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Lesson 2 of 5Le passé: Telling Stories in the Past
Unit 2 · Lesson 2 of 5

Imparfait or Passé Composé?

A recap of how the imparfait is formed, then a five-question procedure that decides between the imparfait and the passé composé for any verb in a story — including habits, interruptions, measured lengths of time, and verbs like savoir, connaître and avoir peur that change meaning between the two tenses.

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Key things to remember

  1. 1Imparfait = nous stem of the present (minus -ons) + -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Only être is irregular: ét-.
  2. 2Imparfait: habits with no fixed number, description and states, actions in progress (was -ing). Passé composé: completed events that move the story forward.
  3. 3A specific number of times (trois fois) or a measured, finished span (pendant cinq ans) → passé composé, however long it lasted.
  4. 4Interrupted action: Je dormais (imparfait, in progress) quand l'alarme a sonné (passé composé, the interruption).
  5. 5Meaning shifts: je savais (I knew) / j'ai su (I found out); je connaissais (I knew) / j'ai connu (I met); j'avais peur (I was afraid) / j'ai eu peur (I got scared).
  6. 6le samedi = every Saturday (imparfait for a past habit); samedi = one Saturday (passé composé for an event).

English tells a story with several past forms: I was reading, I used to read, I read, I would read. French uses two main tenses for the same job, and every past verb forces a choice. In Grade 9 you learned the basic split: the passé composé for events (j'ai lu) and the imparfait for description and habits (je lisais). That works for simple sentences, but real stories are full of borderline cases. I lived in Ottawa for five years — event or description? I knew the answer versus I found out the answer? I would go to the lake every summer? This lesson replaces "it depends" with a set of questions you ask in order, so you can defend every choice you make.

Grade 9 recapEndingparler (nous parlons)finir (nous finissons)faire (nous faisons)être (stem ét-)
je / j'-aisparlaisfinissaisfaisaisétais
tu-aisparlaisfinissaisfaisaisétais
il / elle / on-aitparlaitfinissaitfaisaitétait
nous-ionsparlionsfinissionsfaisionsétions
vous-iezparliezfinissiezfaisiezétiez
ils / elles-aientparlaientfinissaientfaisaientétaient
Take the nous form of the present, drop -ons, and add the endings. Être is the only verb with an irregular stem. The endings -ais, -ait and -aient all sound the same.
Grade 10 spelling precision in the imparfait
The -ger and -cer verbs protect their soft sound before a, so they change in every form except nous and vous: je mangeais, ils mangeaient but nous mangions; je commençais, elle commençait but nous commencions. Verbs whose stem ends in i get two i's in nous and vous: étudier → nous étudiions, vous étudiiez; rire → nous riions. It looks odd, but each i has a job: one belongs to the stem, one to the ending.
AImparfait — the scenery and what was going on
  • Description: Il faisait froid et la rue était vide. (It was cold and the street was empty.)
  • Age, time, feelings, thoughts: J'avais douze ans. Il était minuit. J'étais fatigué.
  • An action in progress: Je lisais quand... (I was reading when...)
  • A habit with no fixed number: Le samedi, nous allions au marché. (On Saturdays we used to go to the market.)
BPassé composé — the plot, what happened next
  • A single completed event: Le téléphone a sonné. (The phone rang.)
  • Events in sequence: Je suis sorti, j'ai pris le bus et je suis arrivé à l'école.
  • A specific number of times: J'ai vu ce film trois fois.
  • A measured, finished length of time: Il a neigé pendant deux jours.
Imparfait paints the scene; passé composé tells what happenedIl pleuvait. Je lisais…It was raining. I was reading…imparfait: the background keeps goinghier soir (last night)time →le téléphone a sonnéthe phone rangj'ai réponduI answeredpassé composé:sharp, finished events →Je lisais quand le téléphone a sonné.I was reading (ongoing) when the phone rang (one sharp event cuts in).Imparfait = was …ing / used todescription: Il faisait froid. Elle avait dix ans.ongoing: Nous regardions un film.habit: Je jouais au soccer le samedi.cue wordstous les jourssouventd'habitudependant quechaque étéPassé composé = did / has donecompleted: J'ai fini mes devoirs.interruption: … quand il est arrivé.a counted number of times: J'ai vu ce film trois fois.cue wordssoudaintout à coupun jourhiertrois foisce matin-là
Fig 1On a timeline, the imparfait is a long wavy band (background, ongoing, repeated) and the passé composé is a sharp point that strikes it.

The decision procedure: five questions, in order

  1. Is it a habit — something that used to happen, with no fixed number of times? (every Saturday, often, always, used to, would) → imparfait: Chaque été, nous allions au chalet.
  2. Does it happen a specific number of times, or last a measured length of time that is over? (twice, three times, for two hours, from 2018 to 2021) → passé composé: J'ai habité à Ottawa pendant cinq ans. A long time is still a closed box.
  3. Was it in progress when something else happened, or going on at the same time? (was -ing, while) → imparfait for the ongoing action, passé composé for the interruption: Je dormais quand l'alarme a sonné.
  4. Is it description or a state — weather, time, age, appearance, place, feelings, thoughts, wanting, knowing? → imparfait: Elle était nerveuse. Exception: if the state started or changed at a precise moment (a reaction), use the passé composé: Quand j'ai vu l'ours, j'ai eu peur (I got scared).
  5. Otherwise: is it a one-time action that moves the story forward? Ask And then what happened? — if this verb is the answer → passé composé: Elle a ouvert la porte.
The movie test
When you check a finished story, imagine filming it. The passé composé verbs are the plot: actions the camera shows one after another. The imparfait verbs are the set, the lighting and what the characters were already doing or feeling when the scene began. If you swap them, the meaning changes: Quand il est arrivé, nous mangions (when he arrived, we were already eating) versus Quand il est arrivé, nous avons mangé (when he arrived, we ate — we started after he came).
Clues for the imparfaitClues for the passé composé
d'habitude (usually), souvent (often), toujours (always)soudain, tout à coup (suddenly), un jour (one day)
tous les jours, chaque été, le samedi (on Saturdays)samedi (on Saturday — this one), hier, ce matin, le 3 mai
quand j'étais petit(e), à cette époque (back then), autrefois (in the old days)une fois, deux fois, trois fois (once, twice, three times)
pendant que (while)pendant deux heures, de 2018 à 2021 (a measured, finished span)
en général, parfois (sometimes)d'abord, ensuite, puis, enfin (first, next, then, finally)
Clue words point the way, but the five questions decide. Le samedi with the article means every Saturday (a habit); samedi alone means one particular Saturday (an event).

Verbs that change meaning between the two tenses

VerbImparfait: an ongoing statePassé composé: a moment of change
avoir peurJ'avais peur des chiens. — I was afraid of dogs.J'ai eu peur. — I got scared (at that moment).
savoirJe savais la réponse. — I knew the answer.J'ai su la vérité hier. — I found out the truth yesterday.
connaîtreJe connaissais bien Marc. — I knew Marc well.J'ai connu Marc en 2020. — I met Marc in 2020.
pouvoirJe pouvais nager. — I was able to swim (I had the ability).Je n'ai pas pu ouvrir la porte. — I couldn't open the door (I tried and failed).
vouloirIl voulait partir. — He wanted to leave.Il n'a pas voulu partir. — He refused to leave.
avoir + ageJ'avais seize ans. — I was sixteen.J'ai eu seize ans hier. — I turned sixteen yesterday.
Question 4 of the procedure explains every row: a state that simply existed takes the imparfait; a state that began, ended or was tested at a precise moment takes the passé composé.
English traps
Would has two meanings in English. When we were kids, we would build snow forts describes a habit → imparfait (nous construisions des forts de neige). I would help you if I could is a hypothesis → conditional (je t'aiderais), a Unit 3 tense. The simple past (I read, I played) can be either tense: Yesterday I read a book → j'ai lu; When I was ten, I read every night → je lisais. Never choose the French tense from the English form alone — run the five questions.
Two useful imparfait frames
venir de + infinitive in the imparfait means had just: Je venais de rentrer quand il a commencé à pleuvoir. (I had just come in when it started to rain.) être en train de + infinitive in the imparfait means was in the middle of: Nous étions en train de manger quand Paul est arrivé. (We were in the middle of eating when Paul arrived.) Both describe the situation when an event cut in, so the event itself stays in the passé composé.
Loading interactive…
Place each verb of a story on a timeline: background states and habits stretch across it in the imparfait, while completed events land on it as points in the passé composé.
In context: a winter memory
Quand j'avais douze ans, j'habitais à Sudbury. Chaque samedi, mon père et moi, nous allions patiner sur un lac gelé près de chez nous. Un samedi de février, il faisait très froid et le ciel était gris. Nous patinions tranquillement quand, tout à coup, un petit chien est arrivé à toute vitesse. Il a glissé sur la glace et il est tombé dans la neige. Mon père l'a pris dans ses bras et il l'a ramené à sa propriétaire. La dame riait et elle nous a remerciés cent fois. Ce jour-là, j'ai compris pourquoi mon père aimait tant ce lac.

Translation: When I was twelve, I lived in Sudbury. Every Saturday my father and I used to go skating on a frozen lake near our house. One Saturday in February, it was very cold and the sky was grey. We were skating calmly when, all of a sudden, a little dog came running up at full speed. It slipped on the ice and fell into the snow. My father picked it up and took it back to its owner. The woman was laughing and thanked us a hundred times. That day I understood why my father loved that lake so much. Run the procedure: allions is a habit (question 1). avais, habitais, faisait, était are description and states (question 4). patinions was in progress when the dog arrived (question 3). est arrivé, a glissé, est tombé, a pris, a ramené, a remerciés are the plot (question 5). riait describes what the woman was doing while she thanked them. J'ai compris is a moment of change — the narrator suddenly understood — while aimait is the father's lasting feeling. Notice remerciés: nous (father and child) is a direct object placed before avoir.

Worked examples

Reveal one step at a time and try to beat it to the next line.

Example 1
Translate: I was doing my homework when my friend called me.
Example 2
Translate: When I was little, we would go to the cottage every summer.
Example 3
Translate: I lived in Ottawa for five years, then we moved to Toronto.
Example 4
Choose the tenses: Ma sœur (avoir) peur des ours. Quand elle (voir) l'ours au parc, elle (avoir) très peur.

Where marks get lost

  • Using the imparfait for a long but finished period: j'habitais à Ottawa pendant cinq ans. A measured, finished span is a closed box: j'ai habité à Ottawa pendant cinq ans.
  • Translating every was with the imparfait, even for an event: Yesterday there was an accident on the highway reports something that happened, so it is hier, il y a eu un accident sur l'autoroute. Il y avait un accident would only describe the scene as someone found it.
  • Putting the interruption in the imparfait: je dormais quand le téléphone sonnait. Only the background action is in progress: je dormais quand le téléphone a sonné.
  • Translating habitual would with the conditional: quand j'étais petit, je jouerais dehors. A past habit is imparfait: je jouais dehors.
  • Dropping the spelling change in the imparfait: je mangais, il commencait. Correct: je mangeais, il commençait — but nous mangions, nous commencions.

Flashcards 9

Imparfait endings
Question 1: a habit, no fixed number of times
Question 2: three times / for two hours (finished)
Question 3: was -ing when something happened
+ 5 more

Practice

1
Il ___ beau quand nous sommes partis. Choose the correct form of faire.
2
Complete with jouer in the correct past tense: Quand j'étais petite, je ___ au soccer tous les samedis.
3
Complete with regarder in the correct past tense (auxiliary + participle if needed): Hier soir, nous ___ un film.
4
Complete with dormir in the correct past tense: Elle ___ quand le téléphone a sonné.
5
Mes parents ___ à Montréal pendant trois ans, puis ils sont venus à Toronto. Choose the correct form of habiter.
6
Which sentence means I found out the truth yesterday?
7
Complete with tomber in the correct past tense (auxiliary + participle): Tout à coup, Maxime ___ dans l'escalier.
8
Which sentence describes a habit?
9
Complete with commencer in the imparfait: Quand mes parents étaient jeunes, ils ___ l'école à huit heures.
10
In which sentence does English would call for the imparfait?
11
Match each English meaning to the French sentence.
I was afraid of the dark.
I got scared.
I knew Marc well.
I met Marc in 2020.
He refused to leave.
12
Put the questions of the imparfait / passé composé procedure in the order you ask them.
  1. 1Otherwise: is it a one-time action that moves the story forward?
  2. 2Is it description or a state (unless it changed at a precise moment)?
  3. 3Was it in progress when something else happened?
  4. 4Is it a habit with no fixed number of times?
  5. 5Does it happen a specific number of times or last a measured, finished span?

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