emploi des temps du passé (passé composé, imparfait, plus-que-parfait) grammar in French

Language: French
Level: B2
Unit: Discours indirect et temps du passé
Practice types: 0

What this grammar point covers

French has different past tenses to talk about things that happened before now. The main ones are passé composé, imparfait, and plus-que-parfait.

When to use it

Use passé composé to talk about completed, specific actions in the past. Imparfait is for habits, repeated actions, or descriptions in the past. Plus-que-parfait describes an action that happened before another past action.

Key forms

Passé composé: subject + auxiliary (être/avoir in present) + past participle (e.g., J'ai mangé)
Imparfait: stem of 'nous' form in present + endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient (e.g., Je mangeais)
Plus-que-parfait: subject + auxiliary (être/avoir in imperfect) + past participle (e.g., J'avais mangé)

Examples

Hier, j'ai vu un film.

English: Yesterday, I saw a movie.

Quand j'étais petit, je jouais dans le jardin.

English: When I was little, I used to play in the garden.

Il avait déjà mangé quand je suis arrivé.

English: He had already eaten when I arrived.

Nous regardions la télévision quand le téléphone a sonné.

English: We were watching TV when the phone rang.

Tips

With être as the auxiliary in passé composé, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject.
Use imparfait for background or ongoing actions, not for single, completed events.
Plus-que-parfait is only used when you want to show one past action happened before another.

Exceptions and edge cases

Some verbs use être as the auxiliary in passé composé (e.g., aller, venir, arriver).
Many past participles are irregular (e.g., avoir → eu, être → été, faire → fait).