The past is where we tell the stories of our lives. To do so in French, you’ll need to know that there are two main past tenses. The passé composé and the imparfait are both used to narrate and describe what has already happened. These tenses differ in both their forms and usage. Even though these differences do not correspond to English translations, there are many tips and tricks to help you understand when to use passé composé vs imparfait and talk about the past like a native speaker!
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What is the difference between the imparfait and the passé composé in French?
The passé composé vs. imparfait can be an unfamiliar distinction for English speakers learning French, but can be broken down into a few key differences. The passé composé is a compound tense, meaning it is made of two parts: a helping verb and a past participle. It’s generally used to narrate specific, completed events in the past.
- J’ai regardé le film hier. = I watched the movie yesterday.
- Je suis allée au cinéma le weekend dernier. = I went to the movie theater last weekend.
The imparfait is a simple tense, meaning it is made of just one word. It’s used to describe ongoing states and conditions, and uncounted, interrupted, or repeated actions in the past.
- Je regardais souvent ce film quand j’étais jeune. = I watched this movie often when I was young.
- J’allais au cinéma le weekend. = I went to the movie theater on the weekends.
As you grow in your ability to speak French with confidence, you will use both tenses when telling about the past—sometimes even in the same sentence. As you can see in the above examples, the two tenses can sometimes be translated the same way in English.
>>Learn how to use all 21 French tenses for verbs with this ultimate guide!
When to use the imparfait in French
Imparfait, the French imperfect tense, is used for background information and description in the past. For instance, you might need to describe your age or someone’s personality using imparfait. It can express continuous or unfinished states and characteristics. It is usually used to express:
- Age
- J’avais quinze ans. = I was fifteen years old.
- Emotions and mental states
- Elles étaient contentes. = They were happy.
- Time and date
- Il était six heures. = It was six o’clock.
- C’était en juin. = It was in June.
- Personality
- Tu étais timide. = You were shy.
- Physical descriptions
- Il était mince et chauve. = He was thin and bald.
- Conditions
- La porte était ouverte. = The door was open.
- Weather
- Il pleuvait. = It was raining.
- General likes and dislikes
- On aimait la neige. = We liked the snow.
- What one had or wanted
- Vous n’aviez pas de chien. Vous vouliez un chat. = You didn’t have a dog. You wanted a cat.
The imparfait is also used for habitual, repeated, or uncounted actions in the past. This can be translated in English with the phrases “used to,” or “would.”
- J’allais chez ma grand-mère pour célébrer Noël. = I used to go to my grandmother’s house to celebrate Christmas.
- Je faisais du ski pendant l’hiver. = I would ski in the winter.
When to use the passé composé in French
Unlike the imparfait, the passé composé is used for single, specific, completed actions in the past.
- J’ai acheté une couverture pour mon lit. = I bought a blanket for my bed.
- Nous sommes allées chez ma grand-mère il y a trois jours. = We went to my grandmother’s house three days ago.
- Il a perdu son passeport. = He lost his passport.
You also use the passé composé if you are specifying a certain amount of time or a number of occurrences.
- Il a travaillé dans un restaurant pendant trois ans. = He worked in a restaurant for three years.
- Tu as fait du ski cinq fois? = You have skied five times?
Use both the imparfait and the passé composé for interrupted actions
If one action is interrupted by another in the past, use the imparfait for the action that was already occurring and the passé composé for the action that interrupts it.
- Je jouais au trombone quand le voisin a frappé à la porte. = I was playing the trombone when the neighbor knocked at the door.
- (imparfait) Je jouais = I was playing
- (passé composé) Le voisin a frappé = the neighbor knocked
- Je cherchais mes clés, quand j’ai vu une souris ! = I was looking for my keys when I saw a mouse!
- (imparfait) Je cherchais = I was looking for
- (passé composé) J’ai vu = I saw
What verbs change meaning in the imparfait vs. the passé composé?
Some verbs change meaning slightly in the imparfait vs. passé composé. It’s helpful to think about it as background information vs. an event. For example, the verb connaître (to be familiar with) can be used in the imparfait when you wish to say that you knew a person, were already acquainted with them, or were familiar with them. This is a description of the background information.
- Je connais son frère. = I knew her brother.
But if you use the same verb in the passé composé, it implies a specific event in the past. Used in this way, it means that you met someone (and got to know them) for the first time.
- J’ai connu son frère. = I met her brother.
| French Verb | Meaning in Imparfait | Meaning in Passé Composé |
| avoir (to have) | had | received, got |
| connaître (to know, be familiar with) | knew (was familiar with, was acquainted with) | met, got to know |
| devoir (to be obligated to) | was supposed to (but hadn’t yet) | had to (and did) |
| pouvoir (to be able to) | could, was able to (in general, in theory) | managed to, was able to (and did) |
| savoir (to know a fact, to know how to) | knew a fact, was aware of, knew how to | learned or found out for the first time |
| vouloir (to want) | wanted (had an ongoing desire) | decided to, attempted to (or refused to, if negative) |
Which expressions of time indicate the passé composé?
There are certain expressions of time in the past that generally point to specific times and events, one-time occurrences, or counted actions. They are typically used with the passé composé.
| French | English |
| # fois (deux fois, trois fois) | # times (twice, three times) |
| à ce moment là | at that moment |
| avant hier | the day before yesterday |
| d’abord | first |
| enfin | finally |
| finalement | finally |
| hier | yesterday |
| hier matin (après-midi, soir) | yesterday morning (afternoon, evening) |
| il y a # ans (mois, semaines, jours) | # years ago (months, weeks, days) |
| la semaine / l’année dernière | last week / last year |
| le weekend / le mois dernier | last weekend / last month |
| soudainement | suddenly |
| tout à coup | all of a sudden |
| une fois… | one time… |
Which expressions of time indicate the imparfait?
The following expressions usually indicate that the imparfait would be the appropriate past tense. They tend to accompany uncounted, routine, non-specific, or habitual actions.
| French | English |
| chaque (année, jour, semaine) | each (year, day, week) |
| constamment | constantly |
| d’habitude | usually |
| de temps en temps | from time to time, once in a while |
| en général | in general |
| généralement | generally |
| le (lundi, mardi, etc) | on (mondays, tuesdays, etc) |
| normalement | normally |
| parfois | sometimes, occasionally |
| quelquefois | sometimes, occasionally |
| rarement | rarely |
| souvent | often |
| toujours | always |
| tous les (ans, jours, semaines) | every (year, day, week) |
Tips for using the passé composé vs. imparfait correctly
Since the two past tenses do not always correspond to a specific English translation, nor do they always neatly follow rules for when to use the passé composé vs. imparfait, it’s helpful to have some tips and tricks to help you understand the nature of the two tenses.
Use the imparfait to set the scene
Imagine you go to the theater to see a musical. While the overture plays and the curtains open, you see actors and actresses on stage, moving through the scene while acting out their personalities and roles. You notice details such as:
- Le village était beau. = The village was beautiful.
- Les femmes portaient des robes. = The women were wearing dresses.
- Les enfants jouaient et couraient. = The children were playing and running.
- Il y avait du soleil. = It was sunny
- C’était le printemps. = It was spring.
- La femme n’avait pas d’argent. = The woman didn’t have any money.
- Il y avait un homme avec une barbe. = There was a man with a beard.
- Il était rigolo. = He was amusing.
You have a lot of background information at this point, but as the overture comes to a close, no specific events have happened yet to advance the plot. The imparfait is simply setting the scene and describing the background to viewers and listeners.
Use the passé composé to narrate events and place them in order
At the conclusion of the musical, you think back about the plot. If you had to summarize what events took place in the storyline, you might think of specifics such as:
- La fille a discuté avec son père. = The girl argued with her father.
- Elle est partie dans un train. = She left on a train.
- Il y a eu un accident. = There was an accident.
- Elle a perdu tout son argent. = She lost all her money.
- Elle est rentrée. = She returned.
You could put these events in order of when they occurred, from first, next, and last. This order of chronological events is a good clue that you should use the passé composé to describe it.
Think of a timeline
If you imagine a timeline, starting with the present moment and going backward into the past, events that use the passé composé would be easy to place. They are represented with specific moments on that timeline that could be defined by their beginning and end (I won the state race and went to the championship).
Descriptions expressed with the imparfait would be more difficult to place on the timeline. Either these occurrences would be represented by a series of repeated events that occurred with regularity (I always used to beat my siblings when we would race) or would be too nebulous to place with any sense of precision (I liked running because I was fast).
- Je suis né le 5 janvier, 1968. = I was born on January 5, 1968.
It’s easy to define when this event took place. It’s specific and complete, so you use the passé composé.
- J’étais plus petit que mon frère. = I was shorter than my brother.
It’s tricker to define when this condition began or perhaps it hasn’t ended, so you use the imparfait. Another way to describe it is that the situation (being shorter) was generally true over a longer period of time and is descriptive rather than an event.
Notice conjugation patterns in context
If you know the forms of French verb conjugation, you can pay attention to when they are used in natural contexts. Some helpful tools for learning French conjugations would be:
- children’s books
- short stories
- tv shows
- movies
- social media short clips
- podcasts with transcripts
- language learning apps
Rosetta Stone’s all in one app includes Stories, a Phrasebook, and an Audio Companion, so you can accelerate your language learning and put French past tenses to use. The bite-size narratives in the stories are a great place to notice how native speakers use the imparfait vs. passé composé.
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