How many tenses are there in French?

French has more than a dozen tenses across its moods, but six cover almost everything you say and write day to day: the présent, passé composé, imparfait, futur simple, conditionnel présent and subjonctif présent. This game drills exactly those six.

What is the difference between imparfait and passé composé?

The passé composé tells what happened, a completed event (j’ai mangé); the imparfait sets the scene or describes a habit in the past (je mangeais). In a story, the imparfait is the background and the passé composé the action: il pleuvait quand je suis sorti.

How do you recognise the subjonctif in French?

It comes after que following a wish, a need, a feeling or a doubt: il faut que tu viennes. Many forms look like the présent with je, tu, il and ils, so the clearest signs are the irregular ones, like que je sois, que j’aille and qu’il fasse.

Is Whack-a-tense free to play?

Yes. The first 6 levels are free with no sign-up, and levels 7 to 12 are free with an account, which also saves your stars on every device. Levels 13 to 30 come with Premium, together with every 3D game’s later levels and all the mock tests.

French tenses quiz: whack the moles in the right tense

Les taupes

This French tenses quiz is a garden full of moles: each one pops up holding a verb form, and you whack only the ones in the tense of the rule, like “Whack the imparfait”. The rule changes every 15 seconds, so you have to read each ending fast. Thirty levels go from je fais or j’ai fait to the subjonctif and a mix of every tense, until nous irons and nous irions never look alike again.

2 min a round
30 levels
First 6 levels free, no sign-up
Reading
Writing

3D game: plays full screen on phones.

Loading the 3D game…

30 levels, 5 worlds

From the basics to exam speed

Each level is one round of about 2 minutes. Win a star to open the next level, and replay for three stars. The first 6 levels are free with no sign-up, levels 7–12 with a free account, and Premium opens all 30.

World 1 · levels 1–6
Now or done?
Présent ou passé composé
je fais or j’ai fait? Spot the auxiliary and the participle in a spring garden.
· Free, no sign-up
World 2 · levels 7–12
Back then
L’imparfait
The imparfait against the passé composé (tu faisais / tu as fait) and the présent.
· Free account
World 3 · levels 13–18
Will or would?
Futur ou conditionnel
je viendrai or je viendrais, and the -ais trap: conditionnel or imparfait?
· Premium
World 4 · levels 19–24
The subjunctive
Le subjonctif
qu’il fasse or qu’il fait? Every sign starts with que, so the ending decides.
· Premium
World 5 · levels 25–30
Winter mix
Le grand mélange
Three or four tenses picked at random, B1–B2 verbs, moles that hide faster and faster.
· Premium

How to play

1Read the rule at the top, like “Whack the imparfait”. It changes every 15 seconds.
2Moles pop up holding a verb form (“tu faisais”, “nous irons”). Tap the ones in that tense before they duck back down.
3A wrong whack costs points and shows you which tense it really was. Score enough points for up to three stars.

What it trains

Recognising the six tenses you use most, on 65 common verbs: présent, passé composé, imparfait, futur simple, conditionnel and subjonctif. The decoys are the classic mix-ups, usually the same verb and person in the neighbouring tense: tu faisais next to tu as fait, je viendrai next to je viendrais, qu’il fasse next to qu’il fait. Forms that could belong to two tenses (like nous parlions) never appear.

Why it matters for TCF and TEF Canada

In the TCF Canada and TEF Canada reading and listening tests, you often need to know whether something already happened, is going on, will happen or would happen, and the verb ending is what tells you. In writing and speaking, mixing up the futur and the conditionnel or the imparfait and the passé composé is one of the most common errors examiners notice. Telling the tenses apart at a glance helps at every level Canada looks at, from NCLC 4 for citizenship to NCLC 7 for Express Entry points.

Practise reading in the real format: TCF Canada reading practice · TEF Canada reading practice

Learn while you play

Rules and tips to remember

Futur or conditionnel: look for the i
Both use the same stem; the conditionnel takes the imparfait endings. nous irons is the futur, nous irions is the conditionnel. With je, -rai is the futur and -rais the conditionnel.
Passé composé: two words
The passé composé always has a helper verb, avoir or être, plus a past participle: j’ai fini, elle est venue. One word ending in -ais, -ait or -aient is the imparfait.
The subjonctif hides after que
With nous and vous, the subjonctif usually looks like the imparfait (que nous allions), so learn the other persons, where it stands out: que j’aille, qu’il fasse, qu’elles viennent.

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