Lesson 5 of 5Le temps: Future Perfect, Past Infinitive and the Passé Simple
Unit 1 · Lesson 5 of 5
Full Past Narration: News, Biography and Story
Putting every past tense to work in one text: the passé composé for events, the imparfait for background, the plus-que-parfait for what had already happened, the passé simple recognised in published texts, the time expressions that steer each choice, and the markers that organise a news report, a biography or an autobiography.
1Passé composé = events that move the story forward; imparfait = background, ongoing actions, description, habits; plus-que-parfait = what had already happened before the reference point.
2Find the story's reference point and measure every verb against it: before → plus-que-parfait, around → imparfait, at or next → passé composé.
3Depuis + présent = still true now (Il est ouvert depuis le 1er septembre); depuis + imparfait = still going on at a past moment (Elle attendait depuis une heure quand…).
4From a past reference point, use la veille, le lendemain, ce jour-là, plus tôt instead of hier, demain, aujourd'hui, avant.
5In published texts the passé simple replaces the passé composé for events; in your own writing, use the passé composé and don't switch between the two.
Read this sentence from a news report: Quand la police est arrivée sur le lieu du crime, les cambrioleurs étaient déjà partis et la victime criait au secours. (When the police arrived at the crime scene, the burglars had already left and the victim was calling for help.) Three past tenses, three different jobs, and a reader understands the scene instantly: the arrival is the event, the burglars' escape happened before it, and the shouting was in progress around it. You have studied each of these tenses separately. Real texts (a news story, a biography, the story of your own life) use them together, and the skill at Grade 12 is choosing among them sentence by sentence so that a reader always knows what happened, in what order, and what the scene looked like. This lesson pulls the unit together: every past tense, the time expressions that steer them, and the markers that give a longer text its shape.
Tense
Its job in a narrative
Question to ask
Example
passé composé
completed events that move the story forward
What happened next?
La police est arrivée à 2 h. (The police arrived at 2 a.m.)
La victime criait au secours. (The victim was calling for help.)
plus-que-parfait
events earlier than the moment the story is at
What had already happened?
Les cambrioleurs étaient déjà partis. (The burglars had already left.)
passé simple (recognise)
completed events in literary or formal published narration
Is this a book, a tale, a history text?
Champlain fonda Québec en 1608. (Champlain founded Québec City in 1608.)
présent
the situation now, as a result of the story
Is it still true today?
L'enquête se poursuit. (The investigation is continuing.)
In your own writing, the passé composé does the job the passé simple does in books. Don't switch between the two for events in the same text.
Fig 1The burglary report on a timeline: the burglars' departure (plus-que-parfait) before the police arrival (passé composé), the victim's shouting as a band in progress around it (imparfait), and the ongoing investigation (présent).
Find the reference point first
Every narrative has a moment the story is at, often an event in the passé composé (quand la police est arrivée). Measure each other verb against it. Before it and finished: plus-que-parfait (étaient partis). Around it, in progress or as description: imparfait (criait, il faisait froid). At it, or the next step: passé composé (a appelé une ambulance). When the story moves on, the reference point moves with it, so the same action can need a different tense in another sentence.
Time expressions that steer the tense
Sentence
Tense + expression
English
Un nouvel office de tourisme a ouvert le 1er septembre.
passé composé + a date: a single event
A new tourist office opened on September 1.
Il a ouvert il y a deux semaines.
passé composé + il y a (ago)
It opened two weeks ago.
Il est ouvert depuis le 1er septembre.
présent + depuis: still true now
It has been open since September 1.
Ça fait deux semaines qu'il est ouvert.
ça fait… que + présent
It has been open for two weeks.
Il était ouvert depuis deux semaines quand le premier groupe de touristes est arrivé.
imparfait + depuis: still true at a past moment
It had been open for two weeks when the first group of tourists arrived.
Il avait ouvert la veille.
plus-que-parfait + la veille (the day before)
It had opened the day before.
The same fact, the opening of a tourist office, told six ways. The time expression and the tense have to agree: a date or il y a with a completed event, depuis with a situation that is still going on at the reference point.
Had been doing: imparfait + depuis
English had been waiting for an hour when… tempts you toward the plus-que-parfait. With depuis (or il y avait… que), French uses the imparfait for an action still going on at the past moment: Elle attendait depuis une heure quand l'autobus est arrivé (She had been waiting for an hour when the bus arrived). The plus-que-parfait appears with depuis mainly in the negative, for something that had not happened for a while: Je ne l'avais pas vu depuis des années (I hadn't seen him for years).
first, next, then, so / at that point, after, finally, at last
looking back or ahead from a past moment
la veille, le lendemain, ce jour-là, à ce moment-là, auparavant, plus tôt, plus tard, depuis lors
the day before, the next day, that day, at that moment, before, earlier, later, since then
ordering points in a report or argument
en premier lieu, en second lieu, en dernier lieu; d'une part… d'autre part
in the first place, secondly, lastly; on the one hand… on the other hand
When the reference point is in the past, la veille, le lendemain and ce jour-là usually replace hier, demain and aujourd'hui. En premier lieu and d'une part organise ideas, not time: use them to structure the analysis part of a report.
Loading interactive…
Choose the imparfait, the passé composé or the plus-que-parfait for each verb in a story and see where each one sits on the timeline.
In context: a news brief
Un incendie a détruit un entrepôt du centre-ville dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi. Lorsque les pompiers sont arrivés, vers 2 h, les flammes avaient déjà atteint le toit et une épaisse fumée noire couvrait le quartier. Selon un voisin, l'alarme sonnait depuis une vingtaine de minutes. Personne n'a été blessé: le gardien de nuit avait quitté le bâtiment une heure plus tôt, et l'entrepôt était vide depuis le mois de juin. La police a ouvert une enquête, qui se poursuit.
Translation: A fire destroyed a downtown warehouse overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday. When firefighters arrived, at around 2 a.m., the flames had already reached the roof and thick black smoke was covering the neighbourhood. According to a neighbour, the alarm had been ringing for about twenty minutes. No one was hurt: the night watchman had left the building an hour earlier, and the warehouse had been empty since June. Police have opened an investigation, which is continuing. The lede (first sentence) gives the main event in the passé composé. The firefighters' arrival is the reference point; avaient atteint and avait quitté happened before it; couvrait describes the scene around it; sonnait depuis and était vide depuis are situations still going on at that moment (imparfait + depuis). The last verb, se poursuit, brings the reader back to now.
Writing your own story
Set the scene with the imparfait: J'avais trois ans quand j'ai appris à monter à bicyclette. (I was three when I learned to ride a bike.)
Place events against a background: Nous habitions à Timmins quand mon frère est né. (We were living in Timmins when my brother was born.)
Look further back with the plus-que-parfait: Avant notre déménagement à Ottawa, j'avais toujours vécu à la campagne. (Before our move to Ottawa, I had always lived in the country.)
Link events with an infinitif passé: Après avoir terminé l'école primaire, je suis entré dans une école d'immersion. (After finishing elementary school, I started at an immersion school.)
Bring the reader to now: Depuis ce jour-là, je n'ai plus jamais eu peur de l'eau. (Since that day, I have never again been afraid of water.)
Self-editing a past narrative
Underline every verb. For each one, ask: is it an event (passé composé), background (imparfait) or earlier than the moment the story is at (plus-que-parfait)? Check that each passé composé and plus-que-parfait has the right auxiliary and agreement. Check that your time words match your tenses (depuis + présent or imparfait for a situation still going on, though a negative can take the passé composé: je ne l'ai pas vu depuis; il y a + passé composé for a completed event). Finally, check that you have not drifted into the présent by accident: a narrative present is a style choice, and if you use it, use it for the whole passage.
Worked examples
Reveal one step at a time and try to beat it to the next line.
Example 1
Analyse and translate: Quand la police est arrivée sur le lieu du crime, les cambrioleurs étaient déjà partis et la victime criait au secours.
Example 2
Conjugate the verbs in brackets: Hier soir, quand je (rentrer), mes parents (dormir) déjà. Ma sœur (laisser) un mot sur la table: elle (partir) chez une amie. (The speaker is a boy.)
Example 3
Rewrite Ça fait deux semaines que l'office de tourisme est ouvert in two other ways: with depuis, and with il y a (focus on the opening).
Example 4
Turn these notes into two sentences of autobiography: age 3 · learned to ride a bike · father had removed the training wheels the day before.
Where marks get lost
Putting a sudden single event in the imparfait: Soudain, le téléphone sonnait. A sudden event that moves the story forward is a passé composé: Soudain, le téléphone a sonné.
Using the passé composé for something that happened before the reference point: Quand la police est arrivée, les voleurs sont partis means they left when the police came. For had already left: étaient déjà partis.
Using the passé composé with depuis for a situation that is still going on: J'ai habité ici depuis 2015. Write J'habite ici depuis 2015.
Translating had been waiting with the plus-que-parfait: J'avais attendu depuis une heure quand… With depuis, use the imparfait: J'attendais depuis une heure quand…
Keeping hier and demain in a story set in the past: Ce jour-là, elle a dit qu'elle partirait demain. From a past reference point: le lendemain.
Flashcards 8
Passé composé · imparfait · plus-que-parfait: jobs
It has been open since September 1.
It opened two weeks ago.
She had been waiting for an hour when the bus arrived.
+ 4 more
Practice
1
Quand les pompiers sont arrivés, l'incendie ___ déjà toute la maison. (détruire)
2
Il ___ à verse quand nous sommes sortis du cinéma. (pleuvoir)
3
Complete with pleuvoir in the right tense: Les rues étaient mouillées: il ___ toute la nuit. (The rain is over.)
4
Complete with attendre in the right tense: Nous ___ depuis vingt minutes quand le serveur est enfin venu.
5
Which sentence means The tourist office has been open since September 1?
6
Match each expression for a story set in the past to its meaning.
la veille
le lendemain
ce jour-là
auparavant
depuis lors
7
Put the events in the order they happened: Lorsque les pompiers sont arrivés, les flammes avaient déjà atteint le toit. L'incendie avait commencé vers 1 h, une heure après le départ du gardien. Les pompiers ont ensuite maîtrisé l'incendie.
1The firefighters brought the fire under control
2The firefighters arrived
3The flames reached the roof
4The watchman left the building
5The fire started
8
In a report, which pair of markers organises points, not a sequence in time?
9
Retell in the passé composé, as you would in your own writing: Champlain fonda la ville de Québec en 1608. → Champlain ___ la ville de Québec en 1608.