New
New
Year 4

Mother's day in 'la Francophonie': 'il' and 'elle' meaning 'it'

Learning outcomes

I can read and understand a text about ‘la fête des mères’ in 'la Francophonie'.

I can recognise and pronounce the soft [c/ç] sound.

New
New
Year 4

Mother's day in 'la Francophonie': 'il' and 'elle' meaning 'it'

Learning outcomes

I can read and understand a text about ‘la fête des mères’ in 'la Francophonie'.

I can recognise and pronounce the soft [c/ç] sound.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. The letter c makes a soft sound before the letters e and i. It makes a hard sound before the letters a, o and u.
  2. The letter ç (c cedilla) makes a soft sound before a, o and u.
  3. The pronouns 'il' and 'elle' can be translated as 'it' in French, as every French noun has a gender.
  4. 'La Francophonie' refers to countries in the world which share the common language of French.
  5. La fête des mères is celebrated across 'la Francophonie'.

Keywords

  • [c/ç] - pronounced as in 'ici'

  • Pronoun - word that takes the place of a noun, like 'it', 'you', 'she'

  • Il - French pronoun meaning he or it

  • Elle - French pronoun meaning she or it

  • Francophonie - a group of countries in which the language is culturally significant

Common misconception

The pronouns 'il' and 'elle' can only mean 'he' and 'she' in French.

The pronouns 'il' and 'elle' mean 'he' and 'she', they can also be translated as 'it' as all noun have a gender in French.


To help you plan your year 4 french lesson on: Mother's day in 'la Francophonie': 'il' and 'elle' meaning 'it', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Start a class discussion about French speaking countries, whether pupils have family in them, what other languages are spoken in them, research their native cultural heritage and postcolonial cultural practices.
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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.
Match the French word to its English meaning.
Correct Answer:frère,brother

brother

Correct Answer:maison,house

house

Correct Answer:film,film

film

Correct Answer:chanson,song

song

Q2.
How do you say 'sister' in French?
Correct Answer: sœur, soeur
Q3.
Which of these is the correct French word for 'to have'?
être
porter
Correct answer: avoir
chanter
Q4.
Put these numbers in the correct order from smallest to largest.
1 - deux
2 - quatre
3 - huit
4 - dix
Q5.
Choose the correct sentence that means 'I have a brother and a sister.'
Correct answer: J'ai un frère et une sœur.
Je suis un frère et une sœur.
Tu as un frère et une sœur.
Il a une mère et un père.
Q6.
Which sentence uses 'avoir' correctly?
Elle est une maison.
Correct answer: Tu as une chanson.
Il est un uniforme.
Je suis un chapeau.

5 Questions

Q1.
Match each French word to its correct English meaning.
Correct Answer:il,he or it

he or it

Correct Answer:elle,she or it

she or it

Correct Answer:sœur,sister

sister

Correct Answer:père,father

father

Q2.
What is the keyword 'la Francophonie'?
A French TV show
A group of French artists
Correct answer: Countries where French is widely spoken
A French dish
Q3.
Which word below has a soft 'c' sound?
chapeau
Correct answer: cinq
garçon
chanter
Q4.
What is the name of the mark under the letter 'ç' that makes the 'c' sound soft?
Correct Answer: cedilla, cédille
Q5.
Which of the following shows all translations for the word 'elle' in this sentence: 'Elle est grande.' ?
she
Correct answer: she, it
she, girl
girl

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