The one skill that decides your Section-A tense score. Click an answer and get instant feedback with the reason — all set in real news-story sentences. Do it until the choice is automatic.
A fait divers is a story. Two past tenses share the work:
Imparfait
the scenery
Background & description — weather, place, time
Ongoing action — "was ...-ing" when something else happened
States & feelings — how things/people were
Habits — "used to", "every day"
Passé composé
the plot
Single completed events that move the story forward
"And then X happened" — sudden, one-off actions
A sequence of finished actions
Reactions & outcomes — what people did next
Picture a film: the imparfait paints the set (it was night, it was raining, people were waiting). The passé composé is the action on that set (suddenly a car appeared, the firefighters arrived, the power was restored).
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Il ___ nuit quand l'accident s'est produit. faire
Imparfait — it *was* night: weather/setting is the scenery.
Soudain, une voiture ___ au carrefour. surgir
Passé composé — "soudain" signals a single, sudden event that moves the plot.
Les passants ___ le bus lorsque l'arbre est tombé. attendre
Imparfait — an ongoing action ("were waiting") interrupted by a sudden event.
Le conducteur ___ le contrôle de son véhicule. perdre
Passé composé — a single completed event that drives the story.
Il ___ depuis le matin. pleuvoir
Imparfait — an ongoing background state ("had been raining since morning").
Les pompiers ___ vingt minutes plus tard. arriver
Passé composé — a specific completed event on the timeline. (arriver → être + agreement)
À l'arrivée des secours, la victime ___ consciente. être
Imparfait — describing a state/condition, not an event.
Un témoin ___ aussitôt les secours. appeler
Passé composé — a one-off reaction ("immediately called").
Chaque soir, le gardien ___ les grilles du parc. fermer
Imparfait — "chaque soir" = a habit ("used to close every evening").
Finalement, le courant ___ rétabli au petit matin. être (passif)
Passé composé — a completed outcome that closes the event ("was restored").
Now the tense is decided — pick the correctly built passé composé (right auxiliary, right agreement). These are the endings that cost accord/temps points.
Elle ___ à l'hôpital. aller
aller takes être, and the participle agrees with a feminine subject → est allée.
Les secours ___ rapidement. intervenir
intervenir is an être verb (like venir) → sont intervenus (masc. plural agreement).
Le voleur ___ la fuite. prendre
prendre takes avoir → a pris. (irregular participle: pris)
Ils ___ dans un abri. se réfugier
Pronominal verbs take être and keep the pronoun → se sont réfugiés (masc. plural).
La tempête ___ d'importants dégâts. provoquer
provoquer takes avoir; no agreement with the subject → a provoqué.
Deux personnes ___ transportées à l'hôpital. être transporté (passif)
Passive in the past = avoir + été + participle → ont été transportées. "sont transportées" would be present.
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