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      Who likes doing what? 'jouer' with 'à' and 'de'

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can say what I play using the prepositions 'à' and 'de'.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. [s] sounds like maison. Use the hard 's' sound when it appears between two vowels and the soft 's' elsewhere.
      2. 'De' changes before the definite article to 'du', 'de la', 'de l'' and 'des' before plural nouns.
      3. 'Jouer', the verb to play is followed by the preposition 'à' before sports/games and 'de' before musical instruments.

      Keywords

      • [s] - pronounced as in 'maison'

      • Preposition - a word that is used before a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun, connecting it to another word

      Common misconception

      'Des' always means 'some'.

      'Des' is the word for 'some' but is also a form of the preposition 'de' before plural nouns.

      Teacher tip

      Activity D2 leads nicely to an independent speaking activity, where students ask a partner about what sports/games/instruments they play. Then they could write about it in the 1st and 3rd persons singular. Students might want to use reference material to look up more sports/instruments.

      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.
      Tick any examples of the perfect tense.

      je dis
      Correct answer: j'ai fait
      on peut
      je dois
      Correct answer: j'ai visité

      Q2.
      What is the verb 'to play, playing' in French?

      donner
      gagner
      Correct answer: jouer
      marcher
      montrer

      Q3.
      Match the French and English prepositions.

      Correct Answer:près,near

      near

      Correct Answer:loin,far

      far

      Correct Answer:à droite,to the right

      to the right

      Correct Answer:à gauche,to the left

      to the left

      Correct Answer:sur,on

      on

      Correct Answer:dehors,outside

      outside

      Q4.
      Match the verbs in French and English.

      Correct Answer:devenir,to become

      to become

      Correct Answer:devoir,to have to

      to have to

      Correct Answer:partir,to leave

      to leave

      Correct Answer:rester,to stay

      to stay

      Correct Answer:revenir,to come back

      to come back

      Correct Answer:venir,to come

      to come

      Q5.
      Which word follows the prepositions 'near' and 'far' and takes different forms depending on the gender of the noun that follows?

      Correct Answer: de

      Q6.
      Put the sentence 'Last summer, I visited London' in the correct order in French.

      1 - l'été
      2 - dernier
      3 - j'ai
      4 - fait
      5 - une visite
      6 - de
      7 - Londres

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Tick any words with the hard [s] sound

      Correct answer: magasin
      poisson
      ils sont
      fils
      Correct answer: visiter

      Q2.
      Match the English and French words.

      Correct Answer:cœur,heart

      heart

      Correct Answer:pendant,during

      during

      Correct Answer:pour,for, in order to

      for, in order to

      Correct Answer:musée,museum

      museum

      Correct Answer:saison,season

      season

      Correct Answer:dernier, dernière,last

      last

      Q3.
      What's the French word for winter?

      été
      automne
      printemps
      Correct answer: hiver
      saison

      Q4.
      Translate the sentence 'il y a un homme près des banques'.

      there is a woman near some banks
      there is a man near some shops
      there is a man near (to) the banks
      Correct answer: there is a woman near (to) the banks

      Q5.
      Put the sentence 'I'm playing the guitar but he's playing football' into French.

      1 - je joue
      2 - de
      3 - la
      4 - guitare
      5 - mais il joue
      6 - au
      7 - football

      Q6.
      What does 'du' mean in the sentence 'Tu joues du piano pendant ton temps libre ?'

      some
      of
      Correct answer: a contraction of the preposition 'de' and the definite article

      To help you plan your 8 French lesson on: Who likes doing what? 'jouer' with 'à' and 'de', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...