French: F–10 Sequence / Levels 5 and 6 / Understanding / Systems of language
Content description
Develop knowledge of grammatical elements such as tenses, and combine them with an increasing range of nouns, adjectives and adverbs to construct simple statements, questions and exclamations
Elaborations
building a metalanguage to talk about grammar, using terms such as ‘tenses’ and ‘personal pronouns’, and identifying language elements and talking about how they are used
using all forms of the present tense of regular -er, -ir and -re verbs and of high-frequency irregular verbs such as avoir, être, aller and faire
becoming familiar with l’imparfait when encountered in familiar expressions and scaffolded language contexts, for example, Il était une fois…C’était…
using the indicative plus the infinitive (for example, J’aime jouer au tennis, il sait conduire) and le futur proche, for example, je vais partir
becoming familiar with and using with support le passé composé, for example, j’ai mangé trois biscuits, elle a dormi sous les étoiles
playing games such as ‘matching pairs’ to reinforce grammatical rules, for example, pairing nouns and subject pronouns (Jean travaille: il travaille; Marianne aime le fromage: elle aime le fromage) or a subject with a conjugated verb (nous parlons, tu manges)
using a range of nouns, including more unusual plural forms (for example, les bureaux, les choux-fleurs, mes grands-parents), more complex adjectives (for example, beau, belle, beaux, belles) and possessive forms (mon, ma, mes, ton, ta, tes…)
formulating questions using est-ce que…, the inverted form of the verb, or changed intonation, for example, est-ce que tu as un chien? as-tu un chien? tu as un chien…?
understanding and using negative constructions (for example, tu ne viens pas ce soir?), including the use of de after a negative verb form, for example, je n’ai pas de photos
using exclamations to indicate agreement, disagreement, intention or understanding, for example, D’accord! Mais non! bien sûr; voilà!
using a range of adverbs to elaborate or accentuate meaning, for example, il parle si doucement; moi j’écoute attentivement
