Skip to content

French passé composé imparfait plus-que-parfait test answer key with scoring for AP French (free PDF download)

  • by
Telling Family Stories in the Past Tenses – AP French test answer key with Zoé, the Français PDF coach

The questions are on the French Passé Composé Imparfait Plus-que-parfait test. Take it under real conditions before reading the answer key.

Quick answer: To narrate a family story in French, use the imparfait for background, habits and descriptions, the passé composé for completed events that move the story forward, and the plus-que-parfait for an action that happened before another past action. This scoring guide gives the expected answers and the points for the 8 questions of the AP French test on passé composé imparfait plus-que-parfait, from conjugate to family memory, with the equivalent answers to accept.

Answer key and scoring guide of the AP French test on passé composé imparfait plus-que-parfait. Take the test first without notes, then score it here and revise with the lesson.

Use this key to grade the test. Each entry gives a model answer and the scoring. Accept any correct equivalent, and award partial points on the writing task according to the criteria, giving credit for correct tense choice even when vocabulary varies.

Level: AP French Language and Culture · Standards: AP French Language and Culture (College Board CED), Theme: Families and Communities

Passé composé imparfait plus-que-parfait: answers and scoring

Question 1 Conjugate (2 points)

a. elles habitaient · b. j’étais partie

Scoring: 1 point each; the participle agreement in b is required.

Question 2 Choose the tense (2 points)

a. préparait · b. a ouvert

Scoring: 1 point each.

Question 3 Agreement (2 points)

a. chantées · b. parties

Scoring: 1 point each.

Question 4 Timeline of a family (3 points)

a. Salif est né à Dakar en 1978. b. La famille s’est installée à Lyon en 1990. c. Salif est entré à l’université en 1998.

Scoring: 1 point each; auxiliary être and agreement required.

Question 5 Read the anniversary (3 points)

a. His grandfather’s 80th birthday. b. They were playing in the courtyard. c. He had taken it (il l’avait prise) or she had cried (elle avait pleuré): both happened before the main events.

Scoring: 1 point each.

Question 6 Correct the mistakes (2 points)

a. Hier, ma mère est rentrée tard. b. Chaque été, nous allions à la mer.

Scoring: 1 point each.

Question 7 Translate (2 points)

Quand nous sommes arrivés, ma tante avait déjà préparé le dîner.

Scoring: 1 point for the passé composé, 1 point for the plus-que-parfait.

Question 8 Family memory (4 points)

Model answer: Quand j’étais petite, nous allions chez ma grand-mère à Namur. Elle habitait une vieille maison pleine de livres. Un soir de Noël, la lumière s’est éteinte. Nous avons allumé des bougies. Mamie avait préparé une surprise : elle a sorti un jeu de cartes de son tiroir.

Scoring: 1 imparfait, 1 passé composé, 1 plus-que-parfait, 1 overall accuracy.

← Back to the French Passé Composé Imparfait Plus-que-parfait test

Suivez-nous