New
New
Year 4

Describe what you have: adjectives after the noun

Learning outcomes

I can describe what I, you and others have using postnominal adjectives.

I can recognise the SFe (silent final e) on regular feminine adjectives.

New
New
Year 4

Describe what you have: adjectives after the noun

Learning outcomes

I can describe what I, you and others have using postnominal adjectives.

I can recognise the SFe (silent final e) on regular feminine adjectives.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Adjectives must agree with the noun they describe in French. They can be either masculine or feminine.
  2. Regular feminine adjectives add an -e: une voiture lente. This is a SFe (silent final e).
  3. In English, adjectives come before the noun: a grey bike.
  4. In French, most adjectives go after the noun: un vélo gris. These are called postnominal adjectives.
  5. 'J'ai' means I have and 'tu as' means you have. These are singular forms of the verb avoir.

Keywords

  • SFe - silent final e at the end of a word

  • Feminine adjective - form of an adjective that describes a girl, woman or feminine noun (regular adjectives add an -e in the feminine form)

  • Postnominal adjective - adjective which comes after the noun in French e.g. un vélo gris

  • Avoir - French infinitive verb meaning 'to have, having'

Common misconception

'Il a' and 'il y a' sound similar and can be confused.

'Il a' and 'il y a', despite sounding similar, are in fact different and have different meanings. 'Il a' means he has, 'il y a' means there is or there are.


To help you plan your year 4 french lesson on: Describe what you have: adjectives after the noun, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Use realia in the classroom to describe nouns using postnominal adjectives.
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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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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word means 'hat'?
chanson
Correct answer: chapeau
uniforme
maison
phrase
Q2.
Order the numbers from smallest to biggest.
1 - deux
2 - cinq
3 - sept
4 - huit
5 - neuf
6 - dix
7 - douze
Q3.
Which word or phrase is a preposition?
film
tous les jours
vert
Correct answer: avec
et
Q4.
Which adjectives stay the same when describing a masculine or feminine noun?
Correct answer: jaune
gris
Correct answer: rapide
cher
Correct answer: rouge
Q5.
Translate into English 'il y a une souris grise'.
Correct Answer: There is a grey mouse.
Q6.
Translate into French 'you have an expensive bicycle'.
Correct Answer: Tu as un vélo cher.

6 Questions

Q1.
Which noun phrases are wrong?
une souris blanche
un cheval brun
un chien gris
Correct answer: une tortue bleu
Correct answer: un oiseau verte
Q2.
Match the French to the English.
Correct Answer:un t-shirt,a t-shirt

a t-shirt

Correct Answer:un film,a film

a film

Correct Answer:une tortue,a tortoise

a tortoise

Correct Answer:un livre,a book

a book

Correct Answer:une moto,a motorbike

a motorbike

Correct Answer:un crayon,a pencil

a pencil

Q3.
Which sentence means 'he has a funny dog'?
Il y a un chien amusant.
Il y a un chat amusant.
Il a un amusant chien.
Il a lapin gris.
Correct answer: Il a un chien amusant.
Q4.
Order these words to say 'a yellow cat and an expensive car'.
1 - un
2 - chat
3 - jaune
4 - et
5 - une
6 - voiture
7 - chère
Q5.
Translate into English: 'elle a ton crayon nouveau'.
Correct Answer: She has your new pencil.
Q6.
Translate into French: 'Do you have a blue hat?'
Correct Answer: Tu as un chapeau bleu ?

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