Key Idea: This topic is the past: the passé composé for finished events, the imperfect for scenes and habits, how to mix the two, and the pluperfect for «had done».
Passé composé
- Auxiliary (avoir or être in the present) + past participle: -er → -é, -ir → -i, -re → -u.
- Most verbs take avoir: «j'ai mangé», «tu as fini».
- DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs and all reflexives take être, and the participle agrees: «elle est arrivée», «ils sont partis».
Imperfect
- Take the nous present, drop -ons, add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient: «je parlais».
- Only one irregular stem: être → ét- («j'étais»).
- «mangeais» and «commençais» keep their soft sound.
| Tense | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Passé composé | Completed events, a sequence, «suddenly» | Tout à coup, il a sonné. |
| Imparfait | Habits, description, age, time, weather, what was going on | Il faisait froid. |
| Both together | An ongoing scene, then an interruption | imparfait + passé composé |
Pluperfect
- English «had done»: an action before another past moment.
- Imperfect of avoir or être + past participle: «j'avais mangé», «j'étais parti(e)».
- Same avoir/être split and agreement as the passé composé.
- Look for «déjà», «avant», «la veille» and «il a dit que…».
Ask one question: is it the action that happened, or the scene around it?
Which helper verb does «aller» take in the passé composé? Être, so «elle est allée».
What is the imperfect stem of finir? Finiss-, from «nous finissons».
Why «elle est partie» with an extra e? With être, the participle agrees with a feminine subject.
Turn «j'ai fini» into the pluperfect. J'avais fini: only the auxiliary changes.
«J'avais huit ans» or «j'ai eu huit ans» to set a scene? J'avais huit ans: age in the past takes the imparfait.