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The LibraryODERSA publishing house
An ODERSA resource · Knowledge programmeA book only goes online once it is whole and read by someone else.

Chapter 13 of 17 · Conjugating French Without Hesitating

Chapter 12. General review of the four tenses

The last review, the one that mixes everything: recognising a tense, changing tense, and choosing for yourself with nothing to tell you.

Choosing, and no longer applying

Almost every earlier set announced the tense to be used, and only one did not, the set that separated the présent (the present tense) from the imparfait (the imperfect) in chapter 7. The sets in this last chapter no longer announce it: it is the sentence itself that imposes it, through a word that places the moment, and it is up to the reader to see it. That step is the only one that really counts, because in a text you write yourself nobody ever announces anything.

Two sets first take up the four tenses mixed together, the first announcing the tense one last time, the second letting the sentence decide. The third asks you to recognise a tense instead of producing it, which is the move you make when rereading. The last two carry a whole text from one tense into another, and they are the most complete exercises in the workbook: they force you to hold the same decision over a dozen verbs in a row.

After this chapter, the workbook can be taken up again another way: do an old set again a few weeks after doing it, without rereading the reminder. What comes back by itself has been learnt; the rest points out exactly which set to do again. It is the only honest way of knowing where you stand.

Exercise 50. The four tenses, announced

Copy out each sentence, writing the verb in the tense called for in square brackets.

  1. Nous (prendre) [présent] toujours le même chemin.
  2. Nous (prendre) [imparfait] le petit chemin autrefois.
  3. Nous (prendre) [futur] la route de la côte.
  4. Nous (prendre) [passé composé] le train de nuit.
  5. Tu (faire) [passé composé] du bon travail.
  6. Tu (faire) [futur] mieux encore.
  7. Elle (venir) [imparfait] chaque jeudi.
  8. Elle (venir) [passé composé] hier.
  9. Vous (être) [présent] en avance.
  10. Vous (être) [imparfait] toujours en retard.
  11. Ils (avoir) [futur] besoin de nous.
  12. Ils (avoir) [passé composé] de la chance.
  13. Je (finir) [présent] à l'instant.
  14. Je (finir) [passé composé] il y a une heure.
  15. On (aller) [futur] voir ce qui se passe.
  16. On (aller) [passé composé] voir ce qui se passait.

In the next set, no tense is announced. The only clue is the word or the group that places the moment: hier, en ce moment, demain, autrefois, chaque année, dans un instant. Read it first, decide on the tense, and only then write the verb.

Exercise 51. The tense is no longer announced

Copy out each sentence, writing the verb in the tense that the meaning imposes. Justify in one word by saying what made up your mind.

  1. Hier soir, nous (rentrer) très tard.
  2. En ce moment, il (faire) un froid terrible.
  3. L'année prochaine, tu (changer) d'école.
  4. Autrefois, on (aller) au moulin à pied.
  5. Dans un instant, je (finir) ce que j'ai commencé.
  6. Chaque matin de cet hiver-là, la vitre (être) couverte de givre.
  7. La semaine dernière, vous (voir) le même spectacle.
  8. Dans dix minutes, ils (être) là.
  9. Aujourd'hui, les enfants (avoir) piscine.
  10. Quand j'étais petit, je (vouloir) devenir marin.
  11. Ce matin, le facteur (venir) deux fois.
  12. Demain, nous (savoir) enfin la réponse.

Exercise 52. Recognising the tense

For each verb form, write its infinitive, then its tense.

  1. nous irons
  2. vous disiez
  3. elle a pris
  4. ils font
  5. tu seras
  6. j'avais
  7. nous sommes venus
  8. on verra
  9. elles finissaient
  10. il a voulu
  11. vous pouvez
  12. je serai
  13. nous avons dit
  14. tu prenais
  15. elles sont parties
  16. il fera

Exercise 53. Carrying a text into the passé composé (the perfect tense)

Copy out this text, which is in the présent, putting the whole of it into the passé composé. Keep the same subject in each sentence and do not forget to choose the auxiliary.

  1. Je pousse la porte du magasin.
  2. La vendeuse me dit bonjour.
  3. Je choisis deux paires de chaussettes.
  4. Elle range mes achats dans un sac.
  5. Je paye à la caisse.
  6. Elle me rend la monnaie.
  7. Je sors sans regarder derrière moi.
  8. J'oublie mon parapluie sur le comptoir.
  9. Elle appelle depuis la porte du magasin.
  10. Je viens le chercher, un peu honteux.

Exercise 54. Carrying a text into the imparfait, then into the futur (the simple future)

Copy out this text, which is in the présent, twice: a first time entirely in the imparfait, a second time entirely in the futur. Write two answers per sentence, then.

  1. Le dimanche, nous allons chez ma grand-mère.
  2. Elle prépare une soupe épaisse.
  3. Mon frère met la table.
  4. Les cousins arrivent toujours en retard.
  5. On mange dans la cuisine.
  6. Personne ne veut partir avant la nuit.
  7. Je fais la vaisselle avec ma sœur.
  8. Nous prenons le dernier bus.
  9. Ma grand-mère nous voit du bout de la rue.
  10. Elle dit au revoir de la fenêtre.