Gap-fill
Il a plu, il a fallu, il y a eu: practise impersonal past forms
Complete a rainy-day account with il a plu, il a fallu and il y a eu. Compare the earlier past and keep impersonal il singular.
- B1
- 8 gaps
- Translation included
- Learn this in the B1 notebook →
In short
Use il a plu for “it rained”, il a fallu for “it was necessary” and il y a eu for “there was/were”. Impersonal il stays singular, even in Il y a eu trois averses.
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| Meaning | Passé composé | Plus-que-parfait |
|---|---|---|
| Rain | il a plu | il avait plu |
| Necessity | il a fallu | il avait fallu |
| Existence or occurrence | il y a eu | il y avait eu |
The earlier-past column looks back from another past moment. Il avait plu avant notre arrivée means the rain came before we arrived. The participles are plu, fallu and eu. The weather use of pleuvoir and the verb falloir both take avoir.
A rainy afternoon
Find:
Why is it il y a eu, not ils ont eu?
Il y a eu trois appels.There were three calls.
Focus: An occurrence: impersonal il and singular a.
Ils ont eu trois appels.They had three calls.
Focus: People received the calls: plural subject ils.
The negative keeps y before the auxiliary: Il n’y a pas eu de retard. Compare Il n’a pas plu and Il n’a pas fallu attendre. A following action stays infinitive: attendre, not attendu, after il a fallu.
Complete the account
Fill each gap with the complete group requested in brackets. The first paragraph reports yesterday’s events. The second looks back from the moment the group arrived; its cues ask for the plus-que-parfait.
La sortie de samedi
Hier, (pleuvoir · passé composé) toute la matinée. Dans notre rue, (il y a · passé composé) de grandes flaques. Pour sortir, (falloir · passé composé) mettre des bottes et prendre un parapluie.
À notre arrivée chez nos amis, le sol était encore mouillé : (pleuvoir · plus-que-parfait) pendant la nuit. Nous avons appris qu’(il y a · plus-que-parfait) une coupure de courant avant notre départ.
L’après-midi, le ciel s’est éclairci. (pleuvoir · passé composé négatif) pendant notre promenade. À la fin, (falloir · passé composé) rentrer. Heureusement, (il y a · passé composé négatif) de retard au retour.
Read it in English
Yesterday it rained all morning. There were large puddles in our street. To go out, we had to put on boots and take an umbrella.
When we arrived at our friends’ home, the ground was still wet: it had rained during the night. We learnt that there had been a power cut before we left.
In the afternoon, the sky cleared. It did not rain during our walk. At the end, we had to go home. Luckily, there was no delay on the way back.