By the end of this lesson you'll be able to choose between the two past tenses, and combine them in a single sentence.
Two jobs
You know how to form both tenses, from the lesson on the passé composé and the lesson on the imparfait. Now you need to know which to use.
| Imparfait | Passé composé |
|---|---|
| background and descriptions | single events |
| habits and repeated actions | actions with a clear start and end |
| actions still going on at that moment | actions that are finished |
Think of it like this: the imparfait tells you how things were, and the passé composé tells you what happened next.
Il neigeait et les rues étaient vides.
It was snowing and the streets were empty.
Le train est parti à huit heures.
The train left at eight o'clock.
Tous les étés, nous visitions un musée.
Every summer, we visited a museum.
Cet été-là, nous avons visité Rome.
That summer, we visited Rome.
Signal words
Some words point towards one tense or the other. Words of repetition go with the imparfait: tous les jours (every day), from the review of everyday life; souvent (often), from the review of free time; d'habitude (usually), from the lesson on the imparfait; and le samedi (on Saturdays), from the lesson on days, months and dates.
Toujours (always) isn't a reliable signal on its own: J'ai toujours habité ici (I've always lived here) is common French.
Words that pick out one moment go with the passé composé. Hier (yesterday) is from the lesson on time expressions for the past, and irregular participles such as pris are from the lesson on irregular past participles.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| un jour | uhn ZHOOR | one day |
| soudain | soo-DAN | suddenly |
| ce matin-là | suh mah-tan-LAH | that morning |
| une fois | ewn FWAH | once, one time |
These words are a strong guide, but they aren't the whole story. The meaning of the sentence comes first.
D'habitude, je rentrais à pied.
I usually walked home.
Une fois, j'ai pris un taxi.
Once, I took a taxi.
When one interrupts the other
Often, both tenses appear in one sentence. An action is going on, in the imparfait, when something happens, in the passé composé. Learn this as a pattern with quand:
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| sonner | soh-NAY | to ring |
| crier | kree-AY | to shout |
Je lisais quand Paul est arrivé.
I was reading when Paul arrived.
Elles mangeaient quand Léa a crié.
They were eating when Léa shouted.
The imparfait is the longer background, and the passé composé is the sudden event. Use quand only in this simple pattern for now. The lesson on time connectors looks at this kind of word in more detail.
A model story
Here's a short story with the verbs in bold.
| French | English | Tense |
|---|---|---|
| Il faisait beau. | The weather was nice. | imparfait: background |
| Les enfants jouaient au parc. | The children were playing in the park. | imparfait: in progress |
| Soudain, un chien est arrivé. | Suddenly, a dog arrived. | passé composé: event |
| Marie a crié. | Marie shouted. | passé composé: event |
| Les enfants sont partis. | The children left. | passé composé: event |
En français
- Tu faisais quoi quand j'ai téléphoné ? (What were you doing when I phoned?)
- Je dormais ! (I was sleeping!)
- D'habitude, tu ne dors pas à midi. (You don't usually sleep at noon.)
- Non, mais ce matin-là, j'étais très fatigué. (No, but that morning, I was very tired.)
What's next
Next, the lesson on telling a simple story adds words like d'abord and ensuite, so you can tell a whole story from beginning to end.