Think about how a film opens. First the camera shows the setting: snow falling, a quiet street, someone walking home. Nothing has happened yet; we are just seeing the situation. Then something happens: a phone rings, a car skids, a stranger knocks. French grammar builds that same distinction into its past tenses. The imparfait is the camera showing the scene (what things were like, what was going on, what used to happen). The passé composé is the plot (what happened next, one completed event after another). In Grade 10 you learned the rule for single sentences: Je lisais quand le téléphone a sonné (I was reading when the phone rang). In Grade 11 you work with whole texts: a story, a news report, a memory you tell a friend. Every verb in a narrative has to be placed on one of the two layers, and the choice changes what the listener pictures. This lesson gives you a reliable test for that choice, shows where the usual signal words mislead you, and walks through a complete story sentence by sentence.
| Job in the story | Tense | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setting: time, place, weather | imparfait | C'était un samedi de janvier. Il neigeait. | It was a Saturday in January. It was snowing. |
| Description of people and things | imparfait | Le chalet était petit et il faisait froid. | The cottage was small and it was cold. |
| Feelings, thoughts, physical states | imparfait | J'avais faim et j'étais fatigué. | I was hungry and I was tired. |
| An action in progress | imparfait | Nous regardions un film. | We were watching a film. |
| A habit or repeated past action | imparfait | Le dimanche, on allait chez ma grand-mère. | On Sundays, we used to go to my grandmother's. |
| A completed event that moves the plot | passé composé | Tout à coup, la lumière s'est éteinte. | Suddenly, the light went out. |
| A series of events, one after another | passé composé | Je me suis levée, j'ai pris une lampe et je suis descendue. | I got up, took a flashlight and went downstairs. |
| An event with a counted number or a closed time span | passé composé | J'ai vu ce film trois fois. Il a plu pendant deux jours. | I saw that film three times. It rained for two days. |
The one test that works every time you are unsure
Ask: does this verb move the story forward?
Cover the sentence and ask what the listener learns. If the verb answers what happened next? (the story advances one step), use the passé composé. If it answers what was the situation? or what used to happen? (the story pauses to describe), use the imparfait. A useful check: you can usually put and then in front of a passé composé verb (and then the light went out), but not in front of an imparfait one (and then it was snowing sounds odd, because snow is the backdrop, not a step).
- Scene + event. Il faisait nuit quand nous sommes arrivés au chalet. → It was dark when we arrived at the cottage. The darkness is the backdrop; the arrival is the event.
- Interrupted action. Je prenais ma douche quand l'alarme a sonné. → I was taking a shower when the alarm went off. The shower was in progress; the alarm cut into it.
- Two actions going on at the same time. Pendant que ma mère conduisait, je dormais. → While my mother was driving, I was sleeping. Neither one advances the plot, so both are imparfait.
- A chain of events. Elle a ouvert la porte, elle a crié et elle est partie en courant. → She opened the door, shouted and ran off. Each verb is one step forward, so each is passé composé.
- Habit versus one occasion. D'habitude, je prenais l'autobus, mais ce jour-là, j'ai marché. → Usually I took the bus, but that day I walked. The habit is the backdrop; the exception is the event.
| Usually signals the imparfait | Usually signals the passé composé |
|---|---|
| d'habitude (usually), souvent (often), toujours (always) | soudain, tout à coup (suddenly) |
| tous les jours, chaque été, le samedi (on Saturdays) | un jour (one day), ce jour-là (that day), une fois (once) |
| autrefois, à cette époque (back then) | hier, ce matin, l'an dernier + a single event |
| pendant que (while) + an ongoing action | d'abord, ensuite, puis, enfin (first, next, then, finally) |
| quand j'étais petit(e) (when I was little) | trois fois, pendant deux heures, de 2015 à 2019 (a counted or closed span) |
Length of time does not decide the tense
A very common mistake is to think the imparfait is for long actions and the passé composé for short ones. What matters is whether the action is presented as closed (with an end) or as open (a backdrop). Il a plu pendant trois jours (It rained for three days) is a long action, but it is a finished block with a fixed span, so it takes the passé composé. Elle a habité à Moncton de 2015 à 2019 (She lived in Moncton from 2015 to 2019) is four years long and still passé composé. The same goes for repeated actions inside a closed period: Pendant l'été 2023, j'ai nagé tous les jours presents the summer as a finished block (passé composé), while L'été, je nageais tous les jours describes a habit (imparfait). Both are correct; they show the past differently.
Verbs that change meaning between the two tenses
| Verb | Imparfait: a state | Passé composé: a change or a result |
|---|---|---|
| savoir | Je savais la réponse. → I knew the answer. | J'ai su la vérité hier. → I found out the truth yesterday. |
| connaître | Je connaissais bien Léa. → I knew Léa well. | J'ai connu Léa au camp. → I met (got to know) Léa at camp. |
| pouvoir | Je pouvais nager loin. → I could (was able to) swim far. | J'ai pu finir à temps. → I managed to finish on time. Je n'ai pas pu venir. → I couldn't come (and didn't). |
| vouloir | Il voulait partir. → He wanted to leave. | Il a voulu partir, mais… → He tried (decided) to leave, but… Elle n'a pas voulu répondre. → She refused to answer. |
| devoir | Je devais partir à 8 h. → I was supposed to leave at 8. | J'ai dû partir. → I had to leave (and did). |
| avoir peur | J'avais peur du noir. → I was afraid of the dark. | J'ai eu peur. → I got scared (a sudden fright). |
A short story, sentence by sentence
- C'était le dernier soir de notre voyage en canot dans le parc Algonquin. → It was the last evening of our canoe trip in Algonquin Park. Imparfait: setting (time and place).
- Le soleil se couchait et le lac était parfaitement calme. → The sun was setting and the lake was perfectly calm. Imparfait: description and an action in progress.
- Mon frère préparait le souper pendant que je cherchais du bois sec. → My brother was making supper while I was looking for dry wood. Imparfait twice: two simultaneous background actions. (Souper is the usual word for the evening meal in Canada.)
- Tout à coup, j'ai entendu un bruit dans les arbres. → Suddenly, I heard a noise in the trees. Passé composé: the first event, signalled by tout à coup.
- Je me suis retourné et j'ai vu un orignal à vingt mètres de moi. → I turned around and saw a moose twenty metres away from me. Passé composé twice: a chain of events.
- Il était énorme et il me regardait sans bouger. → It was huge and it was watching me without moving. Imparfait: the story pauses to describe the scene inside the event.
- J'avais tellement peur que je ne pouvais plus respirer. → I was so scared that I couldn't breathe. Imparfait: feelings and physical state.
- Après quelques secondes, l'orignal a fait demi-tour et il a disparu dans la forêt. → After a few seconds, the moose turned around and disappeared into the forest. Passé composé: the plot moves again.
- Ce soir-là, nous avons parlé de l'orignal pendant des heures. → That evening, we talked about the moose for hours. Passé composé: a closed span (pendant des heures) seen as a whole.
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Listening: hear the auxiliary
In speech, je parlais (imparfait) and j'ai parlé (passé composé) can sound close, because -ais and -é are near neighbours. Listen for the auxiliary instead of the ending: j'ai, il a, nous avons, je suis, elle est before a participle signals the passé composé. With il, elle and ils, the difference is clearer: il parlait versus il a parlé. When you listen to a story or a radio report, a run of auxiliaries usually means the action has started; a run of -ait endings means the speaker is setting the scene.
Canadian usage: être après
In informal Québec and Acadian speech you may hear être après + infinitive for an action in progress: J'étais après faire mes devoirs quand t'as appelé (I was doing my homework when you called). It means the same as the standard être en train de: J'étais en train de faire mes devoirs quand tu as appelé. Recognize it when you hear it, and use être en train de in writing. Either way the frame is in the imparfait, and the interrupting event stays in the passé composé.