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      A birthday: -er verbs 'she, he'

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can use a range of singular verbs and definite articles to talk about birthday activities.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. For closed [eu] the tongue is near the top of the mouth, for open [eu] the tongue is near the bottom of the mouth.
      2. The definite article 'the' in French is 'le' for masculine and 'la' for feminine nouns.
      3. L' is the definite article used in front of masculine and feminine nouns starting with a vowel sound.

      Keywords

      • [eu] - Pronounced closed [eu] as in 'un peu' and open [eu] as in 'peur'

      • Noun - a word for a person, place or thing

      • Definite article - the words le, la and l' meaning the

      • Grammatical gender - way to categorise all nouns as feminine or masculine

      Common misconception

      l' is only for feminine nouns.

      l' is the article for all nouns starting with a vowel sound.

      Teacher tip

      Put labels around the room on school furniture and objects with the French name and articles so that the pupils are exposed to the language outside of French lesson time. You might invite them to label objects in their home too.

      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.
      Find the words that have an open [eu] sound.

      peu
      Correct answer: peur
      courageux
      curieuse
      Correct answer: neuf

      Q2.
      True or false? The definite article l' is both feminine and masculine and therefore can be in front of of both feminine and masculine nouns.

      Correct Answer: True, true

      Q3.
      Match the French and English.

      Correct Answer:le père,the father
      Correct Answer:la mère,the mother
      Correct Answer:un père,a father
      Correct Answer:une mère,a mother
      Correct Answer:le frère,the brother
      Correct Answer:un frère,a brother

      Q4.
      Which sentences are spelt correctly?

      Correct answer: Je prépare un gâteau chaque jour.
      Correct answer: Il prépare un gâteau chaque jour.
      Correct answer: Elle prépare un gâteau chaque jour.
      Tu prépare un gâteau chaque jour.

      Q5.
      Write the missing day of the week: lundi, mardi, , jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche.

      Correct Answer: mercredi

      Q6.
      Write in French: 'The child gives a present'.

      Correct Answer: L'enfant donne un cadeau.

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Find the words that have a closed [eu] sound.

      Correct answer: deux
      Chandeleur
      Correct answer: œufs
      heure
      Correct answer: délicieux

      Q2.
      True or false? 'Le' and l' can both be in front of a feminine noun.

      Correct Answer: False, false

      Q3.
      Which words can have 'la' as an article?

      Correct answer: peluche
      orange
      ballon
      Correct answer: famille
      jour

      Q4.
      Which word is the odd one out?

      le père
      la mère
      le frère
      la sœur
      Correct answer: la famille

      Q5.
      Match the sentence halves.

      Correct Answer:La sœur a un ,cadeau
      Correct Answer:L',animal a une peluche
      Correct Answer:Je regarde ,le film
      Correct Answer:Voici la,famille

      Q6.
      Write the sentence in the correct order.

      1 - l'
      2 - enfant
      3 - chante
      4 - la
      5 - chanson
      6 - chaque
      7 - jour

      To help you plan your 3 French lesson on: A birthday: -er verbs 'she, he', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...