Grade 10 french – Reading for Comprehension Quiz

1. In the sentence « Quand j'étais jeune, je jouais au football. », what is the tense of « jouais » ?

imparfait
présent
passé composé
futur simple
Explanation:

« Jouais » is the imparfait (used for habitual or ongoing actions in the past). It describes repeated activity when the speaker was young.

2. Why does the past participle take an extra -e in « Elle est allée au marché. » ?

Because past participles always end in -e
Because market (marché) is feminine
Because with the auxiliary être the participle agrees in gender and number with the subject
Because all past participles of -er verbs end with -e
Explanation:

When the auxiliary is être, the past participle agrees with the subject: « elle » is feminine singular, so 'allé' becomes 'allée'.

3. In « Je vais au Kenya. J'y vais demain. », what does the pronoun « y » replace?

je vais
au Kenya
le Kenya (direct object)
demain
Explanation:

« Y » replaces a place introduced by à (au, à la, aux) and means 'there' — here it stands for 'au Kenya'.

4. In « Il a trois pommes. Il en donne une. », what does the pronoun « en » refer to?

donne
Il
une
trois pommes
Explanation:

« En » replaces a noun introduced by a quantity or de; here it refers to 'trois pommes' (some of them).

5. Which French sentence correctly means « I never eat meat » ?

Je ne mange pas jamais de viande.
Je ne mange pas de la viande.
Je mange jamais de viande.
Je ne mange jamais de viande.
Explanation:

The standard negation for 'never' is ne...jamais and after verbs of quantity or negation the partitive becomes de: 'de viande'.

6. Which sentence expresses a near future action (futur proche) in French?

Demain, j'étudiais.
Demain, j'étudierai.
Demain, j'avais étudié.
Demain, je vais étudier.
Explanation:

The construction aller + infinitive (je vais étudier) is the futur proche expressing an action that will happen soon.

7. Which conjunction introduces a purpose clause and requires the subjunctive: « Elle travaille ... ses frères puissent étudier. »

mais que
parce que
pour que
quand
Explanation:

« Pour que » introduces purpose and is followed by the subjunctive (« puissent »). « Parce que » gives a reason and uses the indicative.

8. Choose the correct relative pronoun for: « La fille ____ parle est ma sœur. »

que
qui
dont
Explanation:

« Qui » is the subject relative pronoun (the subject of 'parle'). 'La fille qui parle' = the girl who speaks.

9. Replace the object in « Je donne le livre à Marie. » with pronouns; which is correct?

Je donne le lui.
Je le lui donne.
Je lui le donne.
Je la lui donne.
Explanation:

Direct object 'le livre' becomes 'le' and indirect object 'à Marie' becomes 'lui': order is le (direct) before lui (indirect): 'Je le lui donne.'

10. Why is the adjective plural form used in « Les voitures sont rouges » ?

Because adjectives never change after être
Because the adjective agrees in gender and number with the plural noun
Because 'voitures' is feminine so add -s only
Because 'rouge' is always plural after 'les'
Explanation:

Adjectives agree with the noun they modify; 'voitures' is feminine plural, so 'rouge' becomes 'rouges' (plural).

11. Complete using the subjunctive after « Il faut que tu ... (aller) au bureau. » Which is correct?

iras
allais
ailles
vas
Explanation:

After 'Il faut que' you use the subjunctive: the correct form for 'tu' of aller is 'ailles'.

12. Which is the correct passé composé for 'manger' with subject 'nous'?

Nous avons manger.
Nous sommes mangés.
Nous avons mangé.
Nous avions mangé.
Explanation:

Passé composé of 'manger' uses auxiliary avoir: 'nous avons' + past participle 'mangé'.

13. What does « depuis » express in « J'habite à Nairobi depuis 2010. » ?

A completed action before another past action
An action that happened only once in the past
A future intention
An action that started in the past and continues to the present
Explanation:

« Depuis » indicates duration from a point in the past up to now: living in Nairobi since 2010 and still living there.

14. In « Je voudrais du riz. », what does the partitive article « du » indicate?

Some (an unspecified quantity of)
All of the rice
No rice at all
A specific rice
Explanation:

The partitive 'du' expresses an unspecified portion/amount of an uncountable noun: 'some rice'.

15. Which statement about adjective placement is correct for French (e.g., « un grand garçon »)?

All adjectives must come after the noun
Adjectives never change position
Adjectives only come before a noun in the plural
Some common descriptive adjectives (size, beauty, age, goodness) often come before the noun
Explanation:

Many common short adjectives (BAGS: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size) commonly precede the noun, e.g., 'un grand garçon'.

16. Why is the past participle written 'écrites' in « Les lettres que j'ai écrites » ?

Because the direct object 'les lettres' precedes the verb so the participle agrees in gender and number
Because letters are always feminine
Because all past participles of écrire add -es
Because the auxiliary used is être
Explanation:

With avoir, the past participle agrees with a preceding direct object; 'les lettres' (feminine plural) makes 'écrit' → 'écrites'.

17. What does the negation « ne...que » mean in « Je n'ai que deux livres. » ?

Nothing
Only
Never
Not at all
Explanation:

« Ne...que » restricts or limits and means 'only': 'I only have two books.'

18. Which sentence correctly uses 'c'est' to identify someone: choose the best French sentence.

Il est un professeur intelligent.
Est un professeur intelligent.
C'est un professeur intelligent.
Elle est le professeur intelligent.
Explanation:

Use 'C'est' + article + noun to identify someone: 'C'est un professeur intelligent.' ('Il est' is used without an article for professions: 'Il est professeur').

19. Which expression means 'something' in French: « J'ai ... à te dire. »

quelque chose
quelques
rien
quelque
Explanation:

« Quelque chose » means 'something'. 'Quelque' modifies a noun and 'quelques' is plural 'some'. 'Rien' means 'nothing'.

20. In the conditional sentence « Si j'avais de l'argent, j'achèterais une moto. », what is the mood of 'achèterais' ?

conditionnel présent
futur simple
subjonctif
imparfait
Explanation:

'Achèterais' is the conditional present, used in 'si' clauses with imparfait in the if-clause to express a hypothetical result.

21. In spoken French, what does the pronoun « on » commonly mean in « On va au cinéma ce soir. » ?

he/she
they (formal)
we (informal)
you (singular)
Explanation:

In everyday spoken French, 'on' often replaces 'nous' and means 'we'. It can also mean 'one' or 'people' more generally.

22. What is the grammatical function of « sans » in « Il est parti sans dire au revoir. » ?

It is a past participle agreement marker
It is a reflexive pronoun
It is followed by an infinitive to indicate an action that was not done
It is a relative pronoun
Explanation:

« Sans » + infinitive means 'without doing' something. Here it means he left without saying goodbye.

23. Which is the correct feminine plural form of 'quel' to use in « ____ voitures sont rapides ? »

Quelles
Quelle
Quels
Quel
Explanation:

For feminine plural nouns use 'quelles'. 'Quelles voitures' = 'Which/what cars' (feminine plural agreement).

24. What does the expression « Je suis en train de lire. » indicate?

I am in the process of reading (ongoing action now)
I will read later
I used to read
I have finished reading
Explanation:

« Être en train de » + infinitive expresses an action that is happening right now (ongoing).

25. What does « Il vient de partir. » mean in English?

He will leave.
He leaves every day.
He has just left.
He used to leave.
Explanation:

The construction 'venir de' + infinitive expresses a very recent past: 'He has just left.'