Passé composé ou imparfait

Passé Composé vs. Imparfait

French learners often struggle with the distinction between two important past tenses: the passé composé and the imparfait.

Passé Composé

The passé composé is used to describe:

1. Completed actions in the past
2. A sequence of events
3. Actions with a specific, limited duration

Formation:

Auxiliary verb (avoir or être) in present tense + past participle of the main verb

Examples:

• J'ai mangé une pomme. (I ate an apple.)
• Il est allé au cinéma, puis il est rentré chez lui. (He went to the cinema, then he went home.)
• Nous avons vécu à Paris pendant cinq ans. (We lived in Paris for five years.)

Imparfait

The imparfait is used to describe:

1. Habitual actions in the past
2. Descriptions of states, feelings, or situations in the past
3. Ongoing actions in the past

Formation:

Stem of the first-person plural (nous) in present tense + endings (-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient)

Examples:

• Quand j'étais enfant, j'allais souvent au parc. (When I was a child, I often went to the park.)
• Il faisait beau ce jour-là. (It was a beautiful day.)
• Je lisais un livre quand le téléphone a sonné. (I was reading a book when the phone rang.)

Key Differences

1. Passé composé expresses completed actions, while imparfait describes context or circumstances.
2. Passé composé moves the story forward, imparfait sets the scene.
3. Passé composé answers the question "What happened?", imparfait answers "What was it like?"

Combined Usage

In practice, these two tenses are often used together in the same narrative to provide depth and context to past events. Here are some examples of how they work together:

1. "Je lisais un livre quand le téléphone a sonné. Pendant que nous dînions, Marie est arrivée." (I was reading a book when the phone rang. While we were having dinner, Marie arrived.)

2. "Il pleuvait quand nous sommes sortis du cinéma. Chaque jour, je travaillais au bureau, mais hier, j'ai travaillé de chez moi." (It was raining when we left the cinema. Every day, I used to work at the office, but yesterday, I worked from home.)

3. "Quand j'étais enfant, j'aimais le chocolat. Un jour, j'en ai trop mangé et j'ai été malade." (When I was a child, I loved chocolate. One day, I ate too much and got sick.)

Tense Comparison Table

To better visualize the difference, let's look at a comparison table:

Imparfait (Ongoing/Habitual)	Passé Composé (Completed Action)	English Translation
Je lisais	le téléphone a sonné	I was reading / the phone rang
nous dînions	Marie est arrivée	we were having dinner / Marie arrived
Il pleuvait	nous sommes sortis	It was raining / we left
je travaillais	j'ai travaillé	I used to work / I worked
j'étais, j'aimais	j'ai mangé, j'ai été	I was, I loved / I ate, I got

Examples

• Je dormais à poings fermés lorsque l'orage a éclaté. I was sound asleep when the storm broke.
• Les gâteaux se vendaient comme des petits pains. The cakes were selling like hotcakes.
• Son histoire ne tenait pas debout. Il a menti, j'en suis sûr ! (idiomatic) His story didn't hold up. He lied, I'm sure of it.
• Il faisait un froid de canard quand je suis arrivée à Paris. (idiomatic) It was bitterly cold when I arrived in Paris.
• Ce sac à main était très cher ; il m'a coûté les yeux de la tête ! This handbag was very expensive; (idiomatic) it cost me an arm and a leg.
• Comme nous étions très fatigués, nous avons décidé de faire la grasse matinée. Since we were very tired, we decided to sleep in.

Idioms

• dormir à poings fermés
• se vendre comme des petits pains
• ne pas tenir debout
• fait un froid de canard
• coûter les yeux de la tête
• faire la grasse matinée

French Expression	Literal Meaning	Actual Meaning	English Equivalent
Dormir à poings fermés	To sleep with closed fists	To sleep very deeply or soundly	To sleep like a log / To sleep like a baby
Se vendre comme des petits pains	To sell like small breads	To sell very quickly and easily; to be in high demand	To sell like hotcakes
Ne pas tenir debout	To not stand up	(For an argument or story) To not make sense, to be illogical or unconvincing	To not hold water / To not stand up to scrutiny
Faire un froid de canard	To make a duck's cold	To be extremely cold outside	To be bitterly cold / To be freezing cold
Coûter les yeux de la tête	To cost the eyes of the head	To be extremely expensive	To cost an arm and a leg
Faire la grasse matinée	To do the fat morning	To sleep in late, especially in the morning	To sleep in / To have a lie-in

Vocabulaire

mots	explications
dormir à poings fermés	to sleep very soundly
poing	fist
l'orage	MASC. thunderstorm
éclater	to burst, to break out
s'éclater	to have a great time, to have a blast - On s'est éclaté chez toi hier soir. We had a great time at yours last night.
vendre	to sell - à vendre for sale
se vendre	to sell, to sell oneself - Tous les billets se sont vendus en quelques heures. All the tickets sold out in a few hours.
un petit pain	a bread roll
tenir	to hold
debout	standing up, upright, up
tenir debout	to stand up
mentir	to lie
le canard	duck
il fait un froid de canard	it's freezing cold / it's bitterly cold
coûter les yeux de la tête	to cost an arm and a leg, to cost a fortune
faire la grasse matinée	to have a lie-in, to sleep late
la matinée	morning
terminale	twelfth grade, senior year - À la fin de la terminale, les étudiants reçoivent généralement leur diplôme. At the end of grade twelve, students typically receive their diplomas.
se coucher	to go to bed, to set - Je me suis couché tard hier soir. I went to bed late last night.
se baigner	to go swimming