Français I – Leçon 8A Structures Passé composé vs. L’imparfait Le verbe - vivre

passé composé vs. l’imparfait The passé composé and the imparfait are both past tenses. The choice between these two tenses depends on the context and on the point of view of the speaker. The passé composé and the imparfait are often used together to narrate a story or an incident. The imparfait usually sets the scene or the background, while the passé composé moves the story along.

Le passé composé vs. l’imparfait It is used to talk about: Main facts Specific, completed events Actions that advance the plot It is used to describe: The framework of the story: weather, date, time, background scenery Descriptions of people: age, physical and personality traits, clothing, feelings, state of mind Background setting: what was going on, what others were doing

When the passé composé and the imparfait occur in the same sentence, the action in the passé composé often interrupts the ongoing action in the imparfait. Je chantais quand mon ami est arrivé. I was singing when my friend arrived. Maxime et Céline dormaient quand le téléphone a sonné. Maxime and Céline were sleeping when the phone rang

Expressions that signal a past tense: Passé composé imparfait soudain = suddenly tout d’un coup/tout à coup = all of a sudden Une (deux, etc.) fois = once (twice, etc.) Un jour = one day d’habitude = usually parfois = sometimes souvent = often toujours = always tous les jours = every day

vivre = to live je vis nous vivons tu vis vous vivez il/elle vit ils/elles vivent Passé composé : avoir + vécu L’imparfait: viv + imparfait ending