Le passé simple – Free Exercise

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Exercise B1

Complete the sentences with the passé simple form of the verbs in brackets.

  1. Je (dormir)   pendant dix heures.[I slept for ten hours.]|1st person singular: We remove the -ir ending and add is.
  2. Ils se (réveiller)   à huit heures.[They woke up at eight.]|3rd person plural: We remove the -er ending and add èrent.
  3. Nous (sortir)   de la maison.[We went out of the house.]|1st person plural: We remove the -ir ending and add îmes.
  4. Vous (arriver)   en retard.[You arrived too late.]|2nd person plural: We remove the -er ending and add âtes.
  5. Tu (répondre)   à la question.[You answered the question.]|2nd person singular: We remove the -re ending and add is.

Complete the sentences with the passé simple form of the verbs in brackets. Remember – some verbs do not follow the regular conjugation rules.

  1. Est-ce que vous (être)   surpris?[Were you surprised?]|Être is an irregular verb.|See the list of irregular verbs.
  2. Ils (venir)   à midi.[They came at noon.]|Venir is conjugated differently in the passé simple.|See the list of irregular verbs.
  3. Tu (voyager)   autour du monde.[You travelled around the world.]|For verbs ending in -ger, we add an e before the ending, except in the 3rd person plural.
  4. Nous (avoir)   soudain très faim.[We suddenly felt very hungry.]|Avoir is an irregular verb.|See the list of irregular verbs.
  5. Je (commencer)   un exercice.[I began an exercise.]|For verbs ending in -cer, we add a ç before the ending, except in the 3rd person plural.

Complete the sentences using the passé simple form of the verbs in brackets. Remember – not all verbs follow the regular conjugation rules.

  1. Je (revoir)   un ami d'enfance hier.[I saw a childhood friend again yesterday.]|Revoir is an irregular verb.|See the list of irregular verbs.
  2. Est-ce que vous (aller)   au restaurant?[Did you go to the restaurant?]|Aller is an irregular verb, but not in the passé simple.|2nd person plural: We remove the er-ending and add âtes.
  3. Maxime se (souvenir)   de la recette.[Maxime remembered the recipe.]|Se souvenir is conjugated differently in the passé simple.|See venir in the list of irregular verbs.
  4. Ils (avancer)   la date du rendez-vous.[They moved the appointment forward.]|For verbs ending in -cer, we add a ç except in the 3rd person plural.
  5. Nous (comprendre)   la phrase.[We understood the sentence.]|Comprendre is an irregular verb.|See prendre in the list of irregular verbs.