Imparfait or passé composé: setting, habit and event
CEFR A2
What you will learn
- Form the imparfait from the nous form, including the irregular stem ét-.
- Choose between the imparfait and passé composé by the verb’s role in the narrative, not by duration alone.
The idea
They are not two interchangeable pasts: the imparfait paints the set and the passé composé tells you what happens in front of it.
The imparfait is built very regularly: take the “nous” stem of the present and add “-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient”. From “nous parlons” you get “je parlais”; from “nous finissons”, “je finissais”. Only “être” escapes, with “j'étais”.
The division of labour is what matters. The imparfait typically builds a description, habit, or action in progress. The passé composé typically presents an event as bounded or story-advancing. These are not rigid boxes: the speaker chooses a viewpoint.
That is why the two appear together in one sentence all the time. “Il pleuvait quand je suis sorti”: the rain is the set, the going out is the event. Swap the tenses and you change what you are telling, not whether it is correct.
And the usual trap: length does not decide. Something that lasted three years can take the passé composé if you present it as one closed block — “j'ai vécu trois ans à Lyon” — and an instant can take the imparfait if you are describing it. The question is never how long, it is what job the verb is doing in the story.
Imparfait and passé composé
| rôle | temps | modèle |
|---|---|---|
| cadre / description | imparfait | Il pleuvait. |
| habitude | imparfait | Chaque été, nous partions. |
| événement délimité | passé composé | Le train est arrivé. |
| changement | passé composé | Soudain, j'ai eu peur. |
| action en cours + événement | imparfait + passé composé | Je lisais quand il a appelé. |
How it sounds
- Il pleuvait quand je suis sorti.Both tenses in one sentence: the set, and the thing that breaks into it.
- Quand j'étais petit, j'allais à la mer chaque été.A repeated habit: imparfait in both verbs.
- Hier, j'ai vu un film au cinéma.One event, dated and finished: passé composé.
- Elle lisait, et soudain le téléphone a sonné.What was under way, and the thing that cuts into it.
Your turn
Two or three, to check that the bit above landed.
J'___ à la mer quand la voiture est tombée en panne.
allais — The journey was in progress when the breakdown occurred: imparfait for the background, passé composé for the event.
J'___ ce film en entier hier soir, puis je suis rentré.
ai vu — “En entier” and “puis” present the viewing as a complete event that advances the story.
Il ___ déjà depuis une heure quand je suis sorti de la maison.
pleuvait — The rain was already in progress at the moment of leaving; the past reference point calls for the imparfait.
When it doesn't hold
What breaks the rule, said out loud. Hiding it is what makes you feel cheated in the exam.
- Here the rain lasts all day and still takes the passé composé: it is being told as one closed block, not as a backdrop to anything.Il a plu toute la journée.
- Verbs of state usually take the imparfait, but in the passé composé they tell you the moment the state began.Soudain, j'ai eu peur.
What your own language pushes you to say
Wrong Quand j'étais petit, je suis allé à la mer chaque été.
Right Quand j'étais petit, j'allais à la mer chaque été.
English has no imperfect at all, so both French tenses look like your simple past and you will reach for the passé composé every time. The test that works: if you could say “used to” or “was doing” in English, French wants the imparfait — even when your English sentence says plainly “I went”.
Curriculum alignment and sources
- CEFR A2 · routine tasks and simple exchanges of direct information. · Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Companion Volume
- MCER como referencia; sin asignación estatal A2.1/A2.2 por curso. La máscara 3.º/4.º ESO del catálogo es editorial. · Real Decreto 217/2022, currículo básico de ESO
- La fuente reutilizada fija A1 al final de la secundaria de primer grado para esta materia. No se atribuye A2 a un curso italiano. · Decreto 9 dicembre 2025, n. 221 · nuove Indicazioni nazionali
Once it makes sense
Practise this: Imparfait or passé composéLe, la, les, lui or leur: object and positionEn and y: replacing quantities, de, à and placesFuture and conditional: stems, endings and usesQui, que, où or dont: find the gapThe verb and its preposition: à, de or none