Tense Duel
You have practised the verb forms — now for the harder step: choosing between the passé composé and the imparfait, between the futur and the conditionnel. Choose a level and the round starts straight away: A1 is a whole text in the present, A2 works the past-tense contrast (in one sentence, or in a full story), B1 the futur and the conditionnel, and “Tous les temps” mixes everything. Pick the form from a list, or type it yourself.
How it works
1. Read the text
A sentence — or a whole paragraph — appears with gaps. Every gap is a verb whose tense you have to decide.
2. Pick or type the tense
The choices are the same verb and the same person — only the tense changes. Or type the form yourself: accents are optional.
3. Understand why
Every answer names the tense and reminds you what it is used for, and the end-of-round review lists exactly what you missed.
The seven tenses in play
These are the tenses you will see among the choices — including the forms you have to rule out. The names stay in French: that is the grammar vocabulary you need to recognise.
Présent
What is true now, a habit, or a general fact.
Futur proche
What is going to happen — very soon, or already planned.
Passé composé
A finished action, seen as a single event.
Imparfait
A habit or a description in the past, or the background of a scene.
Plus-que-parfait
What had already happened before another past action.
Futur simple
Something that will happen.
Conditionnel
Something that would happen, or a polite request.
Still unsure which tense to use?
Our small-group classes are led by native tutors, so choosing the right tense becomes second nature.