New
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Year 8

Having breakfast: perfect tense 'prendre' verbs, 'déjà' and 'ne…pas encore'

I can use the verb 'prendre' in the perfect tense to say what I had for breakfast.

New
New
Year 8

Having breakfast: perfect tense 'prendre' verbs, 'déjà' and 'ne…pas encore'

I can use the verb 'prendre' in the perfect tense to say what I had for breakfast.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. The verb 'prendre' (to take, taking) has an irregular past participle: pris - j'ai pris une photo.
  2. Other verbs like 'prendre' (comprendre, apprendre) have the same past participle ending: il a compris la tâche.
  3. To talk about 'having' a meal, food or drink in French, use the verb 'prendre', not 'avoir': tu as pris un café hier.
  4. The adverb 'déjà' means 'already': j'ai déjà mangé. In a question, it can also mean 'yet': tu as déjà mangé ?
  5. Adverb 'encore' means 'again': j'ai encore joué. In a negative sentence, it means 'not yet': je n'ai pas encore joué.

Keywords

  • Prendre - to take, taking

  • Perfect tense - verb tense that describes completed actions in the past e.g. I (have) listened, you (have) played

  • Past participle - verb that forms the perfect tense, usually together with a present tense form of 'avoir'

  • Encore - adverb meaning 'again or 'yet'

  • Déjà - adverb meaning 'already' or 'yet'

Common misconception

Like in English, to talk about 'having' a meal, food or drink in French, use the verb 'avoir': j'ai le petit-déjeuner (I am having breakfast).

To talk about 'having' a meal, food or drink in French, use the verb 'prendre', not 'avoir': je prends le petit-déjeuner.


To help you plan your year 8 french lesson on: Having breakfast: perfect tense 'prendre' verbs, 'déjà' and 'ne…pas encore', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

In exercise A1, as an extension, ask pupils to create their own silly story using all of the revisited vocabulary words.
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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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6 Questions

Q1.
Match up the subject pronoun with the correct part of the verb 'avoir' (to have).
Correct Answer:j',ai

ai

Correct Answer:tu,as

as

Correct Answer:il/elle,a

a

Correct Answer:nous,avons

avons

Correct Answer:vous,avez

avez

Correct Answer:ils / elles,ont

ont

Q2.
Which of the following is an example of how a regular 'er' verb in French forms its past participle?
fait
dire
pris
Correct answer: mangé
Q3.
Match up the English and the French.
Correct Answer:cahier (m),exercise book

exercise book

Correct Answer:mot (m),word

word

Correct Answer:manteau (m),coat

coat

Correct Answer:langue (f),language

language

Correct Answer:devoirs (mpl),homework

homework

Q4.
Match up the French and the English.
Correct Answer:faire les courses,to go shopping

to go shopping

Correct Answer:faire la cuisine,to do the cooking

to do the cooking

Correct Answer:faire le ménage,to do the housework

to do the housework

Correct Answer:faire les devoirs,to do homework

to do homework

Q5.
Put these words in order to make the French translation of 'He watched television'.
1 - Il
2 - a
3 - regardé
4 - la
5 - télé
Q6.
Fill in the missing word: The past is the verb that forms the perfect tense, usually together with a present tense form of 'avoir'.
Correct Answer: participle

5 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following sentences (meaning 'He understood the homework') correctly uses the past participle of 'comprendre'?
Il a comprendu les devoirs.
Il compris les devoirs.
Correct answer: Il a compris les devoirs.
Il a comprisé les devoirs.
Q2.
Put the words in order to make the translation of 'She had breakfast in the kitchen'.
1 - Elle
2 - a
3 - pris
4 - le
5 - petit - déjeuner
6 - dans
7 - la cuisine
Q3.
Match the French and the English.
Correct Answer:accident,accident

accident

Correct Answer:avoir mal à,to be in pain, hurt or sick

to be in pain, hurt or sick

Correct Answer:petit-déjeuner (m),breakfast

breakfast

Correct Answer:déjà,already

already

Correct Answer:ensuite,then, next

then, next

Correct Answer:encore,again

again

Q4.
Which of the following most accurately translates: 'He had a coffee this morning.'?
Il pris un café ce matin.
Correct answer: Il a pris un café ce matin.
Il a un café ce matin.
Il eu un café ce matin.
Q5.
Put the words below in the correct order to translate this sentence into French: He has not yet had breakfast.
1 - Il
2 - n'
3 - a
4 - pas
5 - encore
6 - pris
7 - le petit-déjeuner

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