Passé Composé vs. Imparfait
Distinguish completed events (passé composé) from ongoing states and habits (imparfait). Use signal words to identify which tense fits: soudain and tout à coup vs. souvent and tous les jours.
A lesson of French A2 — Elementary, in L'Imparfait, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will choose between the passé composé and imparfait correctly by identifying whether a past event is completed/bounded (PC) or ongoing/habitual/descriptive (imparfait).
The Central Distinction
This is the single most important decision in French past-tense narration. Both tenses talk about the past — they answer different questions about it.
| Tense | Question it answers | Core meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Passé composé | What happened? | A completed, bounded event |
| Imparfait | What was it like? / What used to happen? | State, description, or habit |
Think of a film. The imparfait is the cinematography — the setting, the weather, what characters were wearing, what was going on in the background. The passé composé is the plot — the events that actually happen and advance the story.
Use the Passé Composé for:
1. A Single Completed Event
An action with a defined start and/or end.
Il a téléphoné. — He called. Nous avons décidé de partir. — We decided to leave. Soudain, elle a crié. — Suddenly, she screamed.
2. A Series of Sequential Events (the plot)
Actions that happen one after another.
Je me suis levé, j'ai pris une douche et je suis sorti. — I got up, took a shower, and went out.
3. An Action That Interrupts an Ongoing State
Il lisait quand le téléphone a sonné. — He was reading when the phone rang. (sonnner = sudden event → PC)
4. Events With Specified Duration or Number of Times
J'ai habité à Lyon pendant deux ans. — I lived in Lyon for two years. (bounded period → PC) Je suis allé à Paris trois fois. — I went to Paris three times. (counted → PC)
Use the Imparfait for:
1. Descriptions and States (the backdrop)
Il faisait beau ce jour-là. — The weather was nice that day. La rue était animée. — The street was lively. Elle avait les yeux bleus. — She had blue eyes.
2. Habitual or Repeated Actions (used to / would)
Quand j'étais enfant, je mangeais des céréales le matin. — When I was a child, I used to eat cereal in the morning. Tous les étés, on allait à la mer. — Every summer, we would go to the sea.