LearnModule 5 · Lesson 11 of 30Basic User · CEFR A2 mastery + the B1 bridgeUnit 3 · The two pasts, mastered

Happened, or was? — the contrast

Module 5 of the free French course (CEFR A2 mastery + the B1 bridge), lesson 11 of 30: . On this page: 6 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 11.

The words

French	English	Say it
il faisait beau	the weather was nice	eel fuh-zeh BOH
j'étais content	I was happy	zhay-teh koh(n)-TAH(n)
il y avait du monde	there were a lot of people	eel ee ah-veh dew MOH(n)D
j'ai vu	I saw	zhay VEW
elle est partie	she left	ehl eh pahr-TEE
pendant	during	pah(n)-DAH(n)

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 B1 doorway is knowing WHICH past: the imparfait paints how things were (il faisait beau, j'étais content, il y avait du monde); the passé composé fires what happened (j'ai vu, elle est partie, nous avons mangé).

Et aussi · And also

Test any sentence: could you film it as a single event? Passé composé. Is it the scenery behind events? Imparfait.

Attention · Watch out

pendant (during, for) takes a finished stretch: pendant les vacances. 'For three years and still' is depuis, which you meet in Lesson 28.

Do it now — on paper

Say all 6 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il faisait beau.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 11 in Module 5 are the written half of this page.

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.

New lessons and French workbook news, first

One email when the numbers change. Double opt-in, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.