KS3 and GCSE · 25 grammar points

French grammar index

Which unit teaches the point you need, and which later units bring it back. Built from the schemes of work, so it is never out of step with them.

Verbs and tenses

Present tense — regular verbs

The -er / -ir / -re and -ar / -er / -ir paradigms.

• KS3 · Year 7 U4 — Saying where I live
• KS3 · Year 7 U8 — Talking about jobs
• KS3 · Year 8 U9 — In my neighbourhood — on peut and the perfect tense

Present tense — irregular and stem-changing

The high-frequency irregulars, and the Spanish stem changes.

• KS3 · Year 7 U2 — Saying when my birthday is
• KS3 · Year 7 U3 — Describing hair and eyes
• KS3 · Year 7 U5 — Physical and personality descriptions
• KS3 · Year 7 U9 — Comparing people
• KS3 · Year 7 U11 — Free time — jouer, faire, aller
• KS3 · Year 8 U2 — Food — eat, drink, have

être and avoir

The two verbs everything else is built on, including age.

• KS3 · Year 7 U1 — My name and my age
• KS3 · Year 7 U1 — My name and my age
• KS3 · Year 7 U2 — Saying when my birthday is
• KS3 · Year 7 U5 — Physical and personality descriptions
• KS3 · Year 7 U8 — Talking about jobs
• KS3 · Year 7 U10 — Talking about my teachers

Reflexive verbs

Daily routine, and — much later — reflexives in the past.

• KS3 · Year 7 U6 — Family relationships
• KS3 · Year 7 U14–16 — Optional extension units
• KS3 · Year 8 U6 — Daily routine and telling the time
• KS3 · Year 8 U6 — Daily routine and telling the time
• KS3 · Year 9 U3 — My daily routine
• KS3 · Year 9 U3 — My daily routine

Near future — aller + infinitive

The second time frame, and the first two-verb structure.

• KS3 · Year 7 U12 — Free time — present and near future
• KS3 · Year 7 U12 — Free time — present and near future
• KS3 · Year 7 U13 — Talking about my holiday plans
• KS3 · Year 8 U5 — Hobbies in the present and near future
• KS3 · Year 8 U5 — Hobbies in the present and near future
• KS3 · Year 8 U6 — Daily routine and telling the time

Perfect tense

The pivot of Key Stage 3: French avoir/être perfect, Spanish preterite.

• KS3 · Year 8 U9 — In my neighbourhood — on peut and the perfect tense
• KS3 · Year 8 U9 — In my neighbourhood — on peut and the perfect tense
• KS3 · Year 8 U11 — What I did and what I'm going to do at the weekend
• KS3 · Year 9 U1 — My holiday in the past
• KS3 · Year 9 U1 — My holiday in the past
• KS3 · Year 9 U2 — Holiday activities

Imperfect

Description and 'used to', against the perfect for events.

• KS3 · Year 8 U11 — What I did and what I'm going to do at the weekend
• KS3 · Year 9 U1 — My holiday in the past
• KS3 · Year 9 U2 — Holiday activities
• KS3 · Year 9 U2 — Holiday activities
• KS3 · Year 9 U6 — Food across four tenses
• KS3 · Year 9 U12 — Festivals and celebrations

Future and conditional

Higher tier at GCSE, and je voudrais / me gustaría as chunks before that.

• KS3 · Year 7 U7 — Talking about pets
• KS3 · Year 9 U6 — Food across four tenses
• KS3 · Year 9 U6 — Food across four tenses
• KS3 · Year 9 U12 — Festivals and celebrations
• GCSE · Year 10 U2 — The environment and where we live
• GCSE · Year 10 U5 — Identity, relationships and family

Modal verbs and obligation

devoir, pouvoir, vouloir · deber, poder, querer, tener que · il faut, hay que.

• KS3 · Year 8 U7 — What I do at home, and how often
• KS3 · Year 8 U7 — What I do at home, and how often
• KS3 · Year 9 U4 — What I do to help at home
• KS3 · Year 9 U4 — What I do to help at home
• KS3 · Year 9 U4 — What I do to help at home
• KS3 · Year 9 U7 — Healthy living

Two verbs together

Verb + infinitive, the structure that unlocks longer sentences.

• KS3 · Year 7 U12 — Free time — present and near future
• KS3 · Year 8 U5 — Hobbies in the present and near future
• KS3 · Year 8 U7 — What I do at home, and how often
• KS3 · Year 8 U7 — What I do at home, and how often
• KS3 · Year 8 U9 — In my neighbourhood — on peut and the perfect tense
• KS3 · Year 9 U3 — My daily routine

Nouns, articles and adjectives

Articles — definite, indefinite and partitive

Including the partitive, the hardest contrast in French Year 8.

• KS3 · Year 7 U7 — Talking about pets
• KS3 · Year 7 U7 — Talking about pets
• KS3 · Year 7 U8 — Talking about jobs
• KS3 · Year 7 U10 — Talking about my teachers
• KS3 · Year 7 U11 — Free time — jouer, faire, aller
• KS3 · Year 7 U11 — Free time — jouer, faire, aller

Adjective agreement and position

Revisited every term from Year 7 onward — the longest thread in the scheme.

• KS3 · Year 7 U3 — Describing hair and eyes
• KS3 · Year 7 U3 — Describing hair and eyes
• KS3 · Year 7 U3 — Describing hair and eyes
• KS3 · Year 7 U5 — Physical and personality descriptions
• KS3 · Year 7 U6 — Family relationships
• KS3 · Year 7 U7 — Talking about pets

Comparatives and superlatives

plus / moins / aussi … que · más / menos / tan … como, and the irregulars.

• KS3 · Year 7 U9 — Comparing people
• KS3 · Year 7 U9 — Comparing people
• KS3 · Year 9 U7 — Healthy living
• KS3 · Year 9 U11 — Daily routine and social media
• GCSE · Year 10 U5 — Identity, relationships and family
• GCSE · Year 10 U8 — The French-speaking world

Possessives and demonstratives

mon / ma / mes · mi / mis · ce / cette · este / esta.

• KS3 · Year 7 U6 — Family relationships
• KS3 · Year 8 U3 — Clothes and accessories
• GCSE · Year 10 U4 — Celebrity and culture
• GCSE · Year 10 U4 — Celebrity and culture
• GCSE · Year 10 U5 — Identity, relationships and family
• GCSE · Year 11 U10 — Travel and tourism, part 2

Pronouns

Object pronouns

Receptive at GCSE Unit 1, produced by Unit 12.

• GCSE · Year 10 U1 — Technology — advantages and dangers
• GCSE · Year 10 U4 — Celebrity and culture
• GCSE · Year 11 U12 — Free time, part 2: cinema, TV, going out

Subject pronouns, on and se

Including on and the impersonal se, which carry a lot of GCSE writing.

• KS3 · Year 7 U1 — My name and my age
• KS3 · Year 7 U1 — My name and my age
• KS3 · Year 8 U9 — In my neighbourhood — on peut and the perfect tense
• KS3 · Year 9 U1 — My holiday in the past
• KS3 · Year 9 U5 — Food in the present tense
• KS3 · Year 9 U8 — A typical day at school

Relative pronouns

qui / que / où · que / lo que — the grammar payload of GCSE Year 10.

• GCSE · Year 10 U4 — Celebrity and culture
• GCSE · Year 10 U5 — Identity, relationships and family
• GCSE · Year 11 U12 — Free time, part 2: cinema, TV, going out

Building sentences

Prepositions and contracted articles

à / de contractions, countries, and prepositions of place.

• KS3 · Year 7 U4 — Saying where I live
• KS3 · Year 7 U11 — Free time — jouer, faire, aller
• KS3 · Year 7 U11 — Free time — jouer, faire, aller
• KS3 · Year 7 U11 — Free time — jouer, faire, aller
• KS3 · Year 7 U13 — Talking about my holiday plans
• KS3 · Year 7 U14–16 — Optional extension units

Connectives and justification

How a sentence becomes a paragraph, and an opinion becomes an argument.

• KS3 · Year 7 U5 — Physical and personality descriptions
• KS3 · Year 7 U5 — Physical and personality descriptions
• KS3 · Year 7 U10 — Talking about my teachers
• KS3 · Year 7 U13 — Talking about my holiday plans
• KS3 · Year 7 U14–16 — Optional extension units
• KS3 · Year 8 U1 — Food — likes and dislikes

Opinions — gustar and opinion verbs

The gustar structure in particular: the error that persists to GCSE.

• KS3 · Year 7 U10 — Talking about my teachers
• KS3 · Year 7 U10 — Talking about my teachers
• KS3 · Year 8 U1 — Food — likes and dislikes
• KS3 · Year 8 U1 — Food — likes and dislikes
• GCSE · Year 10 U6 — Education and work
• GCSE · Year 11 U11 — Free time, part 1: sport, music, reading

Adverbs and frequency

Frequency, manner, and where they sit in the sentence.

• KS3 · Year 7 U10 — Talking about my teachers
• KS3 · Year 7 U14–16 — Optional extension units
• KS3 · Year 8 U1 — Food — likes and dislikes
• KS3 · Year 8 U6 — Daily routine and telling the time
• KS3 · Year 8 U7 — What I do at home, and how often
• KS3 · Year 8 U9 — In my neighbourhood — on peut and the perfect tense

Time, dates and numbers

Numbers, the clock, dates and time markers — heavily tested in the dictation.

• KS3 · Year 7 U2 — Saying when my birthday is
• KS3 · Year 7 U12 — Free time — present and near future
• KS3 · Year 7 U14–16 — Optional extension units
• KS3 · Year 8 U5 — Hobbies in the present and near future
• KS3 · Year 8 U6 — Daily routine and telling the time
• KS3 · Year 8 U11 — What I did and what I'm going to do at the weekend

Question and negative forms

Question forms

Receptive from Year 7; produced for the GCSE role-play.

• KS3 · Year 7 U1 — My name and my age
• KS3 · Year 8 U5 — Hobbies in the present and near future
• KS3 · Year 9 U1 — My holiday in the past
• KS3 · Year 9 U3 — My daily routine
• GCSE · Year 11 U10 — Travel and tourism, part 2
• GCSE · Year 11 U13 — Core vocabulary, part 1

Negatives

ne … pas through to ne … jamais, and the Spanish double negative.

• KS3 · Year 7 U5 — Physical and personality descriptions
• KS3 · Year 7 U7 — Talking about pets
• KS3 · Year 7 U12 — Free time — present and near future
• KS3 · Year 8 U2 — Food — eat, drink, have
• KS3 · Year 8 U5 — Hobbies in the present and near future
• KS3 · Year 8 U6 — Daily routine and telling the time

Imperatives

Giving directions and instructions.

• KS3 · Year 8 U10 — Describing where I live — directions