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B2 · Grammaire10 / 12
Le passé simple B2
Recognition AND production — the literary past tense in full
What you’ll learn
At B1, you learned to recognize the passé simple. At B2, you can produce it — at least for regular verbs and the most common irregulars. You use it when writing in a literary register, summarizing a historical text, or analyzing a novel.
Explanation
Regular formations (production)
You need to produce these for writing exercises and literary analysis:
| Group | je | il/elle | ils/elles |
|---|---|---|---|
| -er (parler) | parlai | parla | parlèrent |
| -ir (finir) | finis | finit | finirent |
| -re (vendre) | vendis | vendit | vendirent |
| Être | fus | fut | furent |
| Avoir | eus | eut | eurent |
| Faire | fis | fit | firent |
| Venir | vins | vint | vinrent |
| Voir | vis | vit | virent |
Practice · 4 exercises
1
La princesse ___ le crapaud. (embrasser — PS, elle)
2
Ils ___ la décision ensemble. (prendre — PS)
3
Associe les éléments :
il fut→ ?
elle fit→ ?
ils vinrent→ ?
il eut→ ?
4
Rewrite in the passé simple
Il est parti à minuit. (3rd person) →