National mobilisation on Saturday 24 October: demonstration bans multiply, the union march authorised in Paris

Une mobilisation nationale est prévue le samedi 24 octobre en France.

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.

Une semaine après les violences et les pillages du 17 octobre, plusieurs villes comme Lyon, Rouen et Le Havre ont interdit les manifestations avant la mobilisation nationale du samedi 24.

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”.

Le 17, des violences et des pillages avaient eu lieu.

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 cette « doctrine », seules les manifestations demandées par les syndicats seraient autorisées ; celles demandées par des personnes jugées sans légitimité seraient interdites par les préfets.

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…”.

À Orléans, une grande manifestation contre l’extrême droite, appelée par un collectif de plus de 70 associations, syndicats et partis, est autorisée.

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).

Selon franceinfo, 150 à 200 commerces ont été pillés en tout ou en partie à Lyon ce jour-là.

The past passive means “was done”. Its form is present of avoir + été (past participle of être) + past participle. Été does not change, but the last participle agrees with the subject in gender and number (la loi a été votée / les textes ont été votés). It is frequent in news reporting results such as votes, decisions and announcements.

La préfecture attend 20 000 à 30 000 personnes, mais il s’agit d’une prévision, non d’un bilan.

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).

Selon franceinfo, 150 à 200 commerces ont été pillés en tout ou en partie à Lyon ce jour-là.

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.

Les interdictions et autorisations peuvent changer au dernier moment, selon les arrêtés préfectoraux et les décisions de justice.

Put a base-form verb after pouvoir. Peut means “can” or “may”; the conditional pourrait gives a more reserved possibility, “might”. It does not necessarily mean implementation is settled.

Une mobilisation nationale est prévue le samedi 24 octobre en France.

Prévoir means “to plan, to expect”. Être prévu means “to be scheduled” and être envisagé means “to be under consideration”. In the news, read them separately from expressions that describe events that have already happened. They do not say that the event has already taken place.

La préfecture attend 20 000 à 30 000 personnes, mais il s’agit d’une prévision, non d’un bilan.

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…”.

Une semaine après les violences et les pillages du 17 octobre, plusieurs villes comme Lyon, Rouen et Le Havre ont interdit les manifestations avant la mobilisation nationale du samedi 24.

Le 15 octobre means “on 15 October”. Distinguish the le before a date from the le that marks a weekly habit like a weekday. Du is de + le and au is à + le, so decide the meaning from the verb and period expressions around them. Their role depends on the group: a range of dates, the date of a bulletin or another complement.

franceinfoによると、リヨンでは17日に、150から200の店が、全部または一部、略奪されました。

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.

政府は、労組が求めるデモだけを認める方針です。

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”.

県庁は、2万から3万人が集まると予想していますが、これは予想で、結果ではありません。

They negate a noun and similar content. “ではありません” is the polite form and “ではない” the plain form. “成立ではありません” shows that it cannot be said to have been concluded.

マルセイユについては、報道が分かれています。

As in “予算について”, it shows the topic to be talked about or explained. In the form “〜についての報道”, の is added so that the group qualifies the following noun.

認められるデモには、中心部を守るために、別のルートが示されます。

ため is used for both reason and purpose. “成立ではないため” is a reason and “運転手を守るため” a purpose. Decide from the whole sentence whether what precedes is a cause or a goal.

24日（土）の全国行動を前に、リヨン、ルーアン、ル・アーヴルなどで、デモが禁止されました。

“暴言など” gives “abusive language” as one example. It is not necessarily a closed list of only the things named. It also helps when reading the scope of a news story.