Week 4, Day 2: The Perfect Tense (Passé Composé) vs. The Imperfect Tense (Imparfait) Copy Copy

Frederic

So far, we have learned about the perfect tense and the imperfect tense. You need to know both of them in order to talk effectively about things that have happened in the past. In this lesson, we are going to:

• Review things that you have learned in previous lessons

• Deepen your knowledge of the perfect and imperfect tenses

• Learn how to distinguish between the two tenses when you are conversing in French

Let’s review what we know about the two tenses and then learn about telling the difference between them before moving on to an exercise.

The imperfect tense refers to an unfinished action from the past. It is usually either:

• a description:

À l’époque, il faisait très chaud.

At the moment, the weather is very hot.

• a habit in the past:

Quand il était jeune, il jouait au tennis tous les mardis.

When he was younger, he played tennis on Tuesdays.

• The perfect tense is used to express an action or a fact in the past. This action is usually abrupt and prompt.

Example:

Ce matin, il s’est réveillé tôt.

He woke up early this morning.

• When you are telling a story about something that has happened in the past, you will normally use the imperfect tense to set the scene and describe the situation. The perfect tense will then mark a sudden change in this situation.

Example:

Je marchais seul dans la rue. Soudain, je l’ai vu apparaître au coin de la rue.

Imperfect perfect

I was walking alone. Suddenly, I saw him at the corner of the street.

Here are examples of keywords in sentences that will help you distinguish between perfect and imperfect tenses.

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Perhaps you have noticed that the words that describe something in the imperfect tense express a repeated action, or habit, but the words that describe something in the perfect tense express a sudden occurrence or the exact time the action occurred. This is an important difference between the two tenses; if you can remember this, you will be able to distinguish easily between the perfect and imperfect tenses.

Speaking Practice 1

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Speaking Practice 2

A Quick Recap of this Lesson

Imperfect Tense vs Perfect Tense

This lesson discussed the major differences between the perfect and imperfect tenses.
The imperfect tense mostly refers to unfinished past events such as a description or a past habit.
The perfect tense is used to express a completed action or a fact in the past.
You can make use of both tenses to share a story during conversations: use the imperfect tense to set the scene and describe the situation, and the perfect tense to mark a sudden change in this situation.