KS2 · French · Year 4
How are you today? 'Avoir' meaning 'be'
Introductions: singular 'être', 'avoir', and regular adjectives
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/7
Your learning goal
I can understand 'avoir' with nouns to mean how people are feeling.
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How are you today? 'Avoir' meaning 'be': 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 understand 'avoir' with nouns to mean how people are feeling.
Key learning points
- The sound-symbol correspondences [j] and soft [g] sound the same, as in 'aujourd'hui' (today) and 'courageux' (brave).
- 'Ça va' can be both a question: 'Is it going OK?' or 'how’s it going'? and an answer: 'it's going OK' or 'I'm OK'.
- 'Avoir' means 'to have'. It can be translated as 'to be, being' with certain expressions, e.g. 'j'ai chaud' (I am hot).
Words to know
- [j/soft g]
- sound-symbol-correspondence (SSC) pronounced as in 'jour'
- avoir
- French verb meaning 'to have, having' which can also be translated as 'to be, being' with certain set expressions, e.g. 'avoir froid' - to be cold
Common mistakes
Expressions such as 'I am cold' must use the verb 'être' (to be) when translated into French, as in English. The verb 'avoir' can only be translated as 'to have'.
Set expressions that use 'to be' in English, such as 'I am cold', use the verb 'avoir' in French, e.g. 'j'ai froid'. 'Avoir' means 'to have' but it can also be translated as 'to be' with set expressions.
For parents, carers and teachers
- Use body language and actions to support the learning of the key expressions: 'j'ai froid', 'j'ai chaud', 'j'ai mal', 'j'ai peur'. Play a game of charades with the class to further practise the vocabulary. Pupils might want to know that the 'avoir' song uses a famous tune from Bizet's opera Carmen.