Gap-fill
French past-tense diary: complete a day at the market
Fill nine gaps in an A2 diary entry, separating the scene from completed events. Includes picture prompts, an English translation and a writing checklist.
- A2
- 9 gaps
- Translation included
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
In short
For a short past-tense diary, set the scene with the imparfait and report completed events with the passé composé. This entry follows one morning, so the reader can see what happened and what was going on around it.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
| Job in the diary | Example | Why this form? |
|---|---|---|
| Describe the setting | La place était calme. | The scene as it was at that moment. |
| Show an action in progress | Je regardais les vitrines quand Paul est arrivé. | Looking was already in progress when Paul arrived. |
| Report a whole episode | J’ai travaillé pendant trois heures. | The three-hour episode is presented as a whole. |
| State one event | Léa a téléphoné. | The call is reported as a completed event. |
Four details for the market diary
Find:
The diary is written by a woman who went out with Inès, another woman. Use feminine singular agreement for the narrator’s arrival and feminine plural for the two women staying. Each hint names the tense and viewpoint to practise. Enter the whole verb group where the gap needs an auxiliary.
Samedi au marché
Hier, je (aller · passé composé) au marché avec Inès. Il (faire · imparfait, weather in the scene) froid, mais les rues (être · imparfait, description) animées. Nous (acheter · passé composé) des pommes et du pain.
Pendant que nous (attendre · imparfait, action in progress) devant une boulangerie, un musicien (commencer · passé composé) à jouer de la guitare. Nous (rester · passé composé, two women) quelques minutes pour l’écouter. Puis nous avons repris notre promenade.
À midi, j’(appeler · passé composé) ma sœur pour lui raconter notre matinée. Elle (être · imparfait, her state during the call) contente d’avoir de mes nouvelles. Le soir, j’ai noté le nom du musicien dans mon carnet.
Read it in English
Yesterday, I went to the market with Inès. It was cold, but the streets were lively. We bought apples and bread.
While we were waiting outside a bakery, a musician started to play the guitar. We stayed for a few minutes to listen to him. Then we continued our walk.
At noon, I called my sister to tell her about our morning. She was pleased to hear from me. In the evening, I noted the musician’s name in my notebook.
How do you write a diary entry in the past tense in French?
Choose a phone call, a journey or a visit. Begin with where you were, add one detail of the scene, then tell two things that happened. Finish with a reaction. Keep the event sequence short enough to read aloud as one connected account.