Passé Composé vs Imparfait: A Guide For French

The passé composé and imparfait are two essential past tenses in French. Understanding when to use each can be tricky, but mastering their differences will greatly improve your French fluency.

Passé Composé: Completed Actions

The passé composé is used for:

• Specific, completed actions
• Events with a clear beginning and end
• Actions that happened a definite number of times

Example: "J'ai mangé une pomme." (I ate an apple.)

Imparfait: Ongoing or Habitual Actions

The imparfait is used for:

• Ongoing or habitual actions in the past
• Describing states of being or emotions
• Setting the scene or background information

Example: "Je mangeais une pomme tous les jours." (I used to eat an apple every day.)

Key Differences

Duration

• Passé composé: Specific, limited time
• Imparfait: Continuous or repeated over time

Focus

• Passé composé: The completion of an action
• Imparfait: The process or state of an action

Common Expressions

Some expressions typically use one tense over the other:

Passé composé:

• "Une fois" (one time)
• "Soudain" (suddenly)

Imparfait:

• "Souvent" (often)
• "D'habitude" (usually)

Practice Exercise

Try translating these sentences, choosing between passé composé and imparfait:

1. I was reading when she called.
2. We went to Paris last summer.
3. As a child, I loved chocolate.

Understanding these tenses takes practice, but with time, you'll develop an intuition for when to use each one.