Montreal - a diverse city: imperfect tense singular
Learning outcomes
I can use all singular forms of the imperfect tense to talk about cultural diversity in Montreal.
I can distinguish between [ai] and [é].
Montreal - a diverse city: imperfect tense singular
Learning outcomes
I can use all singular forms of the imperfect tense to talk about cultural diversity in Montreal.
I can distinguish between [ai] and [é].
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.
Lesson details
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- The pronunciation difference between [é] in the perfect tense + [ai] in the imperfect tense greatly alters meaning.
- [ai] is pronounced as in vrai'; [é] is pronounced as in 'écrire'.
- Languages are not fixed; new words enter the language constantly whilst other words fall out of use.
- The 'tu' form of the imperfect tense is formed like the 'je' form (present tense nous form, remove -ons, add -ais).
Keywords
[ai] - pronounced as in 'vrai'
Imperfect tense - tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past
Common misconception
[ai] and [é] sound the same in French.
In some regional accents [ai] and [é] can sound similar. Officially there is a difference in pronunciation and meaning as the ending of the imperfect tense is supposed to be pronounced [ai], whereas a common ending of the past participle is [é].
To help you plan your year 9 French lesson on: Montreal - a diverse city: imperfect tense singular, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 9 French lesson on: Montreal - a diverse city: imperfect tense singular, 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.
Equipment
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Some of our videos, including non-English language videos, do not have captions.
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is the French expression for 'to need'?
Q2.Can you match these words?
close, near
after
before
according to
Q3.Put the words in the correct order to make a sentence about school.
Q4.Translate 'Il y a deux ans'.
Q5.Which of these sentences means 'I used to play the piano'?
Q6.Elle regardait la télé. There are 2 translations for this sentence. Tick them both.
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Montreal is found in which French speaking country?
Q2.Which of these verbs are in the imperfect tense?
Q3.Match the vocabulary
non-binary
gender
challenge
a competition
an artist
transgender