Ce week-end: impersonal verbs
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use impersonal verbs to tell the time, describe weather, say what there is and what is necessary in the context of making plans.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- An impersonal verb is a verb and subject that don't refer to a particular person or thing.
- To say what time it is use impersonal verb il est + number + heure (s) + minutes.
- Il est + adjective + de + infinitive can be used to express it is difficult/easy/forbidden to + a verb.
- Il fait (with weather expressions), il y a (there is/are) and il faut (it is necessary) are useful impersonal verbs.
- [y] and [i] sounds like 'midi' and 'physique'.
Keywords
Impersonal verb - a verb that doesn't refer to a particular person or thing, and whose subject is most often 'il' (it)
Common misconception
The subject pronoun 'il' always means 'he'.
There are a number of impersonal verbs such as 'il faut', 'il neige' and 'il pleut'. Verbs such as 'il fait' and 'il est' can also be used in an impersonal sense. In these cases, the English meaning is 'it' or impersonal 'you', 'we' as appropriate.
Teacher tip
Speaking task A3 requires students to use the present tense however, it follows a practice task using 'il y a', 'il y avait' and 'il y aura'. Teachers might wish to adapt the task to encourage students to use more tenses if appropriate for their students.
Equipment
It would be useful to have mini whiteboards and pens if available.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which verbs can be used to describe the weather?
Q2.Which verb is missing? huit heures.
Q3.Complete the sentence: the verbs 'apparaitre', 'naitre', 'paraitre' and 'disparaitre' are all formed in the present tense like ...
Q4.What is the past participle of 'naitre'?
Q5.Translate the sentence: We are familiar with the school in this town.
Q6.Match the vocabulary.
brown (hair)
glasses
brown (eyes)
red/ginger
loyal, faithful
mental
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the phrases together.
it is necessary, must
there is, there are
it is difficult to
it is (time)
it is (weather)
it is easy to
Q2.Match the times of day.
Il est six heures vingt-cinq.
Il est quatorze heures et demie.
Il est quatre heures et demie.
Il est dix-sept heures et quart.
Il est sept heures et quart.
Il est seize heures vingt-cinq.
Q3.Choose the correct translation of 'it is forbidden to'.
Q4.The impersonal verb structures 'il est difficile de', 'il est interdit de' and 'il faut' are followed by an ...
Q5.Which words contain the sounds [i] or [y] in French?
Q6.Translate: he thinks that it is relatively cold today.
To help you plan your 10 French lesson on: Ce week-end: impersonal verbs, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 French lesson on: Ce week-end: impersonal verbs, 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 4 French lessons from the My personal world: Mes amis unit, dive into the full secondary French curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.