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      Famous people: -er verbs in the present tense

      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can understand short texts about famous people written in the 1st person singular of a range of verbs, then summarise them in French using the 3rd person singular.

      Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

      Key learning points

      1. Numbers in French should be practised regularly as they come up in many contexts.
      2. The 1st person singular of any verb is the 'je' form, the 3rd person singular is the 'il, elle' form.
      3. To summarise a text written in the 1st person singular, we switch the verb forms to the 3rd person singular.
      4. For regular -er verbs, these two forms are spelt the same, but for irregular verbs like 'être' they will be different.

      Keywords

      • 1st person singular - the 'je' form of the verb

      • 3rd person singular - the 'il, elle' form of the verb

      Common misconception

      The 1st person singular and 3rd person singular verb forms are always spelt the same.

      The 1st and 3rd person singular verb forms are spelt the same for regular -er verbs, but for irregular verbs like 'être' and 'avoir' they are different.

      Teacher tip

      There are several texts about famous people in this lesson. Which texts to include can be chosen to suit the interests of the class being taught. These texts could be used for a bigger whole class 'running dictation' style activity, if teachers are able to print them out to stick around the room.

      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

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      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Match the description to the correct pronoun.

      Correct Answer:1st person singular,je
      Correct Answer:2nd person singular,tu
      Correct Answer:3rd person singular,il, elle
      Correct Answer:1st person plural,nous
      Correct Answer:2nd person plural,vous
      Correct Answer:3rd person plural,ils, elles

      Q2.
      Which is the correct order for numbers 1-12 in French?

      un, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix, onze, douze, deux
      un, deux, trois, neuf, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, dix, onze, douze
      un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, dix, sept, huit, neuf, six, onze, douze
      Correct answer: un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix, onze, douze
      un, deux, quatre, huit, cinq, six, sept, trois, neuf, dix, onze, douze

      Q3.
      Match the French and English.

      Correct Answer:aimer,to like, liking
      Correct Answer:travailler,to work, working
      Correct Answer:créer,to create, creating
      Correct Answer:habiter,to live, living
      Correct Answer:passer,to spend, spending (time)
      Correct Answer:penser,to think, thinking

      Q4.
      Match the English with the French.

      Correct Answer:the world,le monde
      Correct Answer:clothes,les vêtements
      Correct Answer:the country,le pays
      Correct Answer:England,l'Angleterre
      Correct Answer:a year,une année
      Correct Answer:Ivory Coast,la Côte d'Ivoire

      Q5.
      Which of the following verbs are in their 'je' form?

      Correct answer: gagner - gagne
      jouer - jouent
      Correct answer: être - suis
      chanter - chantez
      Correct answer: avoir - ai

      Q6.
      Match the correct verb infintive with its 'il, elle' form.

      Correct Answer:rester,reste
      Correct Answer:changer,change
      Correct Answer:étudier,étudie
      Correct Answer:être,est
      Correct Answer:habiter,habite
      Correct Answer:avoir,a

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Choose the missing number in each sequence.

      Correct Answer:un, deux, quatre, cinq, six, sept,trois
      Correct Answer:sept, huit, neuf, dix, douze,onze
      Correct Answer:quatre, cinq, six, huit, neuf, dix,sept
      Correct Answer:quatre, cinq, sept, huit, neuf,six
      Correct Answer:un, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit,deux
      Correct Answer:six, sept, neuf, dix, onze, douze,huit

      Q2.
      Work out the equations.

      Correct Answer:trois + six =,neuf
      Correct Answer:deux x deux =,quatre
      Correct Answer:douze - deux =,dix
      Correct Answer:(onze - dix) + quatre = ,cinq
      Correct Answer:six + quatre + deux = ,douze
      Correct Answer:(douze - onze) x un = ,un

      Q3.
      Which pronoun is the first person singular?

      vous
      tu
      il, elle
      Correct answer: je
      ils, elles

      Q4.
      Regular present tense -er verbs in their 1st person singular form end in ...

      -es
      Correct answer: -e
      -ons
      -ent
      -er

      Q5.
      Which of the following verbs are irregular in the third person singular form?

      travailler
      Correct answer: être
      Correct answer: avoir
      penser
      danser

      Q6.
      Which of the following verbs are in the third person singular form?

      ont
      Correct answer: crée
      regardent
      Correct answer: est
      Correct answer: reste

      To help you plan your 7 French lesson on: Famous people: -er verbs in the present tense, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...