📖LearnModule 10 · Lesson 1 of 30Independent User · CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridgeUnit 1 · Les trois passés, en contraste
Décor ou action ?
Module 10 of the free French course (CEFR B1 + B2 mastery, and the C1 bridge), lesson 1 of 30: One question sorts the two main pasts. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 1.
The words
French
English
Say it
il faisait nuit
it was dark
eel fuh-zeh NWEE
la porte s'est ouverte
the door opened
lah port seh too-VEHRT
le décor
the setting
luh day-KOR
l'actionfeminine — the article elides to l'
the action
lahk-SYOH(n)
soudain
suddenly
soo-DA(n)
l'accidentmasculine — the article elides to l'
the accident
lahk-see-DAH(n)
le sentiment du moment
the feeling at the time
luh sah(n)-tee-mah(n) dew moh-MAH(n)
trier
to sort
tree-YAY
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
One question sorts the two main pasts, and it has never changed: is this the SCENE or is this the EVENT? Il faisait nuit (scene, imparfait). La porte s'est ouverte (event, passé composé).
Et aussi · And also
Four things are almost always scene: weather, time, age and feelings. Four things are almost always event: arrivals, decisions, accidents, and anything with soudain in front of it. Everything else, you ask the question.
Attention · Watch out
Weather, time, age and feelings are almost always scene (imparfait); arrivals, decisions, accidents and anything after soudain are events (passé composé). trier means to sort.
être, imparfait — the table
je étais · tu étais · il/elle était · nous étions · vous étiez · ils/elles étaient
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il faisait nuit.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out être, imparfait in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.