New
New
Year 5

Cousins: 'vous êtes' and plural adjective agreement

Learning outcomes

I can write sentences describing what 'you are' (pl) like, using 'vous êtes' and plural adjective agreement.

I can recognise, pronounce and contrast the SSCs [ou] and [u].

New
New
Year 5

Cousins: 'vous êtes' and plural adjective agreement

Learning outcomes

I can write sentences describing what 'you are' (pl) like, using 'vous êtes' and plural adjective agreement.

I can recognise, pronounce and contrast the SSCs [ou] and [u].

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. The SSCs [u] and [ou] make a different sound. [u] is pronounced as in 'tu' and [ou] is pronounced as in 'nous'.
  2. There are two different ways of saying 'you' in French: 'tu' and 'vous'.
  3. 'Tu es' means 'you are' when talking to one person. 'vous êtes' means 'you are' when talking to more than one person.
  4. 'Rarement', 'maintenant', 'souvent' and 'toujours' are adverbs meaning 'rarely', 'now', 'often' and 'always'.
  5. Adjectives change spelling based on the gender and number of the noun they describe. This is called adjective agreement.

Keywords

  • [ou] - SSC (sound-symbol correspondence) pronounced as in 'vous'

  • [u] - SSC (sound-symbol correspondence) pronounced as in 'tu'

  • Être - French verb meaning 'to be'

  • Vous êtes - French verb meaning 'you are' (pl)

  • Adjective agreement - an adjective matching the noun it describes in gender and number

Common misconception

There is one way of saying 'you' in French.

There are in fact two ways of saying 'you' in French: 'tu' and 'vous'. We use 'tu' when talking to one person and 'vous' when talking to more than one person.


To help you plan your year 5 French lesson on: Cousins: 'vous êtes' and plural adjective agreement, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Ask pupils to make sentences and address classmates with either 'tu es' or 'vous êtes' and with a correct adjective agreement.
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Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), 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

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6 Questions

Q1.
Put the words in order to ask the date of a birthday.

1 - quelle
2 - est
3 - la
4 - date
5 - de
6 - ton
7 - anniversaire

Q2.
Which month is missing from this sequence? avril, mai, juin, juillet, septembre, octobre.

Correct Answer: aout

Q3.
Put the days of the week in order starting with Sunday.

1 - dimanche
2 - lundi
3 - mardi
4 - mercredi
5 - jeudi
6 - vendredi
7 - samedi

Q4.
Match the adjectives.

Correct Answer:drôle,amusing

amusing

Correct Answer:fort,strong

strong

Correct Answer:grand,tall

tall

Correct Answer:jeune,young

young

Correct Answer:calme,calm

calm

Correct Answer:méchant,mean, naughty

mean, naughty

Q5.
Translate ' Il est absent'?

Correct Answer: He is absent, He's absent, he is not here, he's not here, he is away

Q6.
You are wise / well-behaved.

Tu es indépendant
Tu es important
Tu es seul
Correct answer: Tu es sage
Tu es méchant

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the parts of the verb 'être' (to be)

Correct Answer:Je,suis

suis

Correct Answer:Tu,es

es

Correct Answer:Il/Elle,est

est

Correct Answer:Nous,sommes

sommes

Correct Answer:Vous,êtes

êtes

Q2.
Which of these phrases means 'you are'?

Correct answer: tu es
nous sommes
il est
Correct answer: vous êtes
elle est

Q3.
es anglais? Which word for you should you use here?

Correct Answer: tu

Q4.
What is 'souvent' in English?

rarely
now
Correct answer: often
always

Q5.
Elle est . Which is the correct word?

intelligent
Correct answer: intelligente
intelligentes
intelligents

Q6.
How would you say, I am worried, in French?

Je suis timide
Correct answer: Je suis inquièt
Je suis sérieux
Je suis triste
Je suis calme

Additional material

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