New
New
Year 9

Religion in Francophonie: feminine and plural nouns

Learning outcomes

I can read and understand sentences about secularism in France.

I can pronounce masculine, feminine and plural identity nouns.

New
New
Year 9

Religion in Francophonie: feminine and plural nouns

Learning outcomes

I can read and understand sentences about secularism in France.

I can pronounce masculine, feminine and plural identity nouns.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Nationality and religious adjectives can become nouns when used with an article. These are identity nouns.
  2. Religious nouns do not use capital letters, unlike nationality nouns. Le musulman - l'Algérien.
  3. There is no article 'un/une' after 'être' when using nouns to describe identity. Il est Anglais: He is an Englishman.
  4. Nouns ending in -ien often change to -ienne in the feminine form: le chrétien - la chrétienne.
  5. To make nouns plural, we usually add an -s. Nouns ending in -eu, -(e)au, -al or -ail make their plurals with -(au)x.

Keywords

  • Identity noun - noun describing one's identity, religion or profession, having different forms based on the gender of the person it is referring to: un Italien - une Italienne

  • Feminine - form for nouns with feminine grammatical gender: la foi, une Canadienne

  • Plural - form for nouns that refers to more than one person place, thing or idea: des Canadiens

Common misconception

Like non-person or object nouns, identity nouns exist in only one form and gender.

Unlike non-person or object nouns, identity nouns can have both masculine and feminine forms: le chrétien - la chrétienne. This is the same as other French person nouns you may know, e.g. le directeur/la directrice.


To help you plan your year 9 French lesson on: Religion in Francophonie: feminine and plural nouns, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Following on from exercises A1 and A2, discuss the following questions with your class: How is religion viewed in French schools? How is it different from your school and other schools in your area? Are you surprised? What do you think of the idea of 'la laïcité'?
Teacher tip

Equipment

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.
Match the French verbs to their correct English meanings.

Correct Answer:lire,to read, reading

to read, reading

Correct Answer:écrire,to write, writing

to write, writing

Correct Answer:interdire,to forbid, forbidding

to forbid, forbidding

Correct Answer:inscrire,to inscribe, inscribing

to inscribe, inscribing

Q2.
Which of these sentences correctly uses the verb appartenir?

Elle appartient un livre.
Correct answer: Ils appartiennent à un groupe.
J'appartiens le arbre.
Nous appartiens aux autobus.

Q3.
What is the feminine form of the adjective canadien?

Correct Answer: canadienne

Q4.
Translate this sentence into French: 'He is a Frenchman'.

Correct Answer: Il est Français.

Q5.
Which sentence shows the correct singular conjugation of croire (to believe)?

Je croie en toi.
Tu croyez en elle.
Correct answer: Il croit en lui.
Vous crois en nous.

Q6.
Match each French noun to its correct meaning.

Correct Answer:arbre,tree

tree

Correct Answer:gens,people

people

Correct Answer:autobus,bus

bus

Correct Answer:groupe,group

group

Assessment exit quiz

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5 Questions

Q1.
Match the meaning.

Correct Answer:je sais,I know

I know

Correct Answer:je soutiens,I support, I am supporting

I support, I am supporting

Correct Answer:j’écris,I write, I am writing

I write, I am writing

Correct Answer:je crois,I believe, I am believing

I believe, I am believing

Q2.
Which of these correctly translates: 'He is a European'?

Il est un Européen
Correct answer: Il est Européen
Il est une Européen
Il est européen

Q3.
What is the feminine form of the noun chrétien (Christian)?

Correct Answer: chrétienne

Q4.
Which sentence correctly uses capital letters for identity nouns?

Il est chrétien et européen.
Il est Chrétien et Européen.
Correct answer: Il est chrétien et Européen.
Il est Chrétien et européen.

Q5.
True or false? Identity nouns like 'chrétien' exist in only one gender form.

Correct Answer: false

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