Lesson 2: Clothes and colours in French

Display the Presentation: Definite and indefinite articles.

Slide 1 asks some questions about when to use un and une, le and la and les and des. Slides 2 - 7 test the children's knowledge.

Slide 7 is more tricky as the children may need to be prompted that les chaussettes - socks is a plural word.

Work through the slides as a class - the slides take each word in turn:

une/la chemise - a/the shirt

un/le short - a pair of shorts/ the shorts (discuss how in English we say shorts or a pair of shorts, but that in French the word is singular).

un/le pantalon - a pair of trousers/ the trouser (discuss how in English we say trousers or a pair of trousers, but that in French the word is singular).

une/la veste - a/the jacket

des/les chaussettes -some/the socks

The children need to understand that:

• The indefinite article in English is a or an and this is either un or une in French, depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
• The definite article in English is the (used if the intention is to be more specific) and is either le or la in French, depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
• In French, if the noun is plural, then (regardless of gender) les is used if the intention is to be specific and use the direct article. If the intention is not to be specific, an article must still be used and so des is used, whether the noun is masculine or feminine. Des translates roughly to some.