Gap-fill
Long actions in French: passé composé or imparfait?
A ten-year job can use the passé composé. Compare whole periods with background situations, then complete a short account of a summer job.
- B1
- 7 gaps
- Translation included
- Learn this in the B1 notebook →
In short
A long action can use the passé composé: J’ai travaillé ici pendant dix ans. Use it to present a period as a whole; use the imparfait to describe what was happening or what you used to do at a past reference point.
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J’ai habité à Nantes pendant trois ans.I lived in Nantes for three years.
Focus: A complete three-year episode, seen from outside.
À cette époque, j’habitais à Nantes.At that time, I was living in Nantes.
Focus: The situation at that point in the story, seen from inside.
Passé composé or imparfait for long actions?
En juillet dernier, j’ai nagé tous les matins.
Last July, I swam every morning.
The speaker sums up the swims in a finished month.
Quand j’étais étudiante, je nageais souvent.
When I was a student, I used to swim often.
The speaker describes a routine at that time.
Neither tous les matins nor souvent chooses the tense on its own. Both tenses can describe repeated actions: a whole series or a habit within a past situation. In the story below, the hints specify the viewpoint to practise.
For two hours or in two hours?
| French | English | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Elle a lu pendant deux heures. | She read for two hours. | The activity lasted two hours. |
| Elle a lu ce roman en deux heures. | She read this novel in two hours. | She completed this novel in two hours. |
A precise clock time also allows different viewpoints: À huit heures, je travaillais puts us inside the activity; À huit heures, j’ai commencé à travailler reports its beginning. The time stays the same while the verb group changes the view.
Un été au centre culturel
L’été dernier, j’(travailler · passé composé, whole period) pendant deux mois au centre culturel. À cette époque, j’(habiter · imparfait, background) encore chez mes parents.
Chaque matin, j’(accueillir · imparfait, routine) les visiteurs. Un jour, à neuf heures, je (préparer · imparfait, in progress) la salle quand la directrice est arrivée.
Elle m’(demander · passé composé, event) de présenter une exposition. J’(préparer · passé composé, whole activity) ma présentation pendant trois heures. À la fin de l’été, j’(quitter · passé composé, event) le centre avec de beaux souvenirs.
Read it in English
Last summer I worked for two months at the cultural centre. At that time I was still living with my parents.
Every morning I welcomed visitors. One day at nine o’clock I was preparing the room when the director arrived.
She asked me to present an exhibition. I spent three hours preparing my presentation. At the end of the summer I left the centre with lovely memories.