Understanding the Past Tense in French

This video tutorial explains the past tense in the indicative mood, detailing when and how to use it. It covers the construction of past tense using the auxiliaries 'avoir' and 'être', with examples for both transitive and intransitive verbs. The video also highlights the agreement rules for verbs conjugated with 'être'. Finally, it provides guidance on conjugating the auxiliaries themselves in the past tense and encourages viewers to practice the concepts learned.

What does the past tense express?

• An action that will happen in the future

• An action that is happening now

• An action or fact that has already occurred

• An action that is hypothetical

Which of the following is a compound tense?

• Conditional tense

• Future tense

• Present tense

• Past tense

Which auxiliary verb is used with transitive verbs in the past tense?

• aller

• faire

• avoir

• être

How do you conjugate the verb 'trouver' in the past tense for 'je'?

• je suis trouvé

• j'ai trouvé

• je trouve

• je trouvais

Which auxiliary verb is used with intransitive verbs in the past tense?

• aller

• être

• faire

• avoir

What must agree with the subject when using 'être' in the past tense?

• The past participle

• The main verb

• The tense

• The auxiliary verb

How do you conjugate 'partir' in the past tense for 'je'?

• j'ai parti

• je suis parti(e)

• je partirai

• je partais

What is the past participle of 'avoir' used in the past tense?

• été

• eu

• pris

• fait

How do you conjugate 'être' in the past tense for 'nous'?

• nous serons

• nous sommes été

• nous avons été

• nous étions

Which of the following is the correct past tense conjugation for 'ils ont eu'?

• They will have

• They were

• They had

• They have been