Level: JHS (Basic 7 – 9) | Subject: French | Topic: La Famille et les Nombres – The Family and Numbers in Context | Curriculum: Ghana NaCCA / GES

Two of the most fundamental areas of everyday French conversation are talking about your family and working with numbers. This lesson equips students to describe their family in French and to handle numbers confidently in real-life contexts such as ages, prices, phone numbers, and dates.

La Famille – The Family

Vocabulary: Family Members

French English
le père father
la mère mother
les parents parents
le frère brother
la sœur sister
le fils son
la fille daughter
le grand-père grandfather
la grand-mère grandmother
les grands-parents grandparents
l’oncle uncle
la tante aunt
le cousin / la cousine cousin (male/female)
le neveu / la nièce nephew / niece
le mari husband
la femme / l’épouse wife
l’enfant child
le bébé baby
le jumeau / la jumelle twin (male/female)
fils unique / fille unique only child (male/female)

Talking About Your Family

Key structures:

  • J’ai… – I have…
  • Je n’ai pas de… – I don’t have a…
  • Il / Elle s’appelle… – He/She is called…
  • Ils / Elles s’appellent… – They are called…
  • Il / Elle a… ans. – He/She is… years old.
  • Il / Elle est… – He/She is… (followed by a profession or adjective)

Sample Paragraph: Ma Famille

J’ai une famille nombreuse. Nous sommes sept personnes à la maison. Mon père s’appelle Kwame et il a quarante-cinq ans. Il est professeur. Ma mère s’appelle Ama et elle est commerçante. J’ai deux frères et une sœur. Mon grand frère s’appelle Kofi et il a vingt ans. Il étudie à l’université. Ma petite sœur s’appelle Akua et elle a sept ans. Elle est à l’école primaire. Je n’ai pas de grands-parents qui vivent avec nous, mais nous les visitons souvent pendant les vacances.

Translation: I have a large family. There are seven of us at home. My father is called Kwame and he is 45 years old. He is a teacher. My mother is called Ama and she is a trader. I have two brothers and one sister. My older brother is called Kofi and he is 20. He studies at university. My little sister is called Akua and she is 7. She is in primary school. I don’t have grandparents who live with us, but we visit them often during the holidays.

Les Nombres – Numbers

Numbers 1 to 100

Number French Number French
1 un / une 11 onze
2 deux 12 douze
3 trois 13 treize
4 quatre 14 quatorze
5 cinq 15 quinze
6 six 16 seize
7 sept 17 dix-sept
8 huit 18 dix-huit
9 neuf 19 dix-neuf
10 dix 20 vingt

Tens and Compounds

Number French Notes
20 vingt
21 vingt et un Use “et” only for 21, 31, 41, 51, 61
22 vingt-deux Hyphen for compound numbers
30 trente
40 quarante
50 cinquante
60 soixante
70 soixante-dix Literally “sixty-ten”
71 soixante et onze Literally “sixty and eleven”
72 soixante-douze Literally “sixty-twelve”
80 quatre-vingts Literally “four-twenties”
81 quatre-vingt-un No “s” when followed by a number
90 quatre-vingt-dix Literally “four-twenty-ten”
100 cent

Note for Ghanaian students: French in West Africa (including in Ghana’s schools) often uses Belgian/Swiss variants where 70 = septante and 90 = nonante, but standard French (as tested in BECE) uses the forms above. Learn the standard French forms.

Numbers Beyond 100

  • 101 = cent un
  • 200 = deux cents (add “s” to cent when followed by nothing)
  • 201 = deux cent un (no “s” when followed by a number)
  • 1,000 = mille
  • 1,500 = mille cinq cents
  • 1,000,000 = un million

Numbers in Context

Talking About Age

  • Quel âge as-tu? (How old are you?)
  • J’ai quinze ans. (I am fifteen years old.)
  • Il a trente-deux ans. (He is thirty-two years old.)

Prices and Money

  • Combien ça coûte? (How much does it cost?)
  • Ça coûte vingt cédis. (It costs twenty cedis.)
  • C’est trop cher! (It’s too expensive!)
  • Avez-vous quelque chose de moins cher? (Do you have something cheaper?)

Dates

In French, dates are written: le + day number + month name

  • le premier mars (1st March) – “premier” for the 1st only
  • le six mars (6th March) – cardinal numbers for all other dates
  • le vingt-cinq décembre (25th December)

Months of the Year (Les Mois)

janvier, février, mars, avril, mai, juin, juillet, août, septembre, octobre, novembre, décembre

Note: months are NOT capitalised in French.

Practice Questions: Family and Numbers

1. How do you say “I have three brothers” in French?




Reveal Answer
Answer: A – J’ai trois frères. “Frères” is the plural of “frère” (brother). Numbers come before the noun in French, just like in English. “Sœurs” means sisters, not brothers.

2. How do you write 71 in French?




Reveal Answer
Answer: C – soixante et onze. 71 in standard French is soixante et onze (sixty and eleven). Note the use of “et” (and) without a hyphen, similar to the pattern for 21 (vingt et un).

3. What does “Il a quarante-cinq ans” mean?




Reveal Answer
Answer: B – He is 45 years old. “Il” = he, “a” = has/is, “quarante-cinq” = 45, “ans” = years. In French, you “have” an age rather than “being” an age: J’ai quinze ans literally means “I have fifteen years.”

4. What is the French word for “grandfather”?




Reveal Answer
Answer: A – le grand-père. Grand-père (grandfather) uses the masculine article “le.” Grand-mère (la) is grandmother; oncle (l’) is uncle; père (le) is simply father.

5. How do you say “6th March” in French?




Reveal Answer
Answer: C – le six mars. French dates follow the pattern: le + number + month. Only the 1st of a month uses “premier” instead of “un.” Months are NOT capitalised in French.

Next French topics: Les Vêtements et les Couleurs (Clothes and Colours) | La Nourriture (Food and Eating) | Les Verbes Irréguliers (Irregular Verbs)

By Lessons and Notes, Senior High School, SHS Integrated ScienceLeave a Comment on JHS French: La Famille et les Nombres – The Family and Numbers in Context

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