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Year 8

In Paris: 'vouloir' and 'devoir'

Learning outcomes

I can use two-verb structures and adverbs to talk about Paris.

I can confidently pronounce [ai] and [i], and know when to use oral and when to use nasal vowels.

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New
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Year 8

In Paris: 'vouloir' and 'devoir'

Learning outcomes

I can use two-verb structures and adverbs to talk about Paris.

I can confidently pronounce [ai] and [i], and know when to use oral and when to use nasal vowels.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. [ai] is pronounced as in 'vrai' and [i] as in 'midi'. Both are oral vowel sounds.
  2. Devoir, pouvoir, savoir and vouloir are modal verbs, they are usually followed by a second verb in the infinitive form.
  3. Savoir and pouvoir both mean 'can' but 'savoir' is used for activities requiring specific skills, knowing 'how to' do.
  4. In two-verb structures with infinitives, 'how' and 'how often' adverbs come before the infinitive.
  5. In negative sentences with two-verb structures with infinitives, ne ...pas surrounds the first verb, before the adverb.

Keywords

  • [ai] - pronounced as in 'vrai'

  • [i] - pronounced as in 'midi'

  • Modal verb - verb of necessity or possibility used with a 2nd verb in infinitive e.g., must, can, want

  • Adverb - word that describes a verb or an adjective

Common misconception

Adverbs have the same word order in French as they do in English in two-verb sentences.

Adverbs that tell us 'how' and 'how often' come before the infinitive e.g. 'Elle peut souvent visiter les musées'. 'Tu ne peux pas encore visiter Alger.'


To help you plan your year 8 french lesson on: In Paris: 'vouloir' and 'devoir', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Activity 3b can be extended if students require more practice of modal verbs; if you have physical dice, students can play in pairs or with tablets they could use an online dice generator.
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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 the French word to its English translation:
Correct Answer:vont,they go
tick

they go

Correct Answer:avenir,future
tick

future

Correct Answer:visite,visit
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visit

Correct Answer:pouvoir,to be able to (general ability)
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to be able to (general ability)

Correct Answer:savoir,to know (how to do something)
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to know (how to do something)

Q2.
Which of the following words is pronounced with the vowel sound [i] as in 'midi'?
vrai
vais
Correct answer: ici
sait
Q3.
Which of the following is a modal verb?
visiter
Correct answer: pouvoir
Paris
prochain
Q4.
Put the following words in the correct order to form a sentence: aller / je / vais / Paris / bientot/ à.
1 - Je
2 - vais
3 - aller
4 - à
5 - Paris
6 - bientot
Q5.
Which sentence correctly uses a modal verb?
Elle aime aller.
Correct answer: Il doit visiter le pont.
Nous visitons aimer Paris.
Tu vas savoir.
Q6.
Choose the correct word to complete the sentence: Elle __________ (savoir) parler français.
sais
peux
Correct answer: sait
dois

4 Questions

Q1.
What is the French word for 'to like'?
aller
Correct answer: aimer
devoir
savoir
Q2.
Which sentence correctly uses the modal verb pouvoir?
Je pouvoir aller.
Correct answer: Tu peux visiter Paris.
Il pouvoir manger.
Elles pouvons aller
Q3.
Put the following words in the correct order to form a sentence: aéroport / ils / vont / l' / visiter / avec / nous.
1 - Ils
2 - vont
3 - visiter
4 - l'
5 - aéroport
6 - avec
7 - nous
Q4.
Put the following words in the correct order to form a sentence: souvent / il / visiter / peut / l'église / ne / pas.
1 - Il
2 - ne
3 - peut
4 - pas
5 - souvent
6 - visiter
7 - l'église

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