Sentence builder
French group-photo captions: identify the speaker's brother
Build eight French captions for a group picture with a written key. Track who is speaking before choosing mon, notre or a relationship with de.
- A1
- 8 sentences to build
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In short
Identify the speaker before reading mon frère: it means the speaker’s brother. Le frère de Camille names Camille as the person with that brother. In the picture below, Camille is on the left, Farid is in the middle and Nora is on the right, from the viewer’s viewpoint.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
The same person can receive two correct captions. Camille calls Farid mon frère. Nora calls him le frère de Camille. The family connection stays the same; the words change because the speaker changes. Use the fixed key below for every sentence in the activity.
| Position | Name | Stated relationship |
|---|---|---|
| À gauche | Camille | Farid’s sister; Nora’s friend |
| Au milieu | Farid | Camille’s brother; Nora’s friend |
| À droite | Nora | A friend of both Camille and Farid |
Three ways to name the same relationship
Camille : « Farid est mon frère. »
Camille: “Farid is my brother.”
Nora : « Farid est le frère de Camille. »
Nora: “Farid is Camille’s brother.”
Farid : « Camille est ma sœur. »
Farid: “Camille is my sister.”
Mon agrees with frère, the masculine singular relationship noun, rather than with the gender of Camille. Ma agrees with sœur. De Camille gives the name directly after the relationship noun. Keep le in le frère de Camille: the expression uses a noun phrase with its article.
Rebuild the supplied captions
Each English cue states both the intended speaker and the wording to build. Arrange the supplied French tiles to make that model. Other French captions may describe the same picture, but the tile activity practises the particular sentence specified by its cue.
Tap the words in the right order. Tap a placed word to send it back.
Camille speaks: Farid is my brother.
Camille speaks: My brother is in the middle.
Describe the left-hand person: Camille is on the left.
Describe the right-hand person: Nora is on the right.
Nora speaks: Farid is Camille’s brother.
Nora speaks: Camille is Farid’s sister.
Use the relationship instead of Farid’s name: Camille’s brother is in the middle.
Camille and Farid speak together: Our friend Nora is on the right.
Separate relationship from position
À gauche and à droite tell you where the person appears. Au milieu identifies the middle position. These expressions do not name a family relationship. Le frère de Camille identifies Farid even before you say where he stands. Combining the two gives a caption with both identity and location.
Le frère de Camille est au milieu.
Camille’s brother is in the middle.
Notre amie Nora means our friend Nora when Camille and Farid speak together. Notre identifies a shared relationship with the speakers; amie is still singular because Nora is one person. If Nora speaks alone, mon frère would describe her own brother, whose identity has not been supplied in this picture key. It would no longer identify Farid from the stated information.