This backbone is mostly receptive — for reading your set text, not for producing. The passé simple (le passé simple) is the literary past tense of novels and formal narrative: you must recognise it, not write it. You'll also meet literary subjunctive forms, the tu / vous register split, and the classic faux amis.
Work through each screen and answer the questions — most ask you to recognise a form or spot a false friend. Collect ⭐ and press Start.
In novels and formal narrative, French replaces the passé composé with the passé simple. You'll never speak it — but you must read it. The regular endings:
Reading tip: il parla in a novel simply means "he spoke" — mentally read it as the passé composé il a parlé.
The most common verbs are irregular in the passé simple. Learn to recognise these third-person forms:
| infinitive | passé simple (il / ils…) |
|---|---|
| être | il fut, ils furent |
| avoir | il eut, ils eurent |
| faire | il fit |
| venir | il vint |
| pouvoir | il put |
| aller | il alla |
| voir | il vit |
| prendre | il prit |
Watch out: il fut (être) and il eut (avoir) look nothing like their infinitives — these two are the ones examiners test most.
The passé simple belongs to written, literary narrative — novels, short stories, historical accounts. It is not used in speech or informal writing, where the passé composé takes over:
Exam reality: you only ever read the passé simple. In your own writing, stick with the passé composé.
Older and very formal literature also uses the imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive. Like the passé simple, these are literary forms you only need to recognise:
Spot the accent: the circumflex on fût / eût marks the literary subjunctive — modern French would use the present subjunctive soit / ait.
French chooses its pronoun for "you" by register:
Formal writing: essays, letters and the exam favour vous and formal conventions — the choice of pronoun signals the whole tone of a text.
Some French words look like English words but mean something different. These faux amis cost easy marks:
Tap a passé simple form on the left, then its infinitive on the right.
Sort each form by whether it's the literary passé simple or the everyday passé composé.
Passé simple: the literary past — recognise it in novels (il parla, il finit, il vendit). Read il fut = être, il eut = avoir.
Irregulars: fut, eut, fit, vint, put, alla, vit, prit.
Literary subjunctive: qu'il fût / qu'il eût — recognise, don't produce.
Register & faux amis: tu informal vs vous formal/plural; watch librairie = bookshop, actuellement = currently, assister à = to attend.
Cluster 10 finishes the backbone: essay & translation technique. Press Finish.
You've learned to read literary tenses & register for Edexcel A-Level French. 🎉
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Next in the backbone: essay & translation technique — connectives, opinions and translation traps.
Next: test yourself in the Verify stage.