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Year 9 - French

Winter celebrations: partitive articles

Winter celebrations: present tense, adjectives, comparatives, partitive

Unit Summary

In this unit, based mainly on the present tense, pupils refresh their knowledge of adjective positioning, comparatives, and the use of de as partitive article and after expressions of quantity.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use the partitive article to talk about traditional food and drink on festive occasions in the French-speaking world.

Key Notes

  • Use un/une to talk about whole things, and du/de la/de l' (the partitive article) to talk about 'part' of something.
  • Whole things are normally countable – you can put 'a' or a number in front of them.
  • Some nouns are uncountable. You can't put 'a' or a number in front of them. Uncountable nouns only take the partitive.
  • The partitive article changes to 'de' after a quantity and in negatives.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • partitive article: refers to part of something; often means 'some' in English

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Use the partitive article with all uncountable nouns, even negatives.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

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

Use un/une to talk about whole things, and du/de la/de l' (the partitive article) to talk about 'part' of something. Whole things are normally countable – you can put 'a' or a number in front of them.

2. Define this key language word and use it in context. 'partitive article'

refers to part of something; often means 'some' in English. Say or write it in a short sentence so you use the word actively.

3. Correct this common language-learning mistake.

Mistake: Use the partitive article with all uncountable nouns, even negatives. Correction: After quantities and negatives use 'de/d' instead of the partitive article. E.g Il y a beaucoup de riz. Il n'y a pas de riz.

More Lessons In This Unit

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