New
New
Year 9

Reading habits: pronouns 'il(s)' and 'elle(s)' meaning it and they, faire

Learning outcomes

I can use the pronouns 'il, elle' and 'ils, elles' to mean 'it' and 'they' in French in the context of reading.

I can recognise and pronounce words that end in a SFC and words that end in a silent final 'e' (SFe) in French.

New
New
Year 9

Reading habits: pronouns 'il(s)' and 'elle(s)' meaning it and they, faire

Learning outcomes

I can use the pronouns 'il, elle' and 'ils, elles' to mean 'it' and 'they' in French in the context of reading.

I can recognise and pronounce words that end in a SFC and words that end in a silent final 'e' (SFe) in French.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. The consonants d, s, t and x are often silent at the end of a word. We call this SFC, Silent Final Consonant.
  2. The vowel 'e' is often silent at the end of a word. This is SFe, Silent Final ‘e’. The final consonant is pronounced.
  3. Many verbs that end in -ate in English have in fact come from French verbs ending in -er: éliminer - eliminate.
  4. Every noun has a gender in French. 'Il' and 'elle' can mean it, and 'ils' and 'elles' mean they (people and things).
  5. The verb 'faire' is an irregular verb meaning 'to do, make'.

Keywords

  • SFC - silent final consonant: silent letter (d, s, t, x) at the end of a word

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

  • Il, elle - French pronouns meaning 'he', 'she' and 'it'

  • Ils, elles - French pronouns meaning 'they' (masculine and feminine)

  • Faire - French verb meaning 'to do, make'

Common misconception

'Il' and 'elle' mean he and she and can only refer to people.

Every noun has a gender in French. Therefore 'il' and 'elle' can mean 'it', and 'ils' and 'elles' mean 'they' (people and things).


To help you plan your year 9 French lesson on: Reading habits: pronouns 'il(s)' and 'elle(s)' meaning it and they, faire, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Ask pupils to bring in and describe their favourite book in French.
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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.
Which of the following French words is an example of a Silent Final Consonant (SFC)?
table
Correct answer: faux
Correct answer: grand
idéal
Q2.
What is the English meaning of the French verb "éliminer"?
Correct Answer: Eliminate, to eliminate, eliminating
Q3.
Which French pronoun would you use to refer to a masculine singular noun (like le livre - the book) when you mean "it"?
elle
Correct answer: il
ils
elle
Q4.
Which verb do we use to say 'to do' or 'to make' in French.
aller
avoir
Correct answer: faire
être
Q5.
Match the French pronoun to its English meaning:
Correct Answer:elle,she/it (feminine)

she/it (feminine)

Correct Answer:ils,they (masculine or mixed group)

they (masculine or mixed group)

Correct Answer:elles,they (feminine)

they (feminine)

Correct Answer:il,he/it (masculine)

he/it (masculine)

Q6.
Which of these English verbs is most likely to have come from a French verb ending in '-er'?
read
Correct answer: communicate
write
run

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
If you were talking about "the chair" (la chaise - a feminine noun), and you wanted to say "it is comfortable," which French pronoun would you use for "it"?
Correct Answer: Elle
Q2.
Which of these sentences correctly uses a pronoun to refer to les romans (the novels - masculine plural)?
Elle est intéressant.
Il est intéressant.
Elles sont intéressants.
Correct answer: Ils sont intéressants.
Q3.
Complete the sentence: The English verb 'to separate' comes from the French verb 'séparer'. This shows that many English verbs ending in -ate come from French verbs ending in ...
Correct Answer: er, -er
Q4.
In the phrase "C'est un livre. Il est nouveau." (It's a book. It is new.) What does the pronoun 'il' refer to in this sentence?
A person (he)
A feminine object (it)
Correct answer: A masculine object (it)
A plural group of people (they)

Additional material

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