Imparfait or passé composé
CEFR A2 · part 1
edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
le, la, les or lui, leurDeciding whether the verb takes a direct or an indirect object, and placing the pronoun…The pronouns en and yReplacing de + something with en, and à + place or thing with y.French false friendsSpotting words that look like yours but mean something else, and using the right one…The imperative and its pronounsForming the imperative in its three persons, placing the pronoun after in the…The verbs that are not -er verbsConjugating in the present the -ir verbs with -iss- and the frequent irregulars…Savoir or connaîtreChoosing between savoir and connaître: a fact, a clause or a skill need savoir; a…The rule, in three lines
The imparfait sets the scene: how things were, what used to happen, what was going on. The passé composé tells what happened once and moves the story forward.
The usual slip. Reaching for the imparfait every time English has an -ing or a «used to», which only half works.
Why it catches you out. English does not split the past this way: it has «I ate» and «I was eating», a different opposition. You transfer it and end up using the imparfait wherever English would have an -ing, which is right about half the time.