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Lesson 3 of 4
  • Year 8

How people do things: comparative adverbs

Learning outcomes

I can use adverbs to compare how things happen and know the difference between key adjectives and their adverbial forms.

I can recognise [um/un] as identical nasal sounds before a consonant and different oral sounds before a vowel.

Lesson 3 of 4
New
New
  • Year 8

How people do things: comparative adverbs

Learning outcomes

I can use adverbs to compare how things happen and know the difference between key adjectives and their adverbial forms.

I can recognise [um/un] as identical nasal sounds before a consonant and different oral sounds before a vowel.

Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Before a consonant or at the end of a word the SSCs [um/un] are identical nasal sounds.
  2. When ‘um’ and ‘un’ come before a vowel the ‘m’ and ‘n’ are pronounced as two different oral sounds.
  3. Adverbs describe verbs, whereas adjectives describe nouns.
  4. 'Plus' or 'moins' go before adverbs to compare how things happen, e.g. Inès arrive plus vite: Inès arrives more quickly.
  5. 'Better' is both adjective and adverb in English. In French, the adjective is 'meilleur(e)' and the adverb is 'mieux'.

Keywords

  • [um/un] - sound-symbol correspondence pronounced as the nasal sound in ‘parfum’

  • Adverb - word that describes a verb or an adjective

  • Adjective - word that gives information about a noun

Common misconception

There is only one word for 'better' in French: 'meilleur'.

The adjective 'meilleur(e)' means 'better' in French and describes a noun, e.g.'il a un meilleur ordinateur' ('he has a better computer'). To describe an action as 'better' we use the adverb 'mieux', e.g. 'il chante mieux' ('he sings better').


To help you plan your year 8 French lesson on: How people do things: comparative adverbs, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Students often struggle with the difference between 'meilleur(e)' and 'mieux' - which is which? It is worth emphasising that 'meilleur(e)' has masculine and feminine forms, which can only be the case for an adjective, whereas 'mieux' does not change as it is generally used to describe verbs.
Teacher tip

Equipment

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

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6 Questions

Q1.
Put the festivals in chronological order, starting with New Year's Eve.

1 - Le réveillon
2 - Le jour de l'an
3 - Pâques
4 - Noël

Q2.
Find the odd one out.

Correct answer: que
plus
moins
meilleur

Q3.
Match the French and English.

Correct Answer:puisque,as, because

as, because

Correct Answer:puis,then

then

Correct Answer:par,by

by

Correct Answer:d’abord,first of all

first of all

Correct Answer:alors,so, well, then

so, well, then

Q4.
Match the French and English.

Correct Answer:Ma note est bonne.,My mark is good.

My mark is good.

Correct Answer:Ma note est meilleure.,My mark is better.

My mark is better.

Correct Answer:Ma note est mauvaise.,My mark is bad.

My mark is bad.

Correct Answer:Ma note est pire.,My mark is worse.

My mark is worse.

Q5.
Write the correct word to say 'the cat is smaller' - 'le chat est grand'.

Correct Answer: moins

Q6.
Write in English: 'ce cahier est plus grand'.

Correct Answer: this exercise book is bigger

Assessment exit quiz

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5 Questions

Q1.
Say these words aloud. Which is the odd one out?

humble
parfum
lundi
Correct answer: humour
un

Q2.
Which word is not an adverb?

lentement
mieux
mal
facilement
Correct answer: facile

Q3.
The word 'meilleur' (better) is used to describe which type of word?

Correct answer: nouns
verbs
conjunctions
prepositions

Q4.
Complete the translation of 'Alain learns quickly but Sam learns more quickly' - 'Alain apprend vite mais Sam '.

Correct Answer: apprend plus vite

Q5.
Complete the translation of 'Sophie draws well but Amir draws better' - 'Sophie dessin bien mais Amir '.

Correct Answer: dessin mieux