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Year 9 - French

Religion in Francophonie: feminine and plural nouns

People and places: present and perfect tense

Unit Summary

Pupils revisit present and perfect tenses, two verb structures after aller, aimer and modal verbs and inversion questions in single and two-verb structures. The verb croire is introduced in singular persons, and feminine and plural noun formation and possessive adjectives are revised and extended.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to read and understand sentences about secularism in France.

Key Notes

  • Nationality and religious adjectives can become nouns when used with an article. These are identity nouns.
  • Religious nouns do not use capital letters, unlike nationality nouns. Le musulman - l'Algérien.
  • There is no article 'un/une' after 'être' when using nouns to describe identity. Il est Anglais: He is an Englishman.
  • Nouns ending in -ien often change to -ienne in the feminine form: le chrétien - la chrétienne.
  • To make nouns plural, we usually add an -s. Nouns ending in -eu, -(e)au, -al or -ail make their plurals with -(au)x.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • identity noun: noun describing one's identity, religion or profession, having different forms based on the gender of the person it is referring to: un Italien - une Italienne
  • feminine: form for nouns with feminine grammatical gender: la foi, une Canadienne
  • plural: form for nouns that refers to more than one person place, thing or idea: des Canadiens

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Like non-person or object nouns, identity nouns exist in only one form and gender.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Nationality and religious adjectives can become nouns when used with an article. These are identity nouns. Religious nouns do not use capital letters, unlike nationality nouns. Le musulman - l'Algérien.

2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'identity noun'

noun describing one's identity, religion or profession, having different forms based on the gender of the person it is referring to: un Italien - une Italienne. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: Like non-person or object nouns, identity nouns exist in only one form and gender. Correction: Unlike non-person or object nouns, identity nouns can have both masculine and feminine forms: le chrétien - la chrétienne. This is the same as other French person nouns you may know, e.g. le directeur/la directrice.

More Lessons In This Unit

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