Senegal: perfect tense, inversion questions, negation 'ne... pas', 'ne … jamais'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can form questions and sentences (in the affirmative and negative forms) about the country of Senegal in the present and perfect tenses.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Senegal is a French-speaking country in West Africa. An independent nation since 1960, Senegal was a French colony.
- To talk about an action that happened in the past, we can use 'le passé composé' (the perfect tense), e.g. 'j'ai mangé'.
- When using the perfect tense, the adverb generally goes after the verb 'avoir' and before the past participle.
- To form an inversion question in the perfect tense, swap the subject and the verb ('avoir'), e.g. 'As-tu commencé ?'.
- In negative sentences, 'ne … pas' and 'ne … jamais' go around the verb.
Keywords
Perfect tense - a verb tense that describes completed actions in the past, e.g. 'I said', 'she played'
Adverb - word that describes a verb or an adjective
Inversion - when the subject pronoun and the verb switch place to form a question
Negative - a statement which denies or expresses negative meaning, e.g. 'il ne pleut pas'; in French this includes two elements, e.g. 'ne … pas', around the main verb
Common misconception
There is just one equivalent tense in English to the perfect tense in French.
There are in fact two equivalent tenses in English to the perfect tense in French: the present perfect and the simple past. 'J'ai voyagé au Sénégal' can mean both 'I travelled to France' and 'I have travelled to France'.
Teacher tip
All the vocabulary and grammar in this lesson are being revisited, so teachers may select flexibly. Pupils might also research the country Senegal or its people (e.g. Aminata Mbengue Ndiaye or Papiss Cissé) in more detail and present their findings and photos to the class.
Equipment
Pupils would benefit from having the worksheet for tasks A2, B1 and B2.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which word tells us where something happens?
Q2.Match the French and English.
lunch
war
language
word
room
country
Q3.Match the French and English.
to have, having
he has
she has
we have
you have
they have
Q4.Order the words to say: 'the team is spending a week here'.
Q5.Write in English: 'il y avait trois radios'.
Q6.Write in French: 'there are two houses'.
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Which statements are correct?
Q2.What does 'j'ai voyagé' mean?
Q3.Order the words to say: 'he has already eaten some fruit'.
Q4.Order the words to say: 'I never watch TV'.
Q5.Write in French: 'have you played?'. Use inversion.
To help you plan your 9 French lesson on: Senegal: perfect tense, inversion questions, negation 'ne... pas', 'ne … jamais', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 9 French lesson on: Senegal: perfect tense, inversion questions, negation 'ne... pas', 'ne … jamais', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 French lessons from the People and places: present and perfect tense unit, dive into the full secondary French curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.