French: 7–10 Sequence / Levels 7 and 8 / Understanding / Systems of language
Content description
Understand and use elements of the French grammatical system, including word order, gender and number variation, and present and compound forms of regular and some irregular verbs
Elaborations
using and understanding nouns as core elements of sentence structure
using definite and indefinite articles (le, la, l’, les; un, une, des)
marking plural forms (le chien/les chiens, une femme/des femmes), including some irregular plural forms (l’œil/les yeux, le nez/les nez)
understanding and using the three main conjugations for present tense regular verbs -er, -ir and -re, and the irregular present tense conjugations of the verbs être, avoir, aller and faire
understanding that while some adjectives in French follow the noun (un élève intelligent, un match extraordinaire), some precede the noun (une bonne étudiante, une grande maison)
understanding that adjectives agree in number and gender with the noun (des élèves intelligents, de bonnes étudiantes) and that des changes to de if the adjective precedes the noun
understanding the form and function of subject pronouns je, tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils and elles, how they determine verb conjugations and substitute for noun subjects (voila le frère de Michel; il est beau, n’est-ce pas?)
recognising and using locative prepositions à, en, au, aux and dans when describing where people live (Jean-François habite à Montréal au Canada, ma copine Juliette habite aux Phlippines, la famille Maréchal habite dans une ferme)
using the negative ne…pas in simple statements, questions and commands (je n’aime pas l’histoire, tu n’aimes pas le bifteck? ne recommence pas!), recognising substitution of the indefinite article with de in negative sentences (Non, je n’ai pas de frère. J’ai une sœur)
understanding three ways of forming a question: a simple declarative sentence with rising intonation (tu as un animal chez toi?), inverting the verb form (as-tu un animal chez toi?), and using est-ce que before a declarative sentence (est-ce que tu as un animal chez toi?)
gaining awareness of simple and compound tenses, using le passé composé to recount events that occurred in the past and le futur proche to describe immediate future events (il a regardé la télé, il va regarder la télé)
expressing ownership through the use of singular and plural possessive adjectives (mes yeux, ses cheveux, ta mère, ses copains)
using the imperative verb mood (mes enfants, soyez sages! va demander à ta mère)
recognising the function of irregular verbs such as avoir, être and faire in expressions such as avoir faim, avoir 13 ans and faire beau and as auxiliary verb forms (je suis arrivé, nous avons mangé)
recognising the functions of elements such as prefixes and suffixes (désagréable, la camionette, la réorganization) and how word patterns and clusters connect (triste, la tristesse; le marché, le marchand, la marchandise)
building metalanguage to talk about grammar and vocabulary (for example, les formes négatives, interrogatives, le futur proche, masculin, féminin, singulier, pluriel), and comparing with equivalent English terms
