French Past

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2016-05-30

Past tenses refer to past time. French past verb forms include le Passé Composé, l'Imparfait, and le Passé Simple.

For example:

• Describing ongoing past events with no start or end time references (l'Imparfait):
  • Fabrice lisait et Véronique somnolait à côté de lui.
    Fabrice was reading and Véronique dozed next to him.
    
    
• Referring to habitual actions in the past (l'Imparfait):
  • Ils s'arrêtaient toujours au bar pour boire un verre de vin. 
    They always stopped at the bar to drink a glass of wine. 
    
    
• Referring to completed events or actions in the past (le Passé Composé or le Passé Simple):
  • Ils ont vendu leur maison et ils sont partis aux États-Unis.
  • Ils vendirent leur maison et ils partirent aux États-Unis. (In written French.)
    They sold their house and went to the United States.

(In English, there are other past tenses, such as the Simple Past, Past Progressive, and Past Perfect.)

 
Related lesson: Tense