KS2 · French · Year 5
To have or to be: 'avoir' and 'être' singular
What I and others have: plural 'avoir' and nouns
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/10
Your learning goal
I can form sentences and recognise when to use the verbs 'avoir' and 'être'.
1 of 10
To have or to be: 'avoir' and 'être' singular: 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 form sentences and recognise when to use the verbs 'avoir' and 'être'.
Key learning points
- The e at the end of the word makes no sound. This is a Silent final e (SFe). The consonant before a SFe is pronounced.
- Adjectives change spelling based on the gender of the noun they describe. Most adjectives add an e in the feminine form.
- The verb 'avoir' means to have: j'ai (I have), tu as (you have), il a (he has), elle a (she has).
- The verb 'être' means to be: je suis (I am), tu es (you are), il est (he is), elle est (she is).
- 'S' and 't' are silent final consonants. 'As' and 'a' sound the same and 'es' and 'est' sound the same.
Words to know
- SFe
- silent final e, a word which ends in a silent e: timide
- avoir
- French verb meaning 'to have'
- être
- French verb meaning 'to be'
Common mistakes
Confusion between 'il a' and 'il est' as 'il est' is pronounced similarly to the English 'a'.
'Il a' and 'il est' are pronounced differently and have different meanings: 'il a' is he has and 'il est' is he is.
For parents, carers and teachers
- Ask pupils to draw their own scene, similar to the image in exercise B3, and to write sentences describing the scene using 'il a', 'elle a', 'il est' or 'elle est'.