Parties received at Matignon, security council at the Élysée: the situation on 22 October

Les dates d’annonce, des faits et de vérification sont distinctes.

Être in the present is est for a singular subject and sont for a plural one. It describes nature, state or place (“is”, “is located”). If what follows (the attribute) is a noun, adjective or prepositional phrase, it is not a passive. If a past participle follows, it is a passive (est annoncé). Headlines and summaries often use the present to describe the current situation.

Le Premier ministre a écrit aux responsables de partis pour les convier.

The passé composé is the most common past tense, used for “did” and “has done” — actions completed in the past. It is formed with the auxiliary avoir (a / ont…) in the present + a past participle. Past participles of -er verbs end in -é (annoncer → annoncé); learn the irregular ones (faire → fait, prendre → pris, voir → vu). In the negative, ne … pas wraps the auxiliary (n’a pas annoncé). In the news it reports facts that have already happened, such as “announced” or “voted”.

Depuis le Qatar, il avait dit qu’« en démocratie, rien ne justifie la violence ».

The imparfait describes states, background, habits and actions in progress in the past (il était, elle avait, ils pensaient). Take the nous form of the present, drop -ons, and add -ais / -ais / -ait / -ions / -iez / -aient. If the passé composé gives “the event itself”, the imparfait paints “the situation at the time”.

Selon RTL, le président s’exprimera à l’issue du conseil et devrait évoquer les manifestations du 24 octobre.

The futur simple means “will do” or “is planned to”. Add -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont to the infinitive (participer → il participera). Watch the irregular stems: être → ser-, avoir → aur-, aller → ir-, faire → fer-, pouvoir → pourr-, voir → verr-. In the news it is used for fixed plans and outlooks.

Selon RTL, le président s’exprimera à l’issue du conseil et devrait évoquer les manifestations du 24 octobre.

The conditional expresses possibility, supposition, unconfirmed information and polite requests (“would”, “might”). It uses the same stem as the future and the same endings as the imparfait (-ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient): pouvoir → il pourrait. In the news it is used to avoid asserting, as in “is reported to…” or “there is a possibility…”.

Le RN n’enverra ni Jordan Bardella ni Marine Le Pen ; Horizons sera représenté par Christophe Béchu, le MoDem par Marc Fesneau et non François Bayrou, LFI par Manuel Bompard.

The passive means “is done” or “is being done”. It is formed with être + past participle, which agrees with the subject in gender and number (la mesure est adoptée / les mesures sont adoptées). The agent is introduced by par (or de). In the news it is common when the event, rather than the actor, is the focus (est prévu / est annoncé / est connu).

Jean-Luc Mélenchon a confirmé la présence de LFI tout en dénonçant les accusations contre l’ultragauche.

The gerund means “while doing”, “by doing” or “when doing”. Its form is en + present participle (-ant). Take the nous form of the present, drop -ons and add -ant (faire → faisant). The subject is normally that of the main clause. It shows things happening at the same time, or the means.

Il s’agit de revenir sur le manque d’anticipation des violences du 17.

A pronominal verb is used with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous) before the verb. It can mean “do to oneself”, “be done” or “do to each other”. In the news, se traduire (to result in), se tenir (to take place), s’agir de (to be a matter of) and se diffuser (to spread) are frequent. The pronoun changes with the subject (il se tient / ils se tiennent / je me souviens).

Cet article s’appuie sur la presse d’avant les réunions ; leurs résultats ne sont pas encore connus.

Normally ne and pas wrap the verb. Before a vowel, ne becomes n’. Check which part of the sentence the negation covers. Ne … plus means “no longer”.

Selon l’Élysée, la réunion doit faire le point sur les dispositifs de renseignement, d’anticipation et de sécurisation des prochaines semaines et revenir sur les dysfonctionnements du week-end.

Selon means “according to”. Put a person or organisation after it as the source. It separates facts the writer checked directly from what another body or report said. Citing a source does not turn a forecast into an accomplished fact.

Qui rencontre qui, et pour discuter de quoi.

This is the purpose, “in order to…”. Put the base form of a verb after pour. The purpose stated here is separate from whether the effect was actually achieved.

Il s’agit de revenir sur le manque d’anticipation des violences du 17.

It explains what something is about: “it is a matter of…”. The il is not a particular man but a formal subject of this construction. The negative il ne s’agit pas de means “this is not about…”.

エリゼ宮によると、会議の目的は、情報収集、事前の予測、これから数週間の警備の態勢を点検し、先週末の出来事につながった不具合を振り返ることです。

As in “LCPによると”, it shows where the information comes from. What that source reported follows. It is used differently from “私にとって”, which gives one’s own opinion.

RTLによると、大統領は、会議のあとに、発言する見込みで、24日のデモへの対応にも触れるとみられています。

予定 is a plan, 見込み a forecast and 方針 a course of action or intention. None of them asserts that something has already been carried out. Note the difference from expressions such as “決まりました”.

首相は、政党の代表に手紙を送り、22日の会合に招きました。

In “発表しました”, ました makes a verb polite past. The negative is “ませんでした”. Read the actual date together with the date and time in the text.

大統領は、カタールで、「民主主義では、暴力を正当化するものは何もない」と述べています。

と takes the content that is reported or explained. In “改定する方針だと報じました”, “改定する方針だ” is what the report said. Separating the content from who said it and how makes long sentences easier to read.

17日の暴力を、事前に見通せなかったことが問われています。

“〜すること” treats an action or content like a noun. The particle after it (が・を・は…) shows its role in the sentence. “ことができる” is a fixed combination meaning “can”.

22日、17日の暴力を受けた、政府の動きが続いています。

The て-form links actions in a series, in order or as a reason. In “確認して、出発する” the relation is judged from the content. In “〜ている” it can show an action in progress or a continuing state.