New
New
Year 9

Senegal: perfect tense, inversion questions, negation 'ne... pas', 'ne … jamais'

I can form questions and sentences (in the affirmative and negative forms) about the country of Senegal in the present and perfect tenses.

New
New
Year 9

Senegal: perfect tense, inversion questions, negation 'ne... pas', 'ne … jamais'

I can form questions and sentences (in the affirmative and negative forms) about the country of Senegal in the present and perfect tenses.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Senegal is a French-speaking country in West Africa. An independent nation since 1960, Senegal was a French colony.
  2. To talk about an action that happened in the past, we can use 'le passé composé' (the perfect tense), e.g. 'j'ai mangé'.
  3. When using the perfect tense, the adverb generally goes after the verb 'avoir' and before the past participle.
  4. To form an inversion question in the perfect tense, swap the subject and the verb ('avoir'), e.g. 'As-tu commencé ?'.
  5. 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'.


To help you plan your year 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...

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.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Pupils would benefit from having the worksheet for tasks A2, B1 and B2.

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.
Which word tells us where something happens?
demain
déjà
Correct answer: dehors
enfin
souvent
Q2.
Match the French and English.
Correct Answer:déjeuner (m),lunch

lunch

Correct Answer:guerre (f),war

war

Correct Answer:langue (f),language

language

Correct Answer:mot (m),word

word

Correct Answer:salle (f),room

room

Correct Answer:pays (m),country

country

Q3.
Match the French and English.
Correct Answer:avoir,to have, having

to have, having

Correct Answer:il a,he has

he has

Correct Answer:elle a,she has

she has

Correct Answer:nous avons,we have

we have

Correct Answer:vous avez,you have

you have

Correct Answer:ils ont,they have

they have

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'the team is spending a week here'.
1 - l'
2 - équipe
3 - passe
4 - une
5 - semaine
6 - ici
Q5.
Write in English: 'il y avait trois radios'.
Correct Answer: there were three radios, there were 3 radios
Q6.
Write in French: 'there are two houses'.
Correct Answer: il y a deux maisons, il y a 2 maisons

Assessment exit quiz

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5 Questions

Q1.
Which statements are correct?
Senegal is in East Africa.
Correct answer: Senegal is in West Africa.
Correct answer: Senegal became independent in 1960.
Senegal became independent in 1690.
Correct answer: People speak French in Senegal.
Q2.
What does 'j'ai voyagé' mean?
I am travelling.
I travel.
Correct answer: I travelled.
Correct answer: I have travelled.
I used to travel.
Q3.
Order the words to say: 'he has already eaten some fruit'.
1 - il
2 - a
3 - déjà
4 - mangé
5 - du
6 - fruit
Q4.
Order the words to say: 'I never watch TV'.
1 - je
2 - ne
3 - regarde
4 - jamais
5 - la
6 - télé
Q5.
Write in French: 'have you played?'. Use inversion.
Correct Answer: As-tu joué

Additional material

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