New
New
Year 9

Simultaneous events: perfect and imperfect tenses together

Learning outcomes

I can use the perfect and imperfect tenses together, including within 'est-ce que' structures to describe simultaneous events.

I can confidently pronounce [r].

New
New
Year 9

Simultaneous events: perfect and imperfect tenses together

Learning outcomes

I can use the perfect and imperfect tenses together, including within 'est-ce que' structures to describe simultaneous events.

I can confidently pronounce [r].

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. [r] is pronounced as in 'rue'. It is different to English 'r'.
  2. Use the perfect tense for one-off past actions and the imperfect for things that used to happen regularly.
  3. Use the imperfect tense to express the past continuous 'was -ing'.
  4. Use the perfect + imperfect tenses together with a conjunction to describe what happened when you were doing something.
  5. Use 'est-ce que' in the imperfect tense with its usual structure to ask about 2 things happening at the same time.

Keywords

  • Imperfect tense - tense used to describe how things were or used to be in the past, or to say what was happening

Common misconception

[r] is the same as the English 'r' sound.

[r] in French is a raspier sound, produced in the back of the throat, which you can practise.


To help you plan your year 9 French lesson on: Simultaneous events: perfect and imperfect tenses together, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

For speaking task C2, the task would work even better with students sat facing back to back with the partner forming full French sentences looking away from the board.
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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 verbs are used as auxiliary verbs in the perfect tense?

aller
Correct answer: avoir
Correct answer: être
faire
pouvoir

Q2.
Match the French and English.

Correct Answer:chanson (f),song

song

Correct Answer:devoirs (mpl),homework

homework

Correct Answer:guitare (f),guitar

guitar

Correct Answer:parc (m),park

park

Correct Answer:scène (f),stage

stage

Correct Answer:spectacle (m),show

show

Q3.
Match the French and English.

Correct Answer:acheter,to buy, buying

to buy, buying

Correct Answer:appeler,to call, calling

to call, calling

Correct Answer:donner,to give, giving

to give, giving

Correct Answer:mettre,to put, putting

to put, putting

Correct Answer:sortir,to go out

to go out

Correct Answer:vendre,to sell, selling

to sell, selling

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'yesterday he worked in the garden'.

1 - hier
2 - il
3 - a
4 - travaillé
5 - dans
6 - le
7 - jardin

Q5.
Write in English: 'mon ami a dansé'.

Correct Answer: my friend danced

Q6.
Write in French: 'I watched a film'.

Correct Answer: j'ai regardé un film

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which statements are incorrect?

[r] is pronounced the same in French and English.
Correct answer: [r] is pronounced differently in French and English.
[r] is a raspy sound in French.
Correct answer: [r] is a rolling sound in French.

Q2.
Which sentences are in the imperfect tense?

Correct answer: Je parlais avec le professeur.
Elle a écouté de la musique.
Tu as mangé une glace.
Correct answer: Il jouait dans le salon.
J'ai lu un livre intéressant.

Q3.
'I was doing my homework when you arrived'. Which translation is correct?

J'ai fait mes devoirs quand tu es arrivé.
Je faisais mes devoirs quand tu arrivais.
Correct answer: Je faisais mes devoirs quand tu es arrivé.
J'ai fait mes devoirs quand tu arrivais.

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'Where were you when I was working?'.

1 -
2 - est-ce que
3 - tu
4 - étais
5 - quand
6 - je
7 - travaillais

Additional material

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