French conjugation explanation
Two answer boxes (split verb forms)
<p>Some French conjugation exercises ask for a single verb form but give you <strong>two answer boxes</strong>. This happens because the verb form is not written as one block in the sentence: another word drops into the middle and separates its two halves. You still answer with one verb form, only split across the two boxes.</p>
<p class="conjugation_explanation_title">Why it happens</p>
<p>French compound tenses are built from two parts: a conjugated <strong>auxiliary</strong> (<em>avoir</em> or <em>être</em>) followed by the <strong>past participle</strong> (for example <em>monté</em> or <em>fini</em>). Two kinds of words are regularly placed <strong>between the auxiliary and the past participle</strong>, pushing them apart:</p>
<p><strong>Negation.</strong> In a negative sentence <em>ne</em> goes before the auxiliary and <em>pas</em> (or <em>jamais</em>, <em>plus</em>, <em>rien</em>) goes after it, so the negation wraps around the auxiliary and cuts it off from the participle.</p>
<p><strong>Short adverbs.</strong> Common adverbs such as <em>déjà</em>, <em>toujours</em>, <em>bien</em>, <em>souvent</em> and <em>presque</em> are also placed right after the auxiliary, before the participle.</p>
<p class="conjugation_explanation_title">What the [...] means</p>
<p>On the solution screen the full answer is written with <strong>[...]</strong> in the middle. You never type the [...]; it marks the gap between the two boxes. The auxiliary goes in the first box, the past participle in the second, and the words in the gap are already printed in the sentence.</p>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Tu n'<strong>es</strong> pas <strong>monté</strong> au sommet.</div>
<p class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">"You did not go up to the top." The solution shows <strong>es [...] monté</strong>: type <strong>es</strong> in the first box and <strong>monté</strong> in the second. The negation <em>n'... pas</em> stays in the sentence.</p>
<div class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence">Vous <strong>êtes</strong> déjà <strong>montées</strong>.</div>
<p class="conjugation_explanation_example_sentence_note">"You have already gone up." Type <strong>êtes</strong> in the first box and <strong>montées</strong> in the second; the adverb <em>déjà</em> is already in the sentence.</p>
<p class="conjugation_explanation_title">How to answer</p>
<p>Put the auxiliary in the first box and the past participle in the second box. The negation words (<em>ne</em> / <em>n'</em>, <em>pas</em>, <em>jamais</em>, <em>plus</em>) and the adverbs are already printed in the sentence, so you do not type them. Remember that the past participle may agree in gender and number (<em>monté</em>, <em>montée</em>, <em>montés</em>, <em>montées</em>).</p>