Choose a past tense for the meaning you need
French past narration does more than place an action before today. It also shows how the narrator views that action. The imparfait commonly presents a situation in progress, a description or a habit. The passé composé commonly presents an event as a completed whole. Both can describe actions that really ended; the difference is how those actions are presented at the point being narrated.
The people and situations below are fictional. Use them to make a two-part decision: what role does this action play in this account, and what form expresses that role? Avoid choosing a tense from a single time word. A long action can be presented as completed, and a short action can be viewed from inside its unfolding.
Check the forms before building the story
For most verbs, form the imparfait from the present nous stem without -ons, then add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Thus nous finissons gives je finissais. The verb être uses ét-: j’étais, nous étions. Some verbs require spelling care; learn the complete form rather than attaching an ending blindly.
| Infinitive and subject | Imparfait | Passé composé |
|---|---|---|
| préparer — je | je préparais | j’ai préparé |
| finir — nous | nous finissions | nous avons fini |
| prendre — ils | ils prenaient | ils ont pris |
| être — elle | elle était | elle a été |
| arriver — elles | elles arrivaient | elles sont arrivées |
The passé composé combines a present auxiliary with a past participle. The selected examples use avoir, except arriver, which uses être. With elles sont arrivées, the participle agrees with the feminine plural subject. Do not generalise that every verb involving movement takes être: marcher, for example, gives a marché. Learn the auxiliary with the verb and its construction.
Worked case 1: preparation around an interruption
Lundi après-midi, Sami préparait une chasse au trésor pour ses cousins. Il découpait les dernières cartes quand son téléphone a sonné. Il a posé les ciseaux et a répondu à sa tante. Après l’appel, il a terminé les cartes.
The account first places us inside an ongoing preparation. Préparait and découpait show what was happening. The phone call enters that background as an event: a sonné. Setting down the scissors, answering and finishing then advance the narrative.
| Action | Presentation | What the wording supports |
|---|---|---|
| Il découpait les cartes. | Inside the activity | The cutting was under way at the relevant moment. |
| Le téléphone a sonné. | A completed event | The ringing enters the sequence. |
| Il a terminé les cartes. | A completed outcome | The later sentence explicitly supplies completion. |
Interruption comes from the story as a whole, particularly putting the scissors down. The imparfait alone does not mean “an action that never finished.” If the final sentence were removed, we would not know whether Sami finished. Here it states that he did.
Compare « Sami a préparé une chasse au trésor lundi après-midi. » This is grammatical too. It summarises the preparation as a completed undertaking rather than opening a scene inside it.
Worked case 2: a habit and one different occasion
Pendant son séjour chez son oncle, Lina jouait aux échecs chaque soir. Son oncle choisissait toujours les pièces noires. Un soir, il a proposé un autre jeu. Ils ont joué aux dominos pendant une heure, puis Lina a rangé les pièces.
Jouait and choisissait establish the usual pattern. Un soir introduces the occasion selected for closer narration. A proposé, ont joué and a rangé present its completed events.
The hour does not force the imparfait. « Ils ont joué aux dominos pendant une heure » measures a completed session. A duration answers “how long?”; tense also answers “from what viewpoint?” Those are different questions.
A second valid account is « Pendant ce séjour, Lina a joué aux échecs chaque soir. » Here the narrator sums up all those evenings as a bounded series. Repetition and the passé composé are compatible. In the original paragraph, the imparfait was chosen because the habit forms the backdrop to the exceptional evening.
When checking an answer, therefore, give the intended interpretation. Do not label a different grammatical viewpoint wrong merely because it is not the model. However, if a task specifically asks you to establish the regular background, the imparfait is the direct fit.
Worked case 3: description around an arrival
La salle était calme. Deux visiteurs regardaient une maquette près de la fenêtre. À dix heures, les jumelles Ana et Léa sont arrivées. Elles ont salué l’animatrice et ont choisi une place au premier rang.
Était describes the room at the narrated moment. Regardaient supplies a simultaneous activity. The twins’ arrival and subsequent choices form the event sequence. Their feminine plural identity explains arrivées; with avoir in these sentences, salué and choisi do not take that subject agreement.
Consider « À dix heures, les jumelles arrivaient. » This can present their arrival as unfolding at ten, perhaps as someone watched. A clock time does not mechanically require the passé composé. In the supplied account, the narrator treats arrival as a completed step before greeting and sitting.
Similarly, « La salle a été calme pendant toute la visite » evaluates a completed period. It is not interchangeable in viewpoint with the original scene-setting sentence, even though both can describe a quiet room.
Repair a paragraph without changing its story
Suppose the intended meaning is an activity in progress when a single event occurs. A draft reads « Nous avons fabriqué une boîte quand le chien entrait. Il prenait un morceau de papier, puis il sortait. » Its forms do not clearly deliver that intended event sequence.
A repair is « Nous fabriquions une boîte quand le chien est entré. Il a pris un morceau de papier, puis il est sorti. » The making becomes background; entry, taking and exit become completed events. This repair follows the stated intention. Without that intention, another context could make some original choices meaningful.
Three solved practice tasks
Task 1: retain an ongoing activity
Présentez la lecture comme une activité en cours : « Je (lire) près de la fenêtre quand Aïcha (frapper) à la porte. »
Solution: Je lisais près de la fenêtre quand Aïcha a frappé à la porte. The first action is viewed in progress; the knock is the event that occurs within that scene.
Task 2: summarise a finished session
Présentez toute la séance comme terminée : « Hier, nous (dessiner) pendant deux heures, puis nous (fermer) nos carnets. »
Solution: Hier, nous avons dessiné pendant deux heures, puis nous avons fermé nos carnets. Both steps are presented as completed, including the long drawing session.
Task 3: explain the form and viewpoint
Complétez : « Les trois amies (être) devant la porte quand leurs cousines (arriver). » Présentez l’arrivée comme un événement achevé.
Solution: Les trois amies étaient devant la porte quand leurs cousines sont arrivées. Étaient supplies location; sont arrivées supplies the event with feminine plural agreement.
Frequently asked questions
Does imparfait always mean an interrupted action?
No. It also expresses descriptions, circumstances and habits. An interruption must come from the context.
Does passé composé always describe something quick?
No. A completed activity may last hours or years. Duration and viewpoint are separate decisions.
Does chaque jour force imparfait?
No. It often accompanies a habit, but a narrator can summarise a completed series using the passé composé.
Can both tenses appear in one sentence?
Yes. One can establish an ongoing situation while the other introduces a completed event within it.
Why is elles sont arrivées written with -ées?
This use of arriver takes être; its participle agrees with the feminine plural subject.
Should I translate English tense names mechanically?
No. Decide the intended French viewpoint from the full context. A one-to-one substitution can distort descriptions and habits.
How should I explain an alternative answer?
State how the viewpoint changes and whether that change fits the task. Grammatical form alone does not guarantee the intended meaning.
Keep past, present and future connected to one speaking date
The earlier lesson explains past-tense viewpoint. A longer account may move between yesterday’s event, the narrator’s present work and tomorrow’s plan. Such movement is coherent when the time reference is clear. Consistency means preserving the chronology, not using one tense for every sentence.
Original fact card and complete account
Fictional facts: Lina speaks on 6 May. On 5 May, she and Sami were preparing a display when a box fell; they collected the cards and finished arranging the tables. The fallen box was light and its cards lay under a table. On 6 May, Lina is checking the labels and Sami is placing the models. On 7 May, they plan to welcome visitors; Lina will explain the model and Sami will distribute a route sheet. The display is not already open to those visitors.
Aujourd’hui, le 6 mai, je vérifie les dernières étiquettes de notre exposition. Sami place les maquettes sur les tables. Nous vérifions chaque nom avant l’ouverture.
Hier, nous préparions la salle quand une boîte est tombée. Nous avons ramassé les cartes, puis nous avons terminé l’installation des tables. La boîte était légère, mais les cartes étaient dispersées sous la table.
Demain, nous accueillerons les visiteurs. J’expliquerai notre maquette et Sami distribuera une fiche du parcours. Avant leur arrivée, nous allons vérifier une dernière fois les étiquettes. Pour le moment, nous travaillons encore dans la salle vide.
Present frame: vérifie, place, vérifions and travaillons locate work on the speaking date. Past return: hier opens a flashback. Préparions gives background; est tombée, avons ramassé and avons terminé advance completed events. Était and étaient describe the circumstances. Future plan: accueillerons, expliquerai and distribuera refer to the next day; allons vérifier expresses a planned next step using present aller plus an infinitive. It does not say that the check has already happened.
The written forms matter: we have nous accueillerons, j’expliquerai and il distribuera. In the near-future construction, only aller is conjugated: nous allons vérifier, not nous allons vérifions. The future simple is not restricted to the distant future, and aller + infinitive does not prove that a plan will succeed. Both can refer to tomorrow here, with a somewhat different presentation of the plan.
Meaning-changing error: “Hier, nous accueillerons les visiteurs. Demain, nous avons terminé l’installation des tables.” Without a special quoted or shifted context, those forms conflict with this fixed 6 May frame. Merely changing every verb to present would erase the required past event and future plan. Repair the form that conflicts with the intended date, not every change of tense.
Independent whole-account editing
Rami speaks on 10 June. Yesterday he was drawing a map when Nora arrived; they checked the route together. Today he is writing captions. Tomorrow he plans to show the map to the group and answer questions. Correct this complete draft without changing the events:
Aujourd’hui, le 10 juin, j’ai écrirai les légendes. Hier, je dessine une carte quand Nora arrivera. Nous vérifierons le parcours ensemble. Demain, je présente la carte au groupe et j’ai répondu aux questions.
Complete correction with reasons
Aujourd’hui, le 10 juin, j’écris les légendes. Hier, je dessinais une carte quand Nora est arrivée. Nous avons vérifié le parcours ensemble. Demain, je présenterai la carte au groupe et je répondrai aux questions.
J’écris fits today’s work; dessinais establishes yesterday’s ongoing drawing; est arrivée supplies Nora’s completed arrival with feminine agreement. Avons vérifié keeps the joint checking yesterday. Présenterai and répondrai preserve tomorrow’s plan. “Demain, je vais présenter … et je vais répondre …” is a possible alternative plan presentation. A clearly future-contextualised present can also be grammatical, but it must not be combined with a past answer in this task. The model selects the future simple so the written time contrast is explicit.
Review: place each finite verb under 9, 10 or 11 June. Check subject, auxiliary and participle as well as tense. If a proposed correction moves an action to another date, it has not preserved the story.
Grammar reference: Québec francisation guide: future forms, including aller + infinitive and future-context present. The account and editing task here are original.
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