KS3 · French · Year 9
Free time: verbs + 'de' or 'à' + noun
Past and present events: perfect tense, negation, questions
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/9
Your learning goal
I can describe what I do in my free time, including verbs with 'à/de' before nouns.
1 of 9
Free time: verbs + 'de' or 'à' + noun: slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.
Original teaching resources
The original illustrated PowerPoint is available as well as the IllumED text slides. It retains the publisher’s design and credits.
Download original PowerPoint ↓What you’ll learn
I can describe what I do in my free time, including verbs with 'à/de' before nouns.
Key learning points
- [au] is pronounced as in 'gauche'.
- Many French verbs are followed by 'à' or 'de' and a noun; 'à' and 'de' link to the definite article before the noun.
- 'De' is 'du' before masculine nouns, 'de la' (feminine), 'des' (plural) or 'de l'' before a vowel.
- 'À' is 'au' before masculine nouns, 'à la' (feminine), 'aux' (plural) or 'à l'' before a vowel.
- The present endings for verbs like 'entendre' are -s, -s, -, -ons, -ez, -ent. 'Mettre' drops a 't' in the singular form.
Words to know
- [au]
- pronounced as in 'gauche'
- preposition
- a word that is used before a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun, connecting it to another word
Common mistakes
'Mettre' is a verb like 'entendre' and it follows the same pattern.
'Mettre' has the same present tense endings as verbs like 'entendre' but the stem is different in the singular forms. Drop one of the 't's from the infinitive, leaving the remaining 't' as a silent final consonant.
For parents, carers and teachers
- Teachers could bring French culture to life by adding photos and/or videos of Jean Jacques Goldman. His bilingual song 'Je te donne' is an engaging earworm. Pupils might enjoy learning the lyrics and performing it. His work has been covered by many contemporary singers.