The person or a person? Singular definite articles 'le' and 'la'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use the definite article with singular nouns to talk about people.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- [en/an] sounds like ‘enfant’.
- Every noun has a gender: masculine or feminine. To say 'the', use 'le' for masculine and 'la' for feminine nouns.
- ‘Anglais’ and ‘français’ are also nouns meaning languages. We use an article with languages except after 'parler/en'.
Keywords
[en/an] - pronounced as in 'enfant'
(singular) definite article - the words 'le' and 'la', meaning 'the'
Common misconception
In French, like in English, there is only one way to say 'the'.
There is more than one word to say 'the' in French. For singular masculine nouns, use 'le', and for singular feminine nouns, use 'la'.
Teacher tip
To make the most of listen and repeat speaking activities, teachers may consider a solo-duo-ensemble cycle whereby pupils say the phrases three times: once to themselves, once to a partner and once all together.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Tick the words with the SSC [é/er/ez].
Q2.Match the French verbs to the correct English translations.
to listen, listening
to write, writing
to read, reading
to speak, speaking
Q3.Match the correct parts of this important verb together.
to have, having
ai
as
a
Q4.Identify the adjectives.
Q5.True or false? To say 'a' in French, there is just the word 'un'.
Q6.Put the words below in the correct order to translate the following sentence into French: 'She's a nice friend and she's quite funny'.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the French nouns below to the correct English translations.
the girl
the doctor
the word
the sentence
the person
Q2.Which words contain [en/an]?
Q3.In French, the 'the' for singular masculine nouns is 'le' and the 'the' for singular feminine nouns is .
Q4.True or false? 'Français c'est sympa' is a grammatically correct sentence.
Q5.Find the odd one out (the noun with a different gender to all the others).
Q6.Put the words below in the correct order to translate the following sentence into French: 'The (male) teacher is nice and the (female) singer speaks English'.
To help you plan your 7 French lesson on: The person or a person? Singular definite articles 'le' and 'la', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 French lesson on: The person or a person? Singular definite articles 'le' and 'la', 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: singular 'avoir' and 'être' and definite articles unit, dive into the full secondary French curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.