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Lesson 4 of 5Le temps: Future Perfect, Past Infinitive and the Passé Simple
Unit 1 · Lesson 4 of 5

Recognizing the Passé Simple

The literary past of novels, tales, history and formal biography: where you meet it, the four ending patterns (a, i, u, in), the irregular forms that matter most, the look-alikes that fool readers, the passé antérieur, and how to retell a passé simple text in the passé composé.

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Key things to remember

  1. 1The passé simple is the literary equivalent of the passé composé: completed events in novels, tales, history and formal biography. Recognise it; use the passé composé in your own speech.
  2. 2Four patterns, read from the il / ils forms: a (il parla, ils parlèrent), i (il finit, ils finirent), u (il fut, ils furent), in (il vint, ils vinrent).
  3. 3Key irregulars: fut, eut, fit, vint, prit, mit, dit, vit, put, sut, naquit, mourut, vécut.
  4. 4It pairs with the imparfait for background, just as the passé composé does; when you retell, only the passé simple changes.
  5. 5Look-alikes: il finit, il dit (also présent), il vit (voir, or vivre in the présent), il fut (être, not a futur).

Open a French novel, a fairy tale or a history of New France and you will find verbs you have never heard in conversation: il fut, elle eut, ils firent, il vint, elle naquit. They are forms of the passé simple, the literary past. It does the same job as the passé composé, naming completed events that move a story forward, but it belongs to written narration. Speakers in Québec, France and elsewhere use the passé composé in conversation, and you should too. So why learn it? Because at Grade 12 you are reading longer authentic texts: legends, short stories, encyclopedia entries, biographies of authors. If il mit or ils vinrent stop you every time, you lose the thread. The goal of this lesson is fast recognition: see the form, know the infinitive, know it means a completed past action, and be able to retell it in the passé composé.

Where you will meet it, and where you will not
You will meet it in novels and short stories, tales and legends (Il était une fois un roi qui… Un jour, il partit…), history books and encyclopedias, formal biographies, and occasionally in formal journalism. You will almost never hear it in everyday conversation, except when someone reads a story aloud or imitates a storybook style for effect. It mostly appears in the third person (il, elle, ils, elles), because narration is mostly about other people. In a written narrative it pairs with the imparfait exactly the way the passé composé does: the imparfait sets the scene, the passé simple moves the events along.
PatternWho uses itje · tu · il · nous · vous · ilsil / ils example
aevery -er verb, including aller-ai · -as · -a · -âmes · -âtes · -èrentil parla, ils parlèrent (he spoke, they spoke) · il alla (he went)
iregular -ir and -re verbs, and many irregulars-is · -is · -it · -îmes · -îtes · -irentil finit, ils finirent · elle vendit · il fit (faire) · il prit (prendre)
uêtre, avoir, most -oir verbs, and others-us · -us · -ut · -ûmes · -ûtes · -urentil fut, ils furent (être) · elle eut (avoir) · il put (pouvoir)
invenir, tenir and their compounds-ins · -ins · -int · -înmes · -întes · -inrentil vint, ils vinrent (venir) · elle devint (devenir) · il tint (tenir)
The nous and vous forms carry a circumflex and are rare even in books. For reading, focus on the il form (-a, -it, -ut, -int) and the ils form (-èrent, -irent, -urent, -inrent).
The passé simple: four ending patternsaevery -er verb(aller too)je-aitu-asil / elle-anous-âmesvous-âtesils / elles-èrentil parlahe spokeils parlèrentthey spokeiregular -ir, -refaire, prendre, dire …je-istu-isil / elle-itnous-îmesvous-îtesils / elles-irentil finithe finishedils prirentthey tookuêtre, avoir,most -oir verbs …je-ustu-usil / elle-utnous-ûmesvous-ûtesils / elles-urentil futhe wasils eurentthey hadinvenir, tenirand their compoundsje-instu-insil / elle-intnous-înmesvous-întesils / elles-inrentil vinthe cameils tinrentthey heldHighlighted rows: the il and ils forms you meet most in narration.Look-alikes: ils parlèrent (they spoke) is not ils parlent · il fut (he was) is not il sera
Fig 1The four ending patterns of the passé simple side by side, each with all six endings (il and ils highlighted), the verbs that use it, two examples, and two look-alikes to avoid.
Read the ending, then find the infinitive
When an unfamiliar form stops you, strip the ending. -èrent is the clearest signal: it is almost always the passé simple of an -er verb (ils arrivèrent → arriver, they arrived). The exception is the présent of verbs whose stem ends in -ér-: ils préfèrent, ils espèrent, ils gèrent, where -ent is the ending and the è belongs to the stem. -inrent is just as clear. -irent and -urent usually are too, but watch for the présent of -irer and -urer verbs: ils tirent, ils admirent, ils assurent, and ils durent (devoir in the passé simple, or durer in the présent). For the il form, the stem usually points to the infinitive: il répondit → répondre, il connut → connaître, il reçut → recevoir, il écrivit → écrire. Spelling-change -er verbs keep their sound before a: il commença (commencer), il mangea (manger), but ils commencèrent, ils mangèrent.

The irregular forms worth knowing by sight

Infinitiveil / ils (passé simple)Passé composéEnglish
êtreil fut · ils furentil a étéhe was
avoiril eut · ils eurentil a euhe had
faireil fit · ils firentil a faithe did, he made
veniril vint · ils vinrentil est venuhe came
prendreil prit · ils prirentil a prishe took
mettreil mit · ils mirentil a mishe put
direil dit · ils direntil a dithe said
voiril vit · ils virentil a vuhe saw
pouvoiril put · ils purentil a puhe was able to
savoiril sut · ils surentil a suhe knew, he found out
naîtreil naquit · ils naquirentil est néhe was born
mouriril mourut · ils moururentil est morthe died
vivreil vécut · ils vécurentil a vécuhe lived
écrire · lire · vouloiril écrivit · il lut · il voulutil a écrit · il a lu · il a vouluhe wrote · he read · he wanted
Many of these stems echo the past participle: eu and eut, pu and put, su and sut, lu and lut, vécu and vécut, pris and prit, mis and mit, dit and dit. Être, faire, naître, mourir, venir, voir and écrire do not follow that shortcut.
Look-alikes that fool readers
Il finit and il dit are spelled the same in the présent and the passé simple: the tenses of the verbs around them tell you which it is. Il vit can be voir in the passé simple (he saw) or vivre in the présent (he lives): Il vit un loup (he saw a wolf) versus Il vit à Moncton (he lives in Moncton). Il fut is être, not a future. Il fit (he did) is not il fait (he does). In the first person of -er verbs, je parlai (passé simple), je parlais (imparfait) and je parlerai (futur) differ by one or two letters, and il parla has no -er- before the ending, unlike the futur il parlera.
Its partner: the passé antérieur
Literary texts also use the passé antérieur: the passé simple of avoir or être + past participle. It usually follows quand, lorsque, dès que, aussitôt que, après que for an action completed just before another one in the passé simple: Dès qu'il eut fini son repas, il sortit (As soon as he had finished his meal, he went out). Quand elle fut partie, il ferma la porte (When she had left, he closed the door). When you retell, use the plus-que-parfait or, more naturally, an infinitif passé: Après avoir fini son repas, il est sorti.

Retelling in the passé composé

Literary text (passé simple)Your retelling (passé composé)English
Un soir d'hiver, le vieux pêcheur sortit de sa cabane.Un soir d'hiver, le vieux pêcheur est sorti de sa cabane.One winter evening, the old fisherman came out of his cabin.
Il vit une lumière étrange au-dessus du fleuve.Il a vu une lumière étrange au-dessus du fleuve.He saw a strange light above the river.
Il prit sa lanterne et descendit vers la rive.Il a pris sa lanterne et est descendu vers la rive.He took his lantern and went down to the shore.
La neige tombait doucement.La neige tombait doucement. (unchanged)The snow was falling gently.
Le lendemain, les villageois ne le crurent pas.Le lendemain, les villageois ne l'ont pas cru.The next day, the villagers did not believe him.
Only the passé simple changes; the imparfait stays as it is. Each passé composé needs the right auxiliary (être for sortir and descendre here), and the pronouns and negation move around the auxiliary.
In context: a short published-style biography
Gabrielle Roy naquit à Saint-Boniface, au Manitoba, en 1909. En 1937, elle partit pour l'Europe, où elle étudia le théâtre. Deux ans plus tard, elle revint au Canada et s'installa à Montréal. Elle y devint journaliste, et son premier roman, Bonheur d'occasion, parut en 1945. Ce livre reçut le prix Femina en 1947; elle fut la première écrivaine canadienne à remporter ce prix français. Elle mourut à Québec en 1983.

Translation: Gabrielle Roy was born in Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, in 1909. In 1937, she left for Europe, where she studied theatre. Two years later, she came back to Canada and settled in Montréal. There she became a journalist, and her first novel, Bonheur d'occasion (The Tin Flute), came out in 1945. The book won the Prix Femina in 1947; she was the first Canadian writer to win this French prize. She died in Québec City in 1983. Decode each verb: naquit (naître), partit (partir), étudia and s'installa (-er verbs, pattern a), revint and devint (revenir, devenir: pattern in), parut (paraître), reçut (recevoir), fut (être), mourut (mourir). Retold in the passé composé: elle est née, elle est partie, elle a étudié, elle est revenue, elle s'est installée, elle est devenue, il a paru (or il est paru), il a reçu, elle a été, elle est morte.

Worked examples

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

Example 1
Identify and retell in the passé composé: En 1665, plus de mille soldats vinrent en Nouvelle-France.
Example 2
Decide what vit means in each sentence: (a) Ce matin-là, elle vit un orignal près du lac. (b) Depuis dix ans, elle vit à Rimouski.
Example 3
Retell in the passé composé: Quand la tempête fut passée, les pêcheurs reprirent la mer.

Where marks get lost

  • Reading il fut as a future. Fut is the passé simple of être: he was. The future is il sera.
  • Treating -èrent as a present ending: ils arrivèrent is they arrived, not they arrive (ils arrivent).
  • Retelling with the wrong auxiliary: elle naquit becomes elle a né. Naître takes être: elle est née. The same goes for vint (est venu), mourut (est mort), partit (est parti).
  • Changing the imparfait when retelling: La neige tombait stays tombait. Only the passé simple becomes a passé composé.
  • Using the passé simple in your own conversation or mixing it with the passé composé in one story. In speech and in most of your writing, narrate with the passé composé and the imparfait.

Flashcards 8

Passé simple: what it is
The four patterns (il / ils)
il fut · il eut · il fit
il vint · il prit · il mit
+ 4 more

Practice

1
Match each passé simple form to its infinitive.
il fut
elle eut
il fit
elle naquit
ils vinrent
il sut
2
In a novel you read: Ils arrivèrent à la gare à minuit. What does arrivèrent mean?
3
Retell in the passé composé: Elle prit le train pour Halifax. → Elle ___ le train pour Halifax.
4
Retell in the passé composé: Elle naquit à Moncton. → Elle ___ à Moncton.
5
Retell in the passé composé: Ils devinrent célèbres. → Ils ___ célèbres.
6
Which sentence contains a passé simple?
7
Dès qu'elle eut lu la lettre, elle éclata en sanglots. What is eut lu?
8
Match each ending to its pattern.
ils parlèrent
ils finirent
ils voulurent
ils tinrent
9
Put the steps for decoding an unfamiliar passé simple in order.
  1. 1Strip the ending and identify the pattern (a, i, u, in)
  2. 2Retell it in the passé composé with the right auxiliary
  3. 3Find the infinitive from the stem
  4. 4Notice the form is neither a présent nor a futur you recognise

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