New
New
Year 9

Christmas around the world: adjectives, comparatives

I can use adjectives, including comparatives, to engage with a French song and discuss Christmas in different parts of the world.

New
New
Year 9

Christmas around the world: adjectives, comparatives

I can use adjectives, including comparatives, to engage with a French song and discuss Christmas in different parts of the world.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. Most French adjectives come after the noun they describe.
  2. Use BRAGS (beauty, rank, age, goodness, size) to remember pre-nominal adjectives.
  3. With more than one adjective, add 'et' after the noun. Nouns can also be surrounded by adjectives.
  4. To make comparisons in French, use the structures 'plus/aussi/moins' + 'que' with adjectives and adverbs.
  5. Some comparative forms are irregular, such as 'meilleur', 'mieux', and 'pire'.

Keywords

  • Pre-nominal adjective - adjective that appears before the noun it modifies

  • Comparative - form of adjective or adverb used to compare people, things or ideas

Common misconception

All adjectives go after the noun in French.

Most adjectives go after the noun they describe but there are a group of adjectives (BRAGS adjectives) that go before the noun. We call these pre-nominal adjectives.


To help you plan your year 9 French lesson on: Christmas around the world: adjectives, comparatives, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

There are many versions of the song online with lyric videos which could also be used in the lesson and a discussion into Christmas in other countries might be valuable.
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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.
Write the French word for 'Christmas'.

Correct Answer: Noël

Q2.
Match the French and English.

Correct Answer:chapeau (m),hat

hat

Correct Answer:cuisine (f),kitchen, cooking

kitchen, cooking

Correct Answer:main (f),hand

hand

Correct Answer:manteau (m),coat

coat

Correct Answer:repas (m),meal

meal

Correct Answer:pluie (f),rain

rain

Q3.
Match the French and English.

Correct Answer:prendre,to take, taking

to take, taking

Correct Answer:donner,to give, giving

to give, giving

Correct Answer:faire,to do, make

to do, make

Correct Answer:porter,to wear, wearing

to wear, wearing

Correct Answer:reposer,to put down

to put down

Correct Answer:manger,to eat, eating

to eat, eating

Q4.
Order the words to say: 'he is a Christian and believes in God'.

1 - il
2 - est
3 - chrétien
4 - et
5 - croit
6 - en
7 - Dieu

Q5.
Write in English: 'un matin froid'.

Correct Answer: a cold morning

Q6.
Write in French: 'an English girl'.

Correct Answer: une fille anglaise

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which adjectives go before the noun they describe?

Correct answer: beau
intéressant
Correct answer: vieux
rouge
Correct answer: petit

Q2.
Order the words to say: 'she has a long, blue coat'.

1 - elle
2 - a
3 - un
4 - long
5 - manteau
6 - bleu

Q3.
Match the French and English.

Correct Answer:plus grand que,bigger than

bigger than

Correct Answer:moins grand que,smaller than

smaller than

Correct Answer:aussi grand que,as big as

as big as

Correct Answer:meilleur que,better than

better than

Correct Answer:pire que,worse than

worse than

Q4.
Write in French: 'I have a strong black dog'.

Correct Answer: j'ai un chien fort et noir

Additional material

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