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      Family activities: translating French present tense into English

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can translate French present tense sentences into English.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. Accents can change the pronunciation of a letter in French. The SSCs [e], [è] and [é] make different sounds.
      2. 'Manger' (to eat) and 'passer' (to spend) are two regular -er verbs.
      3. In French, there is only one way to talk about things in the present tense: 'je regarde'.
      4. In English, there are two ways to refer to the present: 'I watch' and 'I am watchin'.
      5. Regular -er verbs have the following endings in the singular form: 'je' -e, 'tu' -es, 'il' -e and 'elle' -e.

      Keywords

      • [e] - pronounced as in 'cheval'

      • [é] - pronounced as in 'répéter'

      • [è] - pronounced as in 'frère'

      • -er verb - a verb which has an infinitive form ending in -er

      • Present tense - describing an action that is currently happening, or an event that happens regularly

      Common misconception

      Accents are interchangable and do not change the pronunication of a letter. For example, [é] and [è] make the same sound.

      Accents are not interchangable, they can change the pronunication of a letter. For example, [é] and [è] make different sounds.

      Teacher tip

      Allow pupils to research how their name is pronounced in French.

      Licence

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
      except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
      (Collection 2).

      Lesson video

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      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the French to the English.

      Correct Answer:chanter,to sing, singing
      Correct Answer:donner,to give, giving
      Correct Answer:porter,to wear, wearing
      Correct Answer:parler,to speak, speaking
      Correct Answer:regarder,to watch, watching
      Correct Answer:écouter,to listen, listening

      Q2.
      Which French word(s) have the [é] sound.

      Correct answer: école
      tête
      frère
      Correct answer: été
      père

      Q3.
      Which is the correct translation for 'he is preparing lunch'.

      Il mange le déjeuner.
      Elle écoute une chanson.
      Il parle français.
      Correct answer: Il prépare le déjeuner.
      Tu prépares le fruit.

      Q4.
      Translate into the following sentence into English: 'Tu portes un chapeau'.

      Correct Answer: You are wearing a hat., You wear a hat.

      Q5.
      Translate into French 'he is speaking English'

      Correct Answer: Il parle anglais.

      Q6.
      Match the French to the English.

      Correct Answer:Tu passes le weekend avec ton frère,You spend the weekend with your brother
      Correct Answer:Je passe le weekend avec mon frère,I spend the weekend with my brother
      Correct Answer:Il passe le weekend avec son frère,He spends the weekend with his brother
      Correct Answer:Elle passe le weekend avec son frère,She spends the weekend with her brother
      Correct Answer:Passer le weekend avec son frère,To spend the weekend with one's brother

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Which word(s) makes the [è] sound.

      répéter
      écrire
      Correct answer: problème
      second
      Correct answer: mère

      Q2.
      Match the French to the English.

      Correct Answer:le weekend,weekend
      Correct Answer:le déjeuner,lunch
      Correct Answer:le cadeau,present
      Correct Answer:le chapeau,hat
      Correct Answer:l'uniforme,uniform
      Correct Answer:la chanson,song

      Q3.
      Which sentence means 'I am eating fruit'.

      Je prépare le fruit.
      Tu manges le fruit.
      Elle mange le fruit.
      Tu manges le déjeuner.
      Correct answer: Je mange le fruit.

      Q4.
      Which of the following translate this sentence: 'Tu chantes à la radio' ?

      You sing a song.
      Correct answer: You sing on the radio.
      You listen to music.
      I sing on the radio.
      Correct answer: You are singing on the radio.

      Q5.
      Complete this sentence 'Il un uniforme à l'école.'

      Correct Answer: porte

      Q6.
      Translate into French 'she gives a present to her mother'.

      Correct Answer: Elle donne un cadeau à sa mère

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