[A2] What is the difference between "imparfait" and "passé composé"?

At level A1, students learn le passé composé tense. When they move on to level A2, they discover a new tense: l'imparfait. In this article, we will explore the differences between these two tenses, which do not correspond to the differences between preterit and present perfect in English!

When speaking in French about things that took place in the past, we distinguish between two elements: completed individual actions and descriptions of situations or people. To tell about completed actions in the past, one uses the passé composé. For descriptions one uses the imparfait.

Here are examples of completed actions :

• Il a rencontré son voisin hier. He met his neighbour yesterday. 
• Anne a acheté un nouveau vélo la semaine dernière. Anne bought a new bike last week.

These are events that are finished and had a time-limited duration.

Here are examples of descriptive past:

• Quand ils sont arrivés, nous dinions. When they arrived we were having dinner.
• Le film était très amusant. The film was very funny.
• Mon grand-père lisait le journal tous les jours. My grand-father used to read the paper every day.

With le passé composé, we talk about an event in its entirety. With l'imparfait, we describe an event in its development. We also use it when we describe a person (his personality traits, habits ...), a film or a landscape.
 

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