New
New
Year 6

Activities at home: questions with 'qu'est-ce que …'

I can use 'qu'est-ce que' with singular 'faire' to ask what others are doing.

New
New
Year 6

Activities at home: questions with 'qu'est-ce que …'

I can use 'qu'est-ce que' with singular 'faire' to ask what others are doing.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. It is important to revisit French vocabulary regularly to keep our knowledge strong and healthy (like a plant!).
  2. I do, make is 'je fais', you do, make is 'tu fais', 'he does, makes' is 'il fait' and 'she does, makes' is 'elle fait'.
  3. 'Faire' can be used with a range of nouns to express different activities e.g. 'faire la cuisine' (to do the cooking).
  4. To make a yes/no question clear, we can add 'est-ce que' (‘is it that…?) at the start of any statement.
  5. To ask a ‘what’ question, we can add 'qu'est-ce que' (‘what is it that…?’) at the start of any statement.

Keywords

  • Faire - French verb which means 'to do, doing' or 'to make, making'

  • Qu'est-ce que - French 'what' question, literally: 'what is it that ...'

Common misconception

I have to pronounce every syllable of 'qu'est-ce que'.

When you say it slowly there are five separate syllables in 'qu'est-ce que' but in conversation we should naturally speed up the pronunciation and pronounce four syllables, we leave out the 'ce'.


To help you plan your year 6 French lesson on: Activities at home: questions with 'qu'est-ce que …', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Allow good time for pronunciation practice in this lesson. 'Qu'est-ce que' is quite a challenging phrase to master.
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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.
What is 'Mardi Gras'?

Boxing Day
Saint-Jean-Baptiste-Day
Eid al-Fitr
Correct answer: Shrove Tuesday
Independence Day

Q2.
Which of the words means 'west'?

nord
Correct answer: ouest
est
sud

Q3.
What is the meaning of 'aller'?

to be, being
to have, having
to like, liking
Correct answer: to go, going
to do, doing

Q4.
Match the parts of the verb 'aller'.

Correct Answer:je,vais

vais

Correct Answer:tu,vas

vas

Correct Answer:elle, il,va

va

Q5.
Put the days of the week in the correct order.

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

Q6.
Write 'to have, having' in French.

Correct Answer: avoir

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which sentence means 'you do the cooking'?

tu fais le ménage
tu fais un voyage
tu fais les courses
Correct answer: tu fais la cuisine
tu fais les devoirs

Q2.
'Est-ce qu’il fait les courses ?' Choose the correct translations.

Correct answer: Does he do the shopping?
Is she doing the shopping?
What is she doing?
Correct answer: Is he doing the shopping?
Why is he doing the shopping?

Q3.
Order the words to form a question.

1 - qu
2 - '
3 - est
4 - -ce
5 - que
6 - tu
7 - fais

Q4.
Order the words to form a sentence, starting with 'no'.

1 - non
2 - je
3 - ne
4 - fais
5 - pas
6 - les
7 - courses

Q5.
'Do you do your homework?' - ' tu fais tes devoirs?'. Write the missing word.

Correct Answer: est-ce que

Q6.
Write in French: 'I am not going'.

Correct Answer: je ne vais pas

Additional material

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