Home entertainment in French

• Use the perfect tense to talk about how you have used media and technology in the past.

• The perfect tense is formed with an auxiliary verb and a past participle .

• Direct object pronoun can be used to avoid repeating a noun.

• This guide contains listening practice.

Useful phrases to describe online activity include:

For example:

On peut écouter de la musique en ligne sans télécharger des chansons. - You can listen to music online without downloading songs.

Elle va prendre une photo pour partager sur ses réseaux sociaux. - She is going to take a photo to share on her social media.

Remember

You can use the structures pour + infinitive (in order to do) and sans + infinitive (without doing) to create more complex sentences.

For example:

J’ai une appli pour regarder des vidéos amusantes. - I have an app to watch funny videos.

Nous ne pouvons pas faire les devoirs sans chercher des sites Internet. - We can’t do the homework without looking for websites.

What is the perfect tense?

The perfect tense is used to talk about something that happened in the past and that is completely finished.

For example:

Nous avons joué en ligne. – We played online.

It can also be used to express the English present perfect tense.

For example:

Elles ont enregistré une vidéo. – They have recorded a video.

These are the key elements needed to form the perfect tense with avoir:

1. The subject

The subject could be a pronoun, eg je, tu or il, or a name, a person or a thing, such as ma mère or le portable.

2. The present tense of avoir

This is known as the auxiliary verb – a verb that helps to make the perfect tense.

3. The past participle of the verb

To form the past participle of regular verbs, remove the er, ir or re and add the following endings:

• parler (to speak) – parlé (spoken)

• choisir (to choose) – choisi (chosen)

• entendre (to hear) – entendu (heard)

For example:

Elle a parlé. – She spoke. / She has spoken.

Ils ont choisi. – They chose. / They have chosen.

Nous avons entendu. – We heard. / We have heard.

Some of the most commonly used verbs have irregular past participles. For example:

• être (to be) – été (been)

• avoir (to have) – eu (had)

• faire (to do/make) – fait (done/made)

Other important verbs that have irregular past participles include:

• ouvrir (to open) – ouvert (opened)

• prendre (to take) – pris (taken)

• traduire (to translate) – traduit (translated)

Choose the correct word to complete each sentence.

Press Start to begin the activity.

Find out more about the perfect tense with avoir in the Perfect tense with ‘avoir’ in French guide.

Useful vocabulary for describing different forms of digital media and technology includes:

For example:

Je ne peux pas vivre sans portable! - I can’t live without a phone!

Nous allons acheter un nouvel ordinateur demain. - We are going to buy a new computer tomorrow.

Avec le streaming, on peut regarder des émissions de télé sur Internet. - With streaming, you can watch TV programmes on the internet.

All vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

Direct object pronouns replace the object of the sentence and are used to talk about something without repeating the noun.

For example, ‘I’m watching it’ instead of ‘I’m watching the film’.

The singular direct object pronouns are:

For example:

J’adore ce film. Je veux le regarder encore une fois. - I love this film. I want to watch it again.

Nous la suivons sur les réseaux sociaux. - We follow her on social media.

Je t’aime bien. - I really like you.

Remember

When the direct object pronouns me and te come before a vowel or silent ‘h’, they are shortened to m’ and t’. The direct object pronouns le and la both become l’ in front of a vowel or silent ‘h’.

The position of the direct object pronouns depends on which tense the sentence is in.

Present and imperfect tenses

In the present and imperfect tenses, the direct object pronoun comes between the subject and the verb:

For example:

Je n’aime pas cette chanson. En fait, je la déteste. - I don’t like this song. In fact, I hate it.

Une chanson is feminine, so you need to use la to mean ‘it’.

Tu l’écoutais tout le temps. - You used to listen to it all the time.

When the direct object pronouns le and la come before a vowel or h, you always use l’, regardless of whether the noun you are referring to is feminine or masculine.

When the direct object pronouns le and la come before a vowel or h, you always use l’, regardless of whether it is feminine or masculine.

Immediate future and modal verbs

In the immediate future (using aller followed by an infinitive) or after a modal verb followed by an infinitive, the direct object pronoun comes just before the infinitive.

For example:

Tu ne connais pas cet acteur ? Je vais le trouver en ligne. - You don’t know this actor? I’m going to find him online.

La nouvelle tablette est excellente. Vous pouvez l’acheter demain - The new tablet is excellent. You can buy it tomorrow.

Perfect tense

In the perfect tense, the pronoun goes before the auxiliary verb.

For example:

Je t’ai vu au concert. - I saw you at the concert.

Nous vous avons attendu devant le cinéma. - We waited for you in front of the cinema.

Find out more about using direct object pronouns in the Direct object pronouns in French guide.

You are listening to part of an entertainment podcast. Choose which type of entertainment is being spoken about in each of the clips.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when describing home entertainment.

Useful vocabulary includes:

All vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

The following modal verbs have irregular past participle:

For example:

J’ai pu écouter cette chanson le weekend dernier. - I was able to listen to that song last weekend.

Hier, Sofiane a dû rechercher des informations sur Internet. - Yesterday, Sofiane had to look for information on the internet.

On a voulu trouver un nouveau jeu. - We wanted to find a new game.

Vous avez su faire les devoirs? - Did you know how to do the homework?

The plural direct object pronouns are needed at Higher Tier:

For example:

Je regarde les vidéos de cuisine. Je les adore ! - I watch cookery videos. I love them!

Je vous vois dans le jeu. - I can see you (group of people) in the game.

Find out more about using direct object pronouns in the plural in the Direct object pronouns in French guide.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful Higher Tier vocabulary to use when talking about home entertainment.

Now you have learned about describing home entertainment, why not look at the Describing tourist attractions in French guide.