Spain: the train collision at Urda leaves 69 dead, including a Frenchwoman

Le bilan est de 69 morts au 31 octobre.

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.

La collision a eu lieu le 28 octobre.

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”.

Des médias espagnols rapportent que le poste de régulation de Madrid aurait ordonné au conducteur de l’AVE de reprendre une marche normale alors que le train d’Iryo était toujours à l’arrêt.

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”.

Il faudra du temps avant de connaître les causes.

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.

Des médias espagnols rapportent que le poste de régulation de Madrid aurait ordonné au conducteur de l’AVE de reprendre une marche normale alors que le train d’Iryo était toujours à l’arrêt.

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…”.

L’erreur humaine et une panne du système de signalisation sont évoquées, sans cause établie.

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).

Les autorités espagnoles ont terminé les autopsies et 36 victimes avaient été identifiées.

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.

Le nombre de blessés ne figure pas dans l’article consulté.

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 franceinfo, deux trains à grande vitesse sont entrés en collision le 28 octobre vers 8 h 53 près d’Urda, dans la province de Tolède (centre de l’Espagne), sur la ligne Madrid–Séville : un AVE de la Renfe et un train de la compagnie privée Iryo.

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.

La collision a eu lieu le 28 octobre.

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.

L’organisme indépendant AITAT a envoyé trois enquêteurs dans la province de Tolède.

Dans means “in, inside” for places, but also for a scope such as a system or period. With future time, dans deux jours means “in two days”. In the article’s example, check what it is “inside” and which scope it marks. Identify the value of dans in the passage.

franceinfoによると、10月28日8時53分ごろ、スペイン中部トレド県のウルダ付近で、マドリード〜セビリア間の高速鉄道の列車2本が衝突しました。

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.

いずれも確定した結論ではありません。

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.

治安警備隊（グアルディア・シビル）も、ブラックボックスや防犯カメラの映像などの証拠を集めています。

“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.

事故は10月28日に起きました。

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.

31日の時点で、死者は69人とされています。

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.

人為的ミスと信号システムの故障が指摘されていますが、原因はまだ確定していません。

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.