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Year 8

Switzerland: perfect tense singular -er verbs

Learning outcomes

I can use singular -er verbs in the perfect tense to express what I and others did in the past.

I can pronounce the closed [eu] and open [eu/œu] sounds and tell the difference between them.

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New
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Year 8

Switzerland: perfect tense singular -er verbs

Learning outcomes

I can use singular -er verbs in the perfect tense to express what I and others did in the past.

I can pronounce the closed [eu] and open [eu/œu] sounds and tell the difference between them.

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Lesson details

Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons

Key learning points

  1. French vowel sounds can be open or closed. The closed [eu] sound is like the [eu] in 'peu'.
  2. The open [eu/œu] sound is in the word 'cœur'.
  3. In French, Switzerland is 'la Suisse' and 'Genève' (Geneva) is one of its major cities.
  4. The 'il, elle' form of the perfect tense uses 'il, elle a' and the past participle to express what he or she did.
  5. When using different verb forms in the perfect tense, the form of 'avoir' changes, not the past participle.

Keywords

  • Closed [eu] - sound-symbol correspondence like the [eu] in 'peu' which means 'few'

  • Open [eu/œu] - sound-symbol correspondence like the [œu] in 'cœur' which means 'heart'

Common misconception

The closed [eu] and the open [eu/œu] sounds are the same.

There are open vowel sounds and closed vowel sounds in French. The closed [eu] sound is like the [eu] in 'peu', it is short and sharp. The open [eu/oœu] sound is a longer sound like the [œu] in 'sœur'.


To help you plan your year 8 french lesson on: Switzerland: perfect tense singular -er verbs, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

There is some cultural information on Switzerland and Geneva in this lesson. You may wish to explore this theme in more depth with your students.
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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.
Put the second half of the year in order of months.
1 - juillet
2 - aout
3 - septembre
4 - octobre
5 - novembre
6 - décembre
Q2.
Match the pronouns to the correct form of the verb 'avoir'.
Correct Answer:j',ai
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ai

Correct Answer:il, elle,a
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a

Correct Answer:nous,avons
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avons

Correct Answer:tu,as
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as

Correct Answer:vous,avez
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avez

Correct Answer:ils, elles,ont
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ont

Q3.
What do 'son, sa, ses' mean?
my
your
Correct answer: his, her
our
their
Q4.
Which of the following possessive adjectives mean 'our' in French?
mon, ma, mes
ton, ta, tes
son, sa, ses
Correct answer: notre, nos
votre, vos
Q5.
We use the perfect tense to express what someone .
Correct Answer: did
Q6.
Which of the following sentences are in the perfect tense?
Correct answer: J'ai visité Bruxelles.
Correct answer: Tu as préparé la fête.
Tu danses dans la cuisine.
Je célèbre mon anniversaire.
Il organise nos vacances.

6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following words contains the open [eu/œu] sound rather than the closed [eu] sound?
peu
Correct answer: neuf
Correct answer: sœur
jeu
Correct answer: fleur
Q2.
Match the English with the French.
Correct Answer:Switzerland,Suisse (f)
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Suisse (f)

Correct Answer:Swiss,suisse
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suisse

Correct Answer:Geneva,Genève
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Genève

Correct Answer:border,frontière (f)
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frontière (f)

Correct Answer:mountain,montagne (f)
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montagne (f)

Correct Answer:forest,forêt (f)
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forêt (f)

Q3.
Match the French to the English.
Correct Answer:proposer,to suggest (doing)
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to suggest (doing)

Correct Answer:traverser,to cross, crossing
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to cross, crossing

Correct Answer:voyager,to travel, travelling
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to travel, travelling

Correct Answer:emporter,to take (with)
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to take (with)

Q4.
Which of these 'il, elle' sentences are in the perfect tense?
Il va aller à la montagne.
Correct answer: Hier, elle a traversé la frontière suisse.
Elle visite la Suisse.
Correct answer: L'année dernière il a visité Genève.
Il fait des activités dans la forêt.
Q5.
Which pronoun is missing in each of these perfect tense sentences. Is it 'j'', 'tu', 'il' or 'elle'?
Correct Answer:__ a emporté un souvenir. (f),Elle
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Elle

Correct Answer:__ a visité Bruxelles. (m),Il
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Il

Correct Answer:__ ai proposé une promenade en ville.,J'
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J'

Correct Answer:__ as voyagé beaucoup en Europe.,Tu
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Tu

Q6.
Put the following words in the correct order to translate: She travelled to Switzerland.
1 - elle
2 - a
3 - voyagé
4 - en
5 - Suisse

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