New
New
Year 9

The French revolution: perfect tense, questions, 'ne … pas'

Learning outcomes

I can use the present and perfect tenses, including negation and questions to talk about significant events in French history.

I can confidently pronounce the sound [tion].

New
New
Year 9

The French revolution: perfect tense, questions, 'ne … pas'

Learning outcomes

I can use the present and perfect tenses, including negation and questions to talk about significant events in French history.

I can confidently pronounce the sound [tion].

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. [tion] is pronounced as in 'attention' [tion] words are always feminine.
  2. Form the perfect tense by combining part of 'avoir' and a past participle.
  3. -er verb past participles change from -er to é, verbs like prendre change to 'pris' and some participles are irregular.
  4. 'Ne ...pas' wraps around part of 'avoir' in the perfect tense to make negative sentences.
  5. Ask intonation questions in the perfect tense by raising your voice. You can also add 'est-ce que' before the subject.

Keywords

  • [tion] - pronounced as in 'attention'

  • Perfect tense - verb tense that describes completed actions in the past e.g. 'I said', 'she played'

  • Intonation - rise and fall of the voice in speaking

  • Est-ce que - French questioning device

Common misconception

All past participles are formed in the same way.

Regular -er verb past participles are formed by changing the -er at the end of the infinitive to é but there are other past participle patterns such as verbs like prendre changing to 'pris' and some irregular past participles.


To help you plan your year 9 French lesson on: The French revolution: perfect tense, questions, 'ne … pas', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Teachers may find it useful to find further photos of the monarchy, Bastille or Paris from 1789 to give students more historical context and an opportunity to talk about the current political situation in France after B2 and B3.
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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.
What was the Bastille?

station
supermarket
church
Correct answer: prison
cathedral

Q2.
Which part of 'avoir' follows 'nous'?

avez
ont
Correct answer: avons
a
ai

Q3.
Match the past participles

Correct Answer:bu,drank

drank

Correct Answer:dit,said

said

Correct Answer:pris,took

took

Correct Answer:eu,had

had

Correct Answer:fait,did, made

did, made

Q4.
Complete the phrases.

Correct Answer:J',ai mangé un sandwich

ai mangé un sandwich

Correct Answer:Ils,ont regardé un film

ont regardé un film

Correct Answer:Vous,avez bu un coca

avez bu un coca

Correct Answer:Elle,a dit 'Bonjour!'

a dit 'Bonjour!'

Correct Answer:Nous,avons fait les devoirs

avons fait les devoirs

Q5.
How would you write the following in numbers? 1900.

mille huit cent cinquante
deux mille
deux mille vingt-cinq
Correct answer: mille neuf cent
mille neuf cent soixante-quatre

Q6.
Match the dates.

Correct Answer:2002,deux mille deux

deux mille deux

Correct Answer:1914,mille neuf cent quatorze

mille neuf cent quatorze

Correct Answer:1887,mille huit cent quatre-vingt-sept

mille huit cent quatre-vingt-sept

Correct Answer:2017,deux mille dix-sept

deux mille dix-sept

Correct Answer:1539,quinze mille trente-neuf

quinze mille trente-neuf

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following are past participles?

Correct answer: bu
Correct answer: mangé
parle
Correct answer: fait
fais

Q2.
All [tion] words are feminine. True or false?

Correct answer: True
False
Neither

Q3.
Put the words in the correct order to make a negative sentence.

1 - elle
2 - n'
3 - a
4 - pas
5 - écouté
6 - la
7 - musique

Q4.
Which of the following could you do to make this statement into a question? J'ai vu un documentaire.

Add ne+pas around the auxiliary verb.
Correct answer: Raise your voice at the end of the sentence.
Add 'oui', to the start of the sentence.
Put 'J'ai vu' at the end of the sentence.
Correct answer: Add 'est-ce que' to the beginning of the sentence.

Additional material

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