On étudie !

How do we ask what or who is it in French?

• Let’s look at how these two people ask and answer “who is it?” and “what is it?”
• To practice, you can listen and repeat their dialogue.

Vocabulaire utile : un oiseau a bird.

Structure : Qui est-ce ? vs. Qu’est-ce que c’est ?

Structure : Les articles indéfinis

Identification des choses

On pratique !

Activité A

You have two items listed each time and one image next to them. Which one does the image represent?

• Follow the example in the video below.
• To practice, you can listen and repeat their dialogue.

Modèle : une plante ou un insecte —>

 

— Est-ce que c’est une plante ou un insecte ?

— C’est une plante.

Est-ce que c’est… ?

1. un lapin ou un chien

2. une tortue ou un singe

3. un éléphant ou une baleine

4. un crocodile ou un panda

5. une girafe ou un crocodile

6. un lapin ou un chat

7. un chat ou un singe

8. un chien ou un chat

9. une girafe ou une baleine

10. une tortue ou un éléphant

Activité B

Qu’est-ce que c’est ? Look at the images below and answer with “c’est” or “ce sont”.

Identifiez ces animaux

Animaux	Animaux	Animaux
1.	2.	3.
4.	5.	6.

Activité C

Match the answers with the questions.

Activité D

Répondez. Answer these questions according to images.

1. Qu’est-ce que c’est ? ________

2. Qu’est-ce que c’est ? ________

3. Qu’est-ce que c’est ? ________

4. Qu’est-ce que c’est ? ________

Activité E

Qu’est-ce que c’est ça ? You can do this activity with a variety of flashcards. It works best for large groups, like a whole class, but it can also work in small groups or even pairs.

1. Find — or make — a set of flashcards with pictures on one side and the vocabulary word(s) on the other side.
2. Each person should have one card at a time and be paired off with one other person.
3. One of you will ask the other: Qu’est-ce que c’est ? while showing the picture side. The other will identify what it is by saying, C’est un(e)… For example, when you show someone a picture of a bear, you’ll say, Qu’est-ce que c’est ? and your partner will have to respond with C’est un ours (a bear). If they don’t know the answer, Je ne sais pas (I don’t know).
4. Then have your partner ask you the same question about their picture.
5. After you have finished the dialogue, you will exchange cards with your partner and go find a new partner to start the process all over again. You can continue this as long as you want. Just remember that the more you do it, the more you will remember the vocabulary, and you will never forget how to ask someone what something is again. Remember to take into consideration the gender and number of the objects (nouns) in your replies.

You can continue this as long as you want. Just remember that the more you do it, the more you will remember the vocabulary, and you will never forget how to ask someone what something is again. Remember to take into consideration the gender and number of the objects (nouns) in your replies.

On approfondit !

Exercice 1 : qu’est-ce que c’est ?

Exercice 2 : questions pour se présenter

Exercice 3 : questions pour se présenter

Exercice 4 : réponses typiques

Exercice 5 : réponses typiques

On étudie !

(a) The most common type of adjective used is the determiner, also known as an article. An article, such as “the” or “a”, introduces a noun and it must be placed before the noun. Like any adjective, it must also agree with the gender of the noun(s) that it modifies. There are two types of articles: “definite articles” (articles définis) and “indefinite articles” (articles indéfinis). Here are the singular forms with gender agreement:

Articles indéfinis

Articles définis

[Place Audio]

Singular articles with gender agreement

(b) The articles le and la become l’ before words that begin with a vowel or a silent h. For example:

l’étudiant, l’avenue, l’île, l’université, l’hôpital, l’homme

These are called élisions. An elision is a type of contraction that occurs when two words are combined: one or more letters are dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. In English, elisions like “I’m” and “can’t” are optional and indicate informality.

(c) When nouns are plural, the articles must also be plural in order to agree with them. Most plural nouns in French end in -s. There are also some irregular plurals such as -x: le chapeau => les chapeaux; beau => beaux. Here are the plural forms with number agreement:

[Place Audio]

Plural articles with gender agreement

(d) Since each noun is either masculine or feminine (gender) and singular or plural (number), all adjectives used to describe — or modify how we understand — these nouns must agree with the gender and number of the nouns. For example:

[Place Audio]

Articles with number agreement

On approfondit !

Exercice 1 : articles définis (singulier)

Exercice 2 : articles définis (pluriel)

Exercice 3 : articles indéfinis (singulier)

Exercice 4 : articles indéfinis (pluriel)

Exercice 5 : singulier vs pluriel