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      Illness and accidents: irregular past participles, perfect tense questions

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can say what hurts in the present and what hurt in the past (present perfect) using irregular past participles.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. The SSC [j/soft g] is pronounced as in 'jambe'. The letter 'g' can be soft or hard in French: 'la gare', 'la gymnase'.
      2. The SSC [gn] is pronounced as in 'ligne'.
      3. The expression 'avoir mal' means to be 'in pain' or 'hurt'. 'J'ai eu mal' is the perfect tense: 'I have had, had pain'.
      4. 'Eu' is an irregular past participle. Other irregular past participles are 'fait' (faire), 'bu' (boire), 'dit' (dire).
      5. Perfect tense questions can be translated in two different ways: 'Tu as bu ?' - 'Did you drink?', 'Have you drunk?'.

      Keywords

      • [j/g] - pronounced as in 'jambe'

      • [gn] - pronounced as in 'ligne'

      • Avoir mal - expression meaning to be 'in pain' or 'hurt'

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

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

      Common misconception

      All past participles follow the regular -er verb pattern: change the -er to -é: 'j'ai commencé' ('I started').

      Some past participles are irregular and do not follow the regular -er verb pattern: 'j'ai fait' ('I did').

      Teacher tip

      Ask pupils to perform their doctor/patient role-plays to the class (task D2).

      Licence

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2026), 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

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      'Je vais __________ hôpital'. Choose the correct article.

      à
      à la
      Correct answer: à l'
      au
      aux

      Q2.
      Match the pronouns and verbs.

      Correct Answer:j',ai
      Correct Answer:tu,as
      Correct Answer:elle, il,a
      Correct Answer:nous,avons
      Correct Answer:vous,avez
      Correct Answer:elles, ils,ont

      Q3.
      Match the French and English.

      Correct Answer:attendre,to wait, waiting
      Correct Answer:boire,to drink, drinking
      Correct Answer:faire,to do, doing
      Correct Answer:dire,to say, saying
      Correct Answer:parler,to speak, speaking
      Correct Answer:répondre,to answer, answering

      Q4.
      Order the words to form a question.

      1 - qu'
      2 - est-
      3 - ce
      4 - que
      5 - tu
      6 - aimes
      7 - manger

      Q5.
      Write in English: 'la semaine dernière j'ai visité mon ami'.

      Correct Answer: Last week I visited my friend, I visited my friend last week

      Q6.
      Write in French: 'yesterday I played with my dog'.

      Correct Answer: Hier j'ai joué avec mon chien

      5 Questions

      Q1.
      Which verb has a regular past participle?

      avoir
      boire
      faire
      Correct answer: manger
      dire

      Q2.
      Match the word with the correct missing sound.

      Correct Answer:[j],bon___our
      Correct Answer:soft [g],___énial
      Correct Answer:hard [g],___lace
      Correct Answer:[gn],monta___e

      Q3.
      Match the sentence halves.

      Correct Answer:J'ai mal à la,jambe
      Correct Answer:J'ai mal à l',œil
      Correct Answer:J'ai mal au,bras
      Correct Answer:J'ai mal aux,pieds

      Q4.
      Order the words to form a question.

      1 - est-
      2 - ce
      3 - que
      4 - tu
      5 - as
      6 - vu
      7 - l'accident

      Q5.
      Write in French: 'I have had a headache'.

      Correct Answer: J'ai eu mal à la tête

      To help you plan your 8 French lesson on: Illness and accidents: irregular past participles, perfect tense questions, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...