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Year 8

Today and yesterday: perfect tense with 1st person -er verbs + avoir

Learning outcomes

I can use the perfect tense with avoir and -er verbs to say what I did.

I can confidently pronounce [gn].

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New
New
Year 8

Today and yesterday: perfect tense with 1st person -er verbs + avoir

Learning outcomes

I can use the perfect tense with avoir and -er verbs to say what I did.

I can confidently pronounce [gn].

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. [gn] sounds like 'ligne'.
  2. The verb 'envoyer' changes spelling in the present tense from 'y' to 'ie' in all forms apart from 'nous' and 'vous'.
  3. To make the perfect tense with regular -er verbs, use 'j'ai' followed by the past participle.
  4. To make the past participle of regular -er verbs, replace -er with é.

Keywords

  • [gn] - pronounced as in 'ligne'

  • Perfect tense - a verb tense that describes completed actions in the past e.g. 'I said', 'she played'

  • Past participle - verb form that forms the perfect tense, usually together with 'avoir'

Common misconception

The perfect tense is made up of one part like it is in English.

You must have both parts of the perfect tense; the present tense of 'avoir' and a past participle. Regular past participles end in é.


To help you plan your year 8 french lesson on: Today and yesterday: perfect tense with 1st person -er verbs + avoir, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

The final productive task C4 requires students to work independently and come up with their own ideas as well as using vocabulary from the two previous tasks but you could provide students with a list of verbs they must include if you think they need more structure.
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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.
Match up the first person verbs in French and English.
Correct Answer:j'ai,I have, am having
tick

I have, am having

Correct Answer:je fais,I do, am doing
tick

I do, am doing

Correct Answer:je dis,I say, am saying
tick

I say, am saying

Correct Answer:je sors,I go out, am going out
tick

I go out, am going out

Correct Answer:je suis,I am
tick

I am

Correct Answer:je vais,I go, am going
tick

I go, am going

Q2.
Put the last six months of the year in sequence.
1 - juin
2 - juillet
3 - aout
4 - septembre
5 - octobre
6 - novembre
7 - décembre
Q3.
What does the verb 'envoyer' mean in English?
to bring
to hit
to leave
Correct answer: to send
to use
Q4.
Write the French for 'often'.
Correct Answer: souvent
Q5.
Order the sentence 'Today, I'm eating my lunch at the office' in French.
1 - aujourd'hui
2 - je
3 - mange
4 - mon
5 - déjeuner
6 - au
7 - bureau
Q6.
Fill in the missing French word in the sentence 'J'ai au revoir à mon ami Amir'.
Correct Answer: dit

6 Questions

Q1.
Match up the nouns in French and English.
Correct Answer:marché,market
tick

market

Correct Answer:appartement,appartment
tick

appartment

Correct Answer:avenir,future
tick

future

Correct Answer:avocat(e),lawyer
tick

lawyer

Correct Answer:facteur, factrice,postman, postwoman
tick

postman, postwoman

Correct Answer:directeur, directrice,director
tick

director

Q2.
Match the subject pronouns with the correct verbs.
Correct Answer:j',envoie
tick

envoie

Correct Answer:tu,envoies
tick

envoies

Correct Answer:nous,envoyons
tick

envoyons

Correct Answer:vous,envoyez
tick

envoyez

Correct Answer:ils/elles,envoient
tick

envoient

Q3.
Order the sentence 'The secretary is quite hard working but he's arriving late again' in French.
1 - Le secrétaire
2 - est
3 - assez
4 - travailleur, mais
5 - il arrive
6 - encore
7 - en retard
Q4.
Tick any of the sound-symbol correspondences contained in the sentence 'Je parle espagnol, mais il parle français'.
Correct answer: SFC
[h]
[um/un]
Correct answer: [gn]
[aim/im]
Q5.
To make the perfect tense in French, you need the present tense of the verb and a past participle which is formed by changing the infinitive ending from -er to -é
Correct Answer: avoir, 'avoir'
Q6.
Fill in the missing word in the sentence I used the computer on the desk. 'J'ai 'l'ordinateur sur le bureau.'
Correct Answer: utilisé

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