📖LearnModule 3 · Lesson 2 of 30Basic User · CEFR A2, first halfUnit 1 · Le passé composé — the past, part I
Hier — time words for the past
Module 3 of the free French course (CEFR A2, first half), lesson 2 of 30: The past needs its markers: hier (yesterday), ce matin (this morning). 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 2.
The words
French
English
Say it
hier
yesterday
yehr
ce matin
this morning
suh mah-TA(n)
hier soir
last night
ee-ehr SWAHR
le week-end
the weekend
luh wee-KEND
le week-end dernier
last weekend
luh wee-kend dehr-NYAY
dernier
last (m)
dehr-NYAY
dernière
last (f)
dehr-NYEHR
hier, j'ai joué au parc
yesterday I played at the park
ee-ehr zhay zhoo-ay oh PAHRK
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
The past needs its markers: hier (yesterday), ce matin (this morning), hier soir (last night), le week-end dernier (last weekend).
Et aussi · And also
Hier, j'ai joué au parc. Ce matin, j'ai mangé du pain. Say two true sentences about yesterday, out loud, every day this week.
Attention · Watch out
dernier follows the noun and agrees: le week-end dernier, la semaine dernière. And last night is hier soir, not hier nuit.
jouer, passé composé — the table
je ai joué · tu as joué · il/elle a joué · nous avons joué · vous avez joué · ils/elles ont joué
regarder, passé composé — the table
je ai regardé · tu as regardé · il/elle a regardé · nous avons regardé · vous avez regardé · ils/elles ont regardé
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with hier.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out jouer, passé composé and regarder, passé composé 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.