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All practice lessonsB1 · Grammar in context · about 12 minutes

Connect yesterday and tomorrow

Connect a completed event, its background, and a future plan using familiar past and future forms.

Report a completed event

The passé composé combines a present-tense auxiliary with a past participle. Many verbs use avoir: j’ai travaillé, nous avons pris. Some verbs, including aller, use être: elle est allée. With être in these examples, the participle agrees with the subject; allée has an extra e for a feminine singular subject. Do not choose être for every movement verb: j’ai marché uses avoir. Keep a time marker such as hier to anchor the event.

Hier, j’ai terminé mon travail à six heures.Yesterday, I finished my work at six o’clock.
Nous avons pris le train samedi.We took the train on Saturday.
Elle est allée à Lyon.She went to Lyon.Aller uses être here; allée agrees with elle.

Set the scene with the imperfect

The imparfait often describes a past situation, a habit, or an activity viewed as ongoing. The passé composé presents an event as completed. In a story, these perspectives work together: it was raining sets the scene, then a decision moves the story forward. This is not a rule that long actions always take the imparfait and short ones always take the passé composé. The speaker’s viewpoint and the context matter.

Il pleuvait, alors j’ai pris le bus.It was raining, so I took the bus.
Quand j’habitais à Lille, je prenais le métro tous les jours.When I lived in Lille, I used to take the metro every day.
Je préparais le dîner quand le téléphone a sonné.I was preparing dinner when the phone rang.

Move from a past event to a plan

For a future plan, use a present-tense form of aller followed by an infinitive: je vais étudier, nous allons partir. This construction is often called the futur proche, but it does not require the event to happen immediately. A time marker such as demain or le mois prochain makes the timing clear. For a negative plan, put ne and pas around aller, leaving the infinitive after it. Use parce que to connect a plan to its reason.

Demain, je vais réviser ces phrases.Tomorrow, I’m going to review these phrases.
Nous allons visiter Nantes le mois prochain.We’re going to visit Nantes next month.
Je ne vais pas sortir ce soir parce que je suis fatigué.I’m not going to go out tonight because I’m tired.A feminine speaker writes fatiguée.

Your turn.

Choose an answer, then check why it works. You can try again.

1. Complete the sentence about a woman: “Hier, elle ___ à Lyon.”
2. Which sentence presents ongoing preparation as the background to a completed phone call?
3. Choose “We are going to leave tomorrow.”

Make it yours.

Spend four minutes writing a four-sentence mini-story: set a past scene with il faisait or il pleuvait, report a completed event, add a reason, and end with a plan for tomorrow. Underline the auxiliary and participle in your passé composé, then circle aller plus the infinitive in your plan.

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