10.4 Tense, Aspect & the Concordance des Temps

DELF B2 — French Language Diploma Upper-Intermediate

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1 Structure de l'examen, barème et méthodologie générale

1.1 DELF B2 Overview & Post-2020 Reform Format 1.2 The Four Competencies & CEFR B2 Performance Descriptors 1.3 Strategic Exam Management & Error Avoidance

2 Compréhension de l'oral — Documents longs radiophoniques

2.1 Radio Document Analysis & Global Comprehension 2.2 Detailed Comprehension & Nuance in Interviews 2.3 Audio Traps, Distractors & Note-Taking Mechanics

3 Compréhension de l'oral — Documents courts et parole spontanée

3.1 Exercise 3 Mechanics — Single-Listen Audio Briefs 3.2 Micro-Debates & Vox Pops (Micro-trottoirs) 3.3 Accents, Cadence & Spoken Information Extraction

4 Compréhension des écrits — Articles de presse et argumentation

4.1 Long Press Articles — Structure & Global Meaning 4.2 Argument Tracking, Evidence & Counter-Arguments 4.3 Decoding Implicit Meaning, Tone & Author Position

5 Compréhension des écrits — Formats spécifiques et attribution d'opinions

5.1 Exercise 3 — Point-of-View Attribution 5.2 Opinion Markers & Evaluative Vocabulary 5.3 Reading Speed, Skimming & Time-Saving Strategies

6 Production écrite — La lettre formelle et administrative

6.1 Formal Letter Conventions & Structural Layout 6.2 Framing Complaints, Petitions & Policy Proposals 6.3 Formal Register, Modality & Politeness Codes

7 Production écrite — L'article d'opinion et l'essai argumenté

7.1 Opinion Articles & Forum Contributions 7.2 Structuring the Argumentative Body 7.3 The FEI Evaluation Grid & Self-Correction Checklist

8 Production orale — Le monologue suivi (exposé)

8.1 Analyzing the Trigger Document & Defining the Problematic 8.2 Structuring the 5–7 Minute Oral Presentation 8.3 Effective 30-Minute Preparation Strategy

9 Production orale — Le débat interactif avec l'examinateur

9.1 Defending Arguments Against Examiner Challenges 9.2 Concession, Clarification & Nuance Under Pressure 9.3 Spoken Register, Phonetics & Fluency 9.4 The Official Production Orale Grid & Examiner Expectations

10 Grammaire avancée et syntaxe complexe

10.1 The Subjunctive Mood — Triggers, Contrasts & Usage 10.2 The Hypothetical System & The Conditionnel 10.3 Complex Pronouns & Sentence Nuance 10.4 Tense, Aspect & the Concordance des Temps

11 Articulateurs logiques, voix passive et élévation stylistique

11.1 Logical Connectors & Argumentative Articulators 11.2 Passive Voice, Pronominal Verbs & Nominalization 11.3 Epistemic Modalisation & Stance Markers 11.4 Non-Finite Clauses: Gérondif, Participe Présent & Propositions Participiales

12 Thématiques sociétales et lexique B2 pour l'examen

12.1 Le Monde du Travail & Nouvelles Technologies 12.2 Écologie, Climat & Transition Durable 12.3 Éducation, Société & Vie Citoyenne 12.4 Santé, Médias & Consommation

10.4 Tense, Aspect & the Concordance des Temps

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

The morphosyntaxe criterion of both DELF B2 production grids explicitly assesses whether the candidate uses the tenses and moods the prompt requires, and the concordance des temps is scored there.

When the main verb is in a past tense, subordinate clauses take the imparfait for simultaneity, the plus-que-parfait for anteriority and the conditionnel présent (futur du passé) for posteriority.

The imparfait/passé composé choice is aspectual, not chronological: bounded events that advance the narrative take the passé composé, while frames, descriptions and open-ended habits take the imparfait.

In reported speech introduced by a past verb, présent becomes imparfait, passé composé becomes plus-que-parfait and futur simple becomes conditionnel présent, while deictics shift (aujourd'hui becomes ce jour-là, demain becomes le lendemain).

The passé simple is recognition-only at B2: it appears in press and literary narration but is never required in a candidate's own production.

Last updated: September 2026

10.4 Tense, Aspect & the Concordance des Temps

Note

This is a scored criterion, not background grammar. The Morphosyntaxe line of both production grids states that the candidate employs correctly the moods and tenses that the prompt calls for , and examiner guidance places the concordance des temps explicitly under that criterion. A DELF B2 letter proposing reforms that stays in the present tense from beginning to end cannot reach the B2+ band, however clean its agreements. The same system is tested receptively: comprehension items routinely turn on whether an event is presented as completed, ongoing, anterior or hypothetical.

The B2 Tense Inventory: What You Must Produce and What You Must Merely Recognise

Tense / mood Status at B2 Core value in exam texts
Présent Produce Current state, general truth, présent de narration in press leads
Passé composé Produce Completed, bounded event; result still relevant
Imparfait Produce Background, description, habit, ongoing process
Plus-que-parfait Produce Anteriority relative to another past event
Futur simple Produce Prediction, commitment, announced measure
Futur antérieur Produce Completion before a future point ( d'ici 2030, la loi aura transformé… )
Conditionnel présent Produce Politeness, hypothesis, futur du passé , unverified claim
Conditionnel passé Produce Unrealised past possibility, retrospective reproach
Subjonctif présent / passé Produce After the triggers catalogued in section 10.1
Passé simple Recognise only Literary and some editorial narration; never required in your own writing
Recognising the passé simple in reading and listening

The passé simple never appears in spoken French and is not expected in your production, but it appears in press features, historical framing and cultural articles — and an item can hinge on it. Learn to decode the high-frequency irregulars rather than to conjugate them:

être → il fut , ils furent • avoir → il eut , ils eurent
faire → il fit • venir → il vint • voir → il vit
prendre → il prit • pouvoir → il put • devoir → il dut
Regular -er → il adopta , ils adoptèrent • Regular -ir → il réagit

Every one of these is simply a completed past event: read il fut as il a été , and the sentence resolves.

Aspect: The Imparfait / Passé Composé Boundary

Candidates rarely fail this because they do not know the forms; they fail because they translate an aspectual choice from their own language. French does not ask how long ago? — it asks what kind of view you are taking of the event.

The speaker is presenting… Tense Example

A bounded event that moves the story forward Passé composé Le gouvernement a adopté la loi en 2020.

The setting, circumstances or description around it Imparfait À l'époque, les entreprises hésitaient encore.

A repeated habit with no defined boundary Imparfait Les salariés prenaient le train chaque matin.

A repeated action with a stated, closed count Passé composé Le texte a été modifié trois fois.

An action interrupted by another Imparfait + passé composé Il rédigeait son rapport quand la réforme est tombée .

Tip

The rupture test. Ask: does this verb break the flow of the narrative, or does it hold the frame around it? Breaks take the passé composé; frames take the imparfait. Adverbials help but never decide alone — pendant deux ans takes either tense depending on whether the two years are presented as a closed block ( il a travaillé pendant deux ans ) or as the backdrop ( il travaillait depuis deux ans ).

Anteriority. When one past event precedes another, the earlier one moves to the plus-que-parfait : Le comité a rejeté le texte que la commission avait rédigé six mois plus tôt. Failing to make this shift is one of the most visible B1 signatures in a B2 script.

The Concordance des Temps in Subordinate Clauses
The rule is mechanical once you identify the tense of the main verb. MAIN VERB IN THE PRESENT / FUTURE

├── simultaneity → présent Il affirme que la mesure EST efficace.

├── anteriority → passé composé Il affirme que la mesure A ÉTÉ efficace.

└── posteriority → futur simple Il affirme que la mesure SERA efficace.

MAIN VERB IN A PAST TENSE

├── simultaneity → imparfait Il a affirmé que la mesure ÉTAIT efficace.

├── anteriority → plus-que-parfait Il a affirmé que la mesure AVAIT ÉTÉ efficace.

└── posteriority → conditionnel Il a affirmé que la mesure SERAIT efficace.

(futur du passé)

That last line is the one that separates registers. Il a annoncé qu'il viendra is an error a corrector notices instantly; il a annoncé qu'il viendrait is the futur du passé , and it is the single most profitable concordance habit to automate before the exam.

Three traps the exam actually sets

Si + imparfait never takes the conditionnel. The condition clause carries the imparfait, the result clause the conditionnel: S'il existait une aide, les ménages rénoveraient davantage. Writing si j'aurais is a fatal register marker in French.

Après que takes the indicative , not the subjunctive, however often native speakers say otherwise: Après que la loi a été votée… ( Avant que does take the subjunctive.)

Depuis que takes the indicative and pairs with the tense of real time: Depuis que le télétravail s'est généralisé , les centres-villes se vident .

Le Discours Rapporté (Reported Speech)

Reported speech is where the tense system, the pronoun system and the deictic system move together. It is unavoidable in the exam: the reading and listening papers are built on journalists reporting what other people said, and your own writing and speaking gain authority from « Le rapport souligne que… » constructions.

Step 1 — Shift the tense (only when the reporting verb is past)

Direct speech Reported after a past verb
présent → imparfait
passé composé → plus-que-parfait
futur simple → conditionnel présent
futur antérieur → conditionnel passé
imparfait, plus-que-parfait, conditionnel → unchanged

« Nous avons lancé une consultation et nous publierons les résultats » → Le ministère a déclaré qu'il avait lancé une consultation et qu'il publierait les résultats.

Step 2 — Shift pronouns, possessives and deictics

Direct Reported
aujourd'hui ce jour-là
hier la veille
demain le lendemain
la semaine prochaine la semaine suivante
maintenant alors / à ce moment-là
ici là
Step 3 — Restructure the clause type

Statement → que + clause.

Yes/no question → si + clause: « Êtes-vous favorable ? » → Il a demandé si j'étais favorable.

Qu'est-ce que → ce que : « Qu'est-ce que vous proposez ? » → Il a demandé ce que je proposais.

Qu'est-ce qui → ce qui : → Il a demandé ce qui posait problème.

Question word stays: « Pourquoi refusez-vous ? » → Il a demandé pourquoi je refusais.

Imperative → de + infinitive: « Réagissez ! » → Il m'a demandé de réagir.

Step 4 — Choose a reporting verb that carries a stance

Dire is the B1 default. At B2, the verb itself should encode the speaker's posture — and this is exactly what Exercise 3 of the reading paper asks you to decode in reverse.

Neutral Reinforcing Qualifying Contesting

déclarer, indiquer, rapporter affirmer, souligner, insister sur, marteler nuancer, préciser, reconnaître, concéder déplorer, objecter, rétorquer, réfuter, contester

Warning

The journalistic conditional is not a concordance error. « Le dispositif coûterait trois milliards » is not a mistake in tense agreement: it is the conditionnel de distanciation , signalling that the figure is reported but unverified (see section 4.3). Distinguish it from the futur du passé by looking at the main clause — if there is no past reporting verb governing it, the conditional is doing epistemic work, not concordance work.

Putting It to Work in Each Paper

Compréhension des écrits. Items asking « Que s'est-il passé avant… ? » are plus-que-parfait items. Items asking whether an outcome is certain or merely alleged are conditional items.

Compréhension de l'oral. A speaker who moves from passé composé into imparfait is stepping out of the narrative to comment; that shift often marks the sentence that answers the "attitude" question.

Production écrite. A complaint letter needs the passé composé for what happened, the imparfait for the situation, the plus-que-parfait for what preceded it, and the conditionnel for what you propose. Deploying all four in one paragraph is a visible B2+ signal.

Production orale. Reported speech lets you bring the trigger document into your exposé without summarising it: « L'auteur souligne que la mesure aurait un coût élevé, mais il reconnaît qu'elle répondrait à une demande sociale. »