Passé composé vs imparfait

Both tenses talk about the past, but they do different jobs. A useful shortcut is: the passé composé moves the story forward; the imparfait often describes the background.

Passé composé: completed events

Hier, j’ai mangé au restaurant.
Elle est arrivée à huit heures.
Nous avons vu Paul.

Think of actions with a clear beginning or end.

Imparfait: background, habits and descriptions

Quand j’étais petit, je jouais au football.
Il faisait beau.
Elle portait une veste rouge.

Use them together

Je regardais la télé quand le téléphone a sonné.

The ongoing background action is in the imparfait; the event that interrupts it is in the passé composé.

A useful question to ask

Are you describing what things were like / what was happening? Think imparfait. Are you saying what happened? Think passé composé.

Want to practise this with a teacher?

Reading a guide helps. Using the language in a real conversation is where it starts to become automatic.

Find my FLUEASY teacher