Pandemic in France: impersonal expression 'il est + adjective + de'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use impersonal and two-verb infinitive structures to talk about a global health crisis.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Cognates may look very similar to English but sound quite different so attention must be paid to pronunciation.
- Some verbs require à or de before an infinitive e.g. aider à, arrêter de. Some like 'continuer' can have à or de.
- There are two correct spellings with identical pronunciation for the singular forms of 'essayer'; 'essaie' and 'essaye'.
- 'On' is an impersonal pronoun applying to everyone.
- il est + adjective + de + infinitive can be used to express it is difficult/easy/forbidden to + a verb.
Keywords
Impersonal verb - verb that doesn’t refer to a particular person or thing, and whose subject is most often ‘il’ (it)
Common misconception
'Il est' always means 'he is'.
'Il est' can be used as an impersonal verb where 'il' means 'it' and is not referring to a specific thing but talking about 'it' in general. e.g. 'Il est difficile de croire' means 'It is difficult to believe'.
Teacher tip
These lessons could be sensitive for some learners due to the overall subject content so it would be worth letting students know about the theme in advance.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these words could be linked to Covid-19?
Q2.Match the phrases.
It is easy to
It is important to
It is forbidden to
It is difficult to
It is impossible to
It is natural to
Q3.What does the expression ' faire la bise ' mean?
Q4.What is 'le passe-sanitaire'?
Q5.What does 'essayer' mean?
Q6.Put the words in order to explain an old French tradition.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which are the 2 translations of the verb 'arriver'?
Q2.Put the words in the correct order to find out what she is doing in the shop.
Q3.Voler means 'to fly' but also 'to '?
Q4.Translate, Il essaie/ essaye de bien manger.
Q5.Translate: it is difficult to sing.
Q6.On porte des masques ici. Who has to wear masks?
To help you plan your 9 French lesson on: Pandemic in France: impersonal expression 'il est + adjective + de', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 French lesson on: Pandemic in France: impersonal expression 'il est + adjective + de', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 French lessons from the Future and past events: 2-verb structures with prepositions unit, dive into the full secondary French curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.