C–D. Reading and Writing · Reading and Writing in French: Voices, Stories and Communities

Le récit à suspense : Reading a Suspense Story and Using Three Past Tenses

C1.1 C1.2 C2.2 D1.3About 75 minutes

Learning goals

I can predict and check my predictions while reading a suspense story.
I can identify the techniques an author uses to build suspense (short sentences, sounds, delay, unanswered questions, a twist).
I can explain why each verb in a story is in the passé composé, the imparfait or the plus-que-parfait.
I can make past participles agree with être verbs and with a direct object placed before avoir.
I can rewrite a story in the past, choosing the right tense for every verb.

Words to know

le suspense
The feeling of tension when the reader is eager or worried to know what happens next.

un rebondissement
A twist: a sudden, surprising change in the story.

le passé composé
Past tense for completed actions that move the story forward: Zoé a ouvert la porte.

l'imparfait
Past tense for background, descriptions, feelings and ongoing actions: Il neigeait.

le plus-que-parfait
Past tense for something that had happened before another past moment: Ils étaient partis.

le participe passé
The past form of a verb used with avoir or être: pris, laissé, partis.

le COD (complément d'objet direct)
The direct object: the person or thing that receives the action, with no preposition: Elle a pris la lampe.

Lights out!

Why can't you stop reading some stories? Because the author builds suspense. In French, suspense depends on more than vocabulary: it depends on tenses. The imparfait slows time down and sets the scene; the passé composé makes things happen.

Remember from Grade 7 and 8: you learned the imparfait and how it works with the passé composé (Grade 7), and the plus-que-parfait in a mystery story (Grade 8). In Grade 9, you'll put all three together and add the high school rule for past participle agreement with avoir.

Prediction first: the story is called Le chalet du lac and begins on a snowy February night. Before reading, write one sentence: what do you think will happen?

Worked example

Let's read a suspense story and predict as we go

Le chalet du lac (a short story written for this lesson)

C'était un vendredi soir de février. Il neigeait depuis des heures et le vent soufflait fort autour du chalet. Zoé et son cousin Malik jouaient aux cartes près du foyer. Leurs parents étaient partis au village pour acheter du lait ; ils avaient promis de revenir avant vingt heures.

À vingt heures trente, ils n'étaient toujours pas rentrés.

Soudain, toutes les lumières se sont éteintes. Malik a laissé tomber ses cartes.

— Zoé... tu as entendu ?

Quelque chose grattait à la porte de la cuisine. Un bruit lent. Régulier. Puis, plus rien.

Zoé a pris la lampe de poche qu'elle avait laissée sur la table. Les deux cousins se sont approchés de la porte, pas à pas. Le cœur de Zoé battait très fort.

Crac ! Une ombre est passée devant la fenêtre.

Zoé a ouvert la porte d'un coup... Deux yeux brillants la regardaient dans la neige. Un raton laveur ! Il avait renversé la poubelle et il mangeait tranquillement les restes du souper.

Les cousins ont éclaté de rire. Au même moment, des phares sont apparus dans l'allée : les parents étaient enfin de retour.

Glossaire : souffler = to blow · le foyer = the fireplace · rentrer = to come back home · s'éteindre = to go out (lights) · laisser tomber = to drop · gratter = to scratch · une lampe de poche = a flashlight · pas à pas = step by step · une ombre = a shadow · d'un coup = all at once · un raton laveur = a raccoon · renverser = to knock over · éclater de rire = to burst out laughing · les phares = headlights · l'allée = the driveway · le souper = supper (used in Québec and other parts of Canada)

Prediction check 1 (after paragraph 1): snow, wind, parents away. Prediction: something will go wrong while the cousins are alone.
Suspense technique, a one-line paragraph: À vingt heures trente, ils n'étaient toujours pas rentrés. Alone on its line, it makes the reader worry.
Suspense technique, short sentences: Un bruit lent. Régulier. Puis, plus rien. Short fragments slow the reading down, like holding your breath.
Suspense technique, sounds and the senses: grattait, Crac !, Le cœur... battait très fort. We hear and feel the tension.
Suspense technique, delay: pas à pas, and the ellipsis in d'un coup... make us wait before the answer.
The twist (rebondissement): the mysterious noise is a raccoon eating leftovers! The tension becomes laughter, and the parents arrive at the same moment.
Prediction check 2: was your prediction right? Good readers change their predictions as they gather clues; being surprised is part of the fun.

A power cut, a scratching noise and a shadow turn out to be a hungry raccoon. The author builds suspense with a worrying one-line paragraph, very short sentences, sounds, slow movement (pas à pas), ellipses, and a funny twist.

Why is each verb in that tense?

In a story, every past verb answers a question:

What was the situation? What was going on? → imparfait: Il neigeait. Le vent soufflait. Ils jouaient aux cartes. Son cœur battait. (background, description, feelings, actions in progress)
What happened next? → passé composé: Les lumières se sont éteintes. Zoé a pris la lampe. Elle a ouvert la porte. (completed actions, one after another)
What had already happened before that? → plus-que-parfait: Les parents étaient partis. Le raton laveur avait renversé la poubelle. (an earlier past)

A quick test: if you can say was ...ing or used to in English, think imparfait. If it's a single event that moves the plot, think passé composé. If it's had + past participle, think plus-que-parfait.

The imparfait is the long background band; passé composé events are the dots that happen on it; the plus-que-parfait points to things that happened before the story's moment.

Tense	How to form it	Example from the story
imparfait	nous stem of the present (nous jouons → jou-) + -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Only être is irregular: ét-.	jouaient, grattait, battait, regardaient, c'était
passé composé	avoir or être in the present + past participle	a laissé, a pris, se sont approchés, est passée
plus-que-parfait	avoir or être in the imparfait + past participle	étaient partis, avaient promis, avait laissée, avait renversé

The three story tenses. Être verbs (partir, rentrer, passer, apparaître and all pronominal verbs) use être in both compound tenses.

Past participle agreement: the Grade 9 rule

**1. With être: the participle agrees with the subject**, like an adjective. This includes most pronominal verbs, as you saw in Grade 8.

Une ombre est passée. (feminine)
Les lumières se sont éteintes. (feminine plural)
Des phares sont apparus. (masculine plural)

**2. With avoir: the participle does not** agree with the subject. Zoé a pris la lampe. (no -e for Zoé!)

But it does agree with a direct object (COD) that comes before the verb. This happens with the pronouns le, la, l', les and with the relative pronoun que:

la lampe qu'elle avait laissée (que = la lampe, feminine, placed before → -e)
Les clés ? Je les ai trouvées. (les = les clés, feminine plural, placed before → -es)
Les restes du souper ? Le raton laveur les a mangés.

If the direct object comes after the verb, no agreement: Il a mangé les restes.

With être, look at the subject. With avoir, look for a direct object placed before the verb: que refers back to la lampe, so laissée takes -e.

Worked example

Let's choose the tenses for a story

Put each verb in the right past tense and explain: Ce matin-là, il (faire) ____ froid. Ma sœur et moi, nous (attendre) ____ l'autobus depuis vingt minutes. Soudain, une voiture (s'arrêter) ____ devant nous. C'était notre voisine : elle (voir) ____ que l'autobus (avoir) ____ un problème plus tôt.

il faisait froid: description of the weather → imparfait.
nous attendions l'autobus depuis vingt minutes: an action in progress (were waiting) → imparfait. With depuis in the past, French uses the imparfait.
une voiture s'est arrêtée: a sudden event (soudain) → passé composé; pronominal verb so être, agreeing with voiture (feminine) → arrêtée.
elle avait vu: she had seen it before stopping → plus-que-parfait.
l'autobus avait eu un problème plus tôt: earlier past (plus tôt) → plus-que-parfait.

Ce matin-là, il faisait froid. Ma sœur et moi, nous attendions l'autobus depuis vingt minutes. Soudain, une voiture s'est arrêtée devant nous. C'était notre voisine : elle avait vu que l'autobus avait eu un problème plus tôt.

Just for fun

Suspense in French comes with its own sound effects: crac, boum, toc toc, chut ! Even animals sound different: a French dog says ouaf ouaf and a French rooster says cocorico. So if a French raccoon scratches at your door, it probably still just says miam.

Hands-on activity

The mystery sound game

You need: a family member, a door or a curtain, and some safe household objects (a spoon, paper to crumple, keys, a book).

Sit with your back turned. Your helper makes three mystery sounds one at a time (tapping keys, crumpling paper, dropping a book on a cushion).
For each sound, write a French guess using the imparfait: Quelqu'un grattait... Quelque chose tombait...
Write a 6-to-8-sentence suspense paragraph in the past about "the night the sounds began". Include: two imparfait verbs for the setting, three passé composé events, one plus-que-parfait (Mes parents étaient sortis...), one very short sentence, and one sound word (Toc ! Crac !).
End with a twist that explains the noise.
Read it aloud in a low voice to your helper and watch their face!

Look for: the right tense for each job, agreement with être verbs, and at least one suspense technique.

Your turn

Why were the parents away?

What happened at 8:30 p.m. (20 h 30)? What happened next?

What was making the scratching noise?

Find two suspense techniques in the story and quote an example of each.

Le cœur de Zoé battait très fort. Why imparfait?

Il avait renversé la poubelle. Why plus-que-parfait?

Why is it qu'elle avait laissée with an -e?

More practice: warm-up

Imparfait of jouer with nous.

Imparfait of être with il.

Passé composé of partir with elles.

Plus-que-parfait of finir with j'.

Which tense for weather in a story's setting?

More practice: on your own

Choose: Quand je (suis entré(e) / entrais), mon frère (a regardé / regardait) la télé.

Agree if needed: Mes cousines sont arrivé__ hier.

Agree if needed: Ma mère a acheté__ des pommes.

Agree if needed: Les pommes ? Ma mère les a acheté__.

Put in the plus-que-parfait: Quand nous sommes arrivés, le film (commencer) ____ .

Challenge

Rewrite in the past, choosing the tense for each verb: Il est minuit. Je lis dans mon lit. Tout à coup, j'entends un bruit. Je descends : mon chien a renversé son bol.

Explain the agreement in: Les lettres que j'ai écrites sont arrivées.

Write a 3-sentence opening for a suspense story that uses one suspense technique and all three tenses. Label each tense.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Il ______ depuis des heures quand je suis sorti(e). (to snow)

Soudain, la porte ______. (s'ouvrir)

Which sentence uses the plus-que-parfait?

Choose the correct agreement: La tarte que tu as ______ était délicieuse.

Which is a suspense technique used in Le chalet du lac?

Zoé a ______ la lampe. (prendre)

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Your child predicts while reading (C1.1), understands a suspense story (C1.2), identifies techniques an author uses to build suspense (C2.2), and applies the three narrative past tenses and past participle agreement in writing (D1.3).

How to help:

Ask your child to retell a movie scene in French past tenses; then ask Why imparfait there? They should explain: background, event, or earlier past.
Read the story aloud together, with one person reading the narration and one the dialogue.

Common difficulties:

Using the passé composé for descriptions (il a neigé for the setting). Background is imparfait.
Adding -e to a participle with avoir because the subject is female (Zoé a prise). With avoir, look only for a direct object before the verb.
Forgetting être agreement with pronominal verbs (elles se sont approchées).
The avoir agreement rule mostly affects spelling; you usually can't hear it (except in words like prise, faite, écrite, ouverte).

Canadian French used: le souper (supper) is used in Québec and other parts of Canada.