French exercises / B1 / Verbs & tensesThe near future and the past-before-the-past, side by side.
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Passé composé vs plus-que-parfait
The passé composé reports an event in the past. The plus-que-parfait marks an event that happened before it. You only need the plus-que-parfait when the sentence mentions two past moments out of order: if events are told in sequence, the passé composé alone is enough.
Read the full explanationThe plus-que-parfait
The plus-que-parfait is the imparfait of avoir or être plus a past participle: j’avais fini, elle était partie. It marks something that happened before another past event, and it is required in the si half of a sentence about a past that did not happen.
Read the full explanationFutur proche & plus-que-parfait: worked examples
Five from the set, with the answer filled in and the rule that decides it.
- 01
Tu vas prendre le train de quinze heures.
Futur proche = aller in the present + the infinitive.
- 02
Nous allons déménager le mois prochain.
The nous form of aller is allons; the second verb never changes.
- 03
Cet été, je ne vais pas partir en vacances.
ne … pas wraps the conjugated aller, never the infinitive.
- 04
Demain matin, je vais me lever à six heures.
The reflexive pronoun sits in front of the infinitive, not of aller.
- 05
Vous allez vous asseoir ici, à côté de la fenêtre.
The pronoun matches the subject: vous allez vous asseoir.