Choose exam board for KS4 Computer Science (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 English
Choose exam board for KS4 French
Choose exam board for KS4 Geography
Choose exam board for KS4 German
Choose exam board for KS4 History
Choose tier for KS4 Maths
Choose exam board for KS4 Music
Choose exam board for KS4 Physical education (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 Religious education (GCSE)
Choose exam board for KS4 Spanish

      Read about friends: feminisation of person nouns

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I know how to make person nouns feminine and can read and understand a text about a friend.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. -e at the end of a word is usually silent in French.
      2. 'C'est' means it/this is but applied to people it means he/she is.
      3. An -e is often added to a person noun in the feminine form e.g une amie.
      4. Cognates are words where most of the letters are the same in two languages.
      5. We can use cognates and our knowledge of grammar to understand French texts.

      Keywords

      • SFe - silent final -e

      • Person noun - a noun used for a person e.g. un professeur

      • Cognate - words with the same meaning and same or similar spelling in English and French

      Common misconception

      'C'est' only translates to 'it is/that is'.

      When talking about objects, 'c'est' translates to 'it is/that is' but when applied to people it can also mean 'he/she is'.

      Teacher tip

      Make the final reading task more interactive by placing students in pairs to analyse the text together.

      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

      Loading...

      Some of our videos, including non-English language videos, do not have captions.

      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Identify the words with SFC (Silent Final Consonant).

      Correct answer: dans
      malade
      Correct answer: prix
      au revoir
      Correct answer: petit

      Q2.
      Match the French adjectives to the English.

      Correct Answer:anglais/anglaise,English
      Correct Answer:cher/chère,expensive
      Correct Answer:français/française,French
      Correct Answer:grand/grande,big
      Correct Answer:méchant/méchante,mean
      Correct Answer:petit/petite,small

      Q3.
      Match the high frequency verbs.

      Correct Answer:je suis,I am
      Correct Answer:tu es,you are
      Correct Answer:il est,he is
      Correct Answer:j'ai,I have
      Correct Answer:tu as,you have
      Correct Answer:il a,he has

      Q4.
      Because of grammatical gender rules in French nouns, the two words for 'a/an' are and 'une'.

      Correct Answer: un, Un, UN

      Q5.
      What is the rule for making most adjectives feminine?

      Correct Answer: add an -e, add -e, add e, put an -e on the word

      Q6.
      Write the English for the French pronouns 'je', 'tu', 'il' and 'elle'

      Correct Answer: I, you, he she, iyouheshe, I you he she

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the French phrase to the English meaning.

      Correct Answer:amie,female friend
      Correct Answer:chanteuse,female singer
      Correct Answer:professeure,female teacher
      Correct Answer:professeur,male teacher
      Correct Answer:ami,male friend
      Correct Answer:chanteur,male singer

      Q2.
      Which phonics rule is present in the words 'timide', 'monde', 'femme' and 'une'?

      SFC
      Correct answer: SFe
      liaison

      Q3.
      What does the adjective 'vrai' mean in English?

      false
      interesting
      nice
      Correct answer: true

      Q4.
      Match the sentence halves.

      Correct Answer:Je,suis amusante.
      Correct Answer:C'est une amie,intéressante.
      Correct Answer:C'est un homme,content.
      Correct Answer:Tu,es malade?

      Q5.
      'He, she is' (il est, elle est) can also be translated as ...

      Correct Answer: c'est, C'EST, C'est

      Q6.
      'Timide' requires an extra 'e' in the feminine form. True or false?

      Correct Answer: false, False, FALSE

      To help you plan your 7 French lesson on: Read about friends: feminisation of person nouns, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...