Celebrities: perfect and imperfect
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use the present, imperfect and perfect tenses to discover more about French-speaking celebrities.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Use the imperfect tense to talk about events and actions that used to happen regularly in the past.
- To form the imperfect tense, take the present tense 'nous' form without -ons, add -ais (je/tu) or ait (il/elle/on).
- Four groups of -re verbs are: verbs like entendre, verbs like prendre, verbs like traduire and verbs like écrire.
- Three groups of -ir verbs are: verbs like choisir, verbs like partir and verbs like venir.
- Use the perfect tense to talk about specific/one-off events + actions that happened.
Keywords
Imperfect tense - tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past
Common misconception
All -re and -ir verbs follow the same pattern.
There are different groups of -ir and -re verbs that follow slightly different patterns. It's good to revisit these regularly in their own right and because they can help with other tenses.
Teacher tip
To bring the context of the lesson to life, you could add more photos and videos of Edith Piaf and Celine Dion and see what students already know about these Francophone singers.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these verbs are in the imperfect tense?
Q2.Which are the correct translations of 'J'allais'?
Q3.Translate 'I used to watch / I was watching'.
Q4.How do verbs like prendre, apprendre, comprendre form the present tense?
apprends
apprend
apprenons
apprenez
apprennent
Q5.How do verbs like 'entendre' (attendre, répondre, perdre, dépendre, descendre, mettre, remettre) form the present tense?
I wait
you answer
he/she loses
we depend
you go down
they put
Q6.How do verbs like 'choisir' (réussir, finir, remplir, définir, réagir, réfléchir, nourrir) form the present tense? Add the correct verb endings.
is
it
issons
issez
issent
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Translate 'à coté de'.
Q2.Which form of the verb 'boire' to drink, goes with 'nous'?
Q3.Translate 'we say,' to show how verbs like traduire, dire, conduire, interdire, construire, lire form the 'nous' form of the present tense?
Q4.What is 'une tournée mondial'?
Q5.Put the words in order to make a sentence
To help you plan your 9 French lesson on: Celebrities: perfect and imperfect, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 French lesson on: Celebrities: perfect and imperfect, 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 How things used to be: imperfect tense, ordinal numbers unit, dive into the full secondary French curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.