Spot the mistake: imparfait or passé composé?
Quand j'ai été petit? Le téléphone sonnait soudain? Tap the verb in the wrong past tense in eight sentences and learn background versus event.
- B1
- 8 sentences
- Tap the wrong word
- Learn this in the B1 notebook →
In short
The imparfait sets the scene: descriptions, states, habits and ongoing actions (il faisait beau, j'habitais à Nice, je lisais). The passé composé tells events: what happened, once, at a point in time (le téléphone a sonné, nous sommes partis). Words like soudain, tout à coup, hier soir signal events.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
Tap the word that's wrong in each sentence.
When I was little, I lived in Nice.
A state in childhood: imparfait j'étais.
I was watching TV when the phone rang.
An event interrupts the background: a sonné.
Last night we went to the cinema, then to a restaurant.
A sequence of completed events: passé composé.
When she came in, he was sleeping.
Ongoing when something happened: dormait.
I used to go to the pool every Tuesday.
A past habit: imparfait.
Suddenly, someone knocked at the door.
Soudain signals an event.
He had blue eyes when he was a baby.
Physical description: imparfait.
She was tired, so she went to bed early.
The background state that explains the event.
When do you use the imparfait or the passé composé?
| Imparfait (background) | Passé composé (event) |
|---|---|
| il faisait beau | il a commencé à pleuvoir |
| je lisais | le téléphone a sonné |
| tous les étés | un été, en 2015 |
| j'étais fatigué·e | je me suis couché·e |
Picture a film: the imparfait is the set and the actors already moving; the passé composé is each action that moves the plot forward. The same verb can take either tense depending on what you mean: j'étais malade (I was ill, a state) vs j'ai été malade hier (I got ill / was ill for a defined time).
- Ami
Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé ?
What happened?
- Toi
Je rentrais du travail, il pleuvait… et j'ai glissé sur le trottoir !
I was coming home from work, it was raining… and I slipped on the pavement!
- Ami
Oh non ! Tu t'es fait mal ?
Oh no! Did you hurt yourself?