Who has what? Singular 'avoir' and 'être' | French | Quizalize & Oak National Academy

Starter quiz

'Le garçon montre le ballon à son oncle'. How many times is the [on] SSC in this sentence?

once

twice

three times

four times

five times ✓
True or false? When you speak in the singular form you speak about many people.

True
False ✓
Put the pronouns and their verbs in the order you learn them in the singular form.

1

⇔

j'ai

2

⇔

tu as

3

⇔

il a

4

⇔

elle a
True or false? 'Tu as une moto ?' means 'You have a motorbike'.

True
False ✓
When writing yes/no questions in French you ______ translate the words 'do' or 'does'.

'don't' ✓
Match the sentences.

C'est lundi: je suis curieux.

⇔

It's Monday: I am curious (m). ✓

C'est mardi: il est curieux.

⇔

It's Tuesday: he is curious (m). ✓

C'est mercredi: tu es curieuse.

⇔

It's Wednesday: you are curious (f). ✓

C'est mercredi: tu es curieux.

⇔

It's Wednesday: you are curious (m) ✓

C'est lundi: je suis curieuse.

⇔

It's Monday: I am curious (f). ✓

C'est mardi: elle est curieuse.

⇔

It's Tuesday: she is curious (f). ✓

Exit quiz

True or false? The SSCs [o] and [au] sound different.

True
False ✓
Which of the following words contain the SSCs [o] or [au]?

jaune ✓

feu

photo ✓

peluche

faux ✓
Match the French to the English.

tu as

⇔

you have ✓

il a

⇔

he has ✓

elle a

⇔

she has ✓

tu es

⇔

you are ✓

il est

⇔

he is ✓

elle est

⇔

she is ✓
Which of the following are forms of the verb 'avoir' to have?

tu as ✓

il est

il a ✓

tu es

elle a ✓
In the singular forms of the verb 'avoir' (tu) 'as' and (il, elle) 'a' sound the same but they are spelt differently because of their silent final ______.

'consonant' ✓
Read the sentence in French and match up the English translations below. 'Tu es heureux, tu as un gâteau ! Elle est sérieuse, elle a un livre. Il est amusant, il a un jeu'.

you are

⇔

happy ✓

you have

⇔

a cake ✓

she is

⇔

serious ✓

she has

⇔

a book ✓

he is

⇔

amusing ✓

he has

⇔

a game ✓

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

The sound-symbol correspondences [o] and [au] sound the same, like the [au] in gauche, left.
The verb 'avoir' means to have. 'Tu as', 'il a' and 'elle a' are singular forms of this verb.
The verb 'être' means to be. 'Tu es', 'il est and 'elle est' are singular forms of this verb.
Some of the singular forms of 'avoir' to have and 'être' to be, sound similar, e.g., tu as, tu es.

Common misconception

The verb 'avoir' in 'tu as' and 'il, elle a' and the verb 'être' in 'tu es' and 'il, elle est' sound the same and so must be spelt the same.

It is important to understand that they don't sound the same and are not spelt the same. Some forms of avoir sound the same due to SFCs. These singular forms of 'avoir' and 'être' should be learnt off by heart as they are extremely frequent.

Keywords

[o]/[au] - pronounced 'au' as in 'gauche', left.
Tu as/tu es - you have/you are
Il a/il est - he has/he is
Elle a/elle est - she has/she is