, question forms and negation. '-er verbs taking être in the perfect and the negative 'ne...jamais' are introduced . Pupils apply changes in register (tu vs vous, on vs nous), use emphatic pronouns 'moi' and 'toi' and the relative pronoun 'qui'.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use the perfect tense to talk about medical situations in France.

Key Notes

  • 'S' at the beginning of a word is soft 's' (sont) but a single 's' between vowels is a hard 's' ('vous êtes').
  • All French people have a 'Carte Vitale' necessary to use French health services. Call the SAMU in a medical emergency.
  • The present tense has one conjugated verb; the perfect tense has two verbs, a part of avoir/être + a past participle.
  • Use a conjugated form of 'avoir' with most verbs but use 'être' with movement verbs, and past participles must agree.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • 's' liaison: pronouncing a usually silent final consonant because a word starting with a vowel follows
  • perfect tense: a verb tense that describes completed actions in the past e.g. 'I said', 'she played'

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Every 's' at the end of a word is silent because of the silent final consonant rule.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

'S' at the beginning of a word is soft 's' (sont) but a single 's' between vowels is a hard 's' ('vous êtes'). All French people have a 'Carte Vitale' necessary to use French health services. Call the SAMU in a medical emergency.

2. Define this key language word and use it in context. ''s' liaison'

pronouncing a usually silent final consonant because a word starting with a vowel follows. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: Every 's' at the end of a word is silent because of the silent final consonant rule. Correction: Usually 's' is silent at the end of a word but if the next word starts with a vowel, you usually hear liaison, whereby the final consonant is pronounced. When the final consonat is 's', it sounds like the hard 's' in 'maison'.

More Lessons In This Unit

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