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      Switzerland: perfect tense negation

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can form negative sentences in the perfect tense and say what I and others did and didn’t do on holiday.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. The SSC [au/eau] is in the word 'gauche' which means 'left'.
      2. The SSC [au/eau] is identical to the closed [o/ô] even though they are spelled differently.
      3. To make a sentence mean the opposite, we use negation. One way to do this is to use 'ne … pas' around the main verb.
      4. With two-verb structures like the perfect tense, the 'ne ... pas' surrounds the first verb, the form of 'avoir'.
      5. There is no one-word equivalent for 'didn't' in French. It is expressed by using 'ne ... pas' and the perfect tense.

      Keywords

      • Closed [o/ô] - sound-symbol correspondence (SSC) like the [o] in 'photo'

      • [au/eau] - sound-symbol correspondence (SSC) like the [au] in 'gauche'

      • Negation - two words, e.g. 'ne … pas', around the main verb negating meaning

      • Ne … pas - French adverb which fits around the main verb in a sentence to mean 'not'

      Common misconception

      I have to translate 'didn't' into French.

      There is no direct translation for 'didn't' in French. Using 'ne ... pas' with the perfect tense expresses the equivalent of 'didn't' in French.

      Teacher tip

      This lesson is built around a holiday in Switzerland. You may wish to go into the culture of this country in more detail with your students.

      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.
      Order the months from earliest to latest.

      1 - juillet
      2 - aout
      3 - septembre
      4 - octobre
      5 - novembre
      6 - décembre

      Q2.
      Match the French and English.

      Correct Answer:anniversaire (m),birthday

      birthday

      Correct Answer:forêt (m),forest

      forest

      Correct Answer:frontière (f),border

      border

      Correct Answer:montagne (f),mountain

      mountain

      Correct Answer:national,national

      national

      Correct Answer:général,general

      general

      Q3.
      There are only two words in French for 'our' - 'notre' for singular nouns and ' ' for plural nouns.

      Correct Answer: nos

      Q4.
      Match the French and English.

      Correct Answer:voyager,to travel, travelling

      to travel, travelling

      Correct Answer:je voyage,I travel

      I travel

      Correct Answer:j'ai voyagé,I travelled

      I travelled

      Correct Answer:je n'ai pas voyagé,I did not travel

      I did not travel

      Q5.
      Write in English: 'mon dernier jour en Suisse'.

      Correct Answer: My last day in Switzerland., My final day in Switzerland.

      Q6.
      Write in French: 'I worked everywhere'.

      Correct Answer: J'ai travaillé partout.

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      The sound-symbol correspondence [au/eau] is identical to the closed even though they are spelled differently.

      [à]
      [é]
      [on]
      Correct answer: [o/ô]

      Q2.
      Which words in French include the [au/eau] sound?

      everywhere
      Correct answer: goodbye
      Correct answer: present
      Correct answer: new
      August

      Q3.
      Which words are plural?

      son
      sa
      Correct answer: ses
      notre
      Correct answer: nos

      Q4.
      Arrange the words to form a negative sentence.

      1 - tu
      2 - n'
      3 - as
      4 - pas
      5 - cherché
      6 - la
      7 - frontière

      Q5.
      'Je joue dans la forêt'. Rewrite the sentence to make it negative.

      Correct Answer: Je ne joue pas dans la forêt.

      Q6.
      Write in French: 'I didn't cross the bridge'.

      Correct Answer: Je n'ai pas traversé le pont.

      To help you plan your 8 French lesson on: Switzerland: perfect tense negation, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...