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Year 4

Months of the year

Learning outcomes

I can understand the months of the year and when people's birthday are.

I can recognise and pronounce the key sounds [an/en] and [am/em].

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New
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Year 4

Months of the year

Learning outcomes

I can understand the months of the year and when people's birthday are.

I can recognise and pronounce the key sounds [an/en] and [am/em].

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. The sound-symbol correspondence [am/em] sounds the same as [an/en], as in the months 'janvier' and 'septembre'.
  2. Many French months of the year are cognates but are pronounced differently from English.
  3. When followed by a vowel, 'mon' changes from a nasal to an oral sound, e.g. mon anniversaire.

Keywords

  • [am/em], [an/en] - pronounced as in 'chambre' and 'enfant'

  • SSC - sound-symbol correspondence, the relationship between letters and their sounds

  • Cognate - words with the same meaning that look and sound similar or the same in French and English

  • Mon, ma - possessive adjective meaning 'my' (masculine, feminine)

  • Liaison - pronouncing a usually silent final consonant when followed by a vowel, e.g. mon anniversaire

Common misconception

Months of the year start with capital letters in French, as in English.

Months of the year start with lowercase letters in French, unless at the start of a sentence.


To help you plan your year 4 french lesson on: Months of the year, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

You may wish to research the different traditional French calendar events with your class when learning the months, in more detail.
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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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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a cognate?
A word that looks and similar in French and English, with a different meaning.
Correct answer: A word that looks similar in French and English, with the same meaning.
A word that looks different in French and English, with the same meaning.
A word that looks different in French and English, with a different meaning.
Q2.
Match the numbers.
Correct Answer:trois,3
tick

3

Correct Answer:cinq,5
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5

Correct Answer:quatre,4
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4

Correct Answer:un,1
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1

Correct Answer:six,6
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6

Correct Answer:deux,2
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2

Q3.
Match the numbers.
Correct Answer:neuf,9
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9

Correct Answer:onze,11
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11

Correct Answer:sept,7
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7

Correct Answer:douze,12
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12

Correct Answer:dix,10
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10

Correct Answer:huit,8
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8

Q4.
How do you say 'my brother'?
Correct Answer: mon frère
Q5.
How do you say 'my sister'?
Correct Answer: ma sœur, ma soeur
Q6.
How do you say: 'This is my friend, she is fun.'?
Voici mon ami, il est amusant.
Voici mon amie, elle est sympa.
Correct answer: Voici mon amie, elle est amusante.
Voici mon ami, il est sympa.

6 Questions

Q1.
Choose the words with the [am/em], [an/en] sound.
Correct answer: grand
Correct answer: enfant
Correct answer: ensemble
univers
Correct answer: champ
Q2.
Match the months.
Correct Answer:January,janvier
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janvier

Correct Answer:February,février
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février

Correct Answer:March,mars
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mars

Correct Answer:April,avril
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avril

Correct Answer:May,mai
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mai

Correct Answer:June,juin
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juin

Q3.
Match the months.
Correct Answer:July,juillet
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juillet

Correct Answer:August,aout
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aout

Correct Answer:September,septembre
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septembre

Correct Answer:October,octobre
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octobre

Correct Answer:November,novembre
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novembre

Correct Answer:December,décembre
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décembre

Q4.
Write a month which has the [an, en], [am, em] sound.
Correct Answer: janvier, septembre, novembre, décembre
Q5.
How do you say 'my birthday'?
Correct Answer: mon anniversaire
Q6.
What type of sound does 'mon' make in 'mon anniversaire'?
Correct answer: an oral sound
a nasal sound
neither

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