(When I was in high school, I decided that I wanted to be a politician. Je lisais les journaux régulièrement, et, un soir, quand j’ai parlé de l’actualité pendant un dîner, j’ai impressionné tout le monde. J’étudiais tous les jours parce que je devais, pour cela, être accepté dans une grande école. Quand j’étais lycéen, j’ai décidé que je voulais être politicien. However, I only read the newspaper three times in one year, and, one evening, when I talked about current events at a dinner party, I made a fool of myself in front of everyone.) Histoire aux temps passés mélangés I did research and chose a prestigious university. (When I decided to be a politician, I started studying every day. Cependant, je n’ai lu le journal que trois fois en un an, et, un soir, quand j’ai parlé de l’actualité pendant un dîner, je me suis rendu ridicule devant tout le monde. J’ai fait des recherches et j’ai choisi une grande école. Quand j’ai décidé d’être politicien, j’ai commencé à étudier tous les jours. I read newspapers regularly and I talked about current events all the time to my friends.) Histoire au passé composé I wanted to be accepted into a prestigious university because I hoped to be a politician. (When I was in high school, I studied every day. Je lisais les journaux régulièrement et je commentais constamment l’actualité en compagnie de mes amis. Je voulais être accepté dans une grande école parce que je souhaitais être politicien. Quand j’étais lycéen, j’étudiais tous les jours. To give you an idea of how these tenses work, together and separately, here are three similar stories using each past tense individually and then both together. … when the passé composé interrupted with news of some occurrence. Imparfait describes what was happening or how something was … J’étais à l’école … I have often eaten there (and might again). Passé composé explains something that started in the past and continues today. I often ate there / I used to eat there often (but never again). He always wanted (used to want) to be a doctor. Imparfait describes something that is entirely in the past. Passé composé reports a change in a state of being, a new feeling. Imparfait indicates an ongoing state of being or feeling. Passé composé expresses what happened a specific number of times. Imparfait details what used to happen on a regular basis, or happened an indefinite number of times. Passé composé announces what happened, actions that were completed. Imparfait explains what was happening, with no indication of when or even if it ended. In a nutshell, the imparfait is used for incomplete actions while the passé composé is reserved for completed ones, but of course it’s more complicated than that. Understanding the contrasting relationship between the passé composé and imparfait is essential to communicating in French. Be sure you fully understand these two French tenses before continuing with this lesson.įor French students, the trickiest aspect of these French verb forms is that they often work together, juxtaposed not only throughout stories, but even within individual sentences. As for the passé composé, it has three English equivalents. While l’imparfait is more or less equivalent to the English past progressive, l’imparfait is more widely used, especially with verbs like avoir and être. The most important French past tenses are the passé composé and the imparfait, and they can be difficult for several reasons.
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