Passé Composé vs Imparfait - Action vs Description

Think of the passé composé as a camera flash. It captures a specific, finished moment in time. It has a clear beginning and a clear end. On the other hand, the imparfait is like a long, continuous video. It shows things that were already happening or things that happened over and over again. When you speak, you are constantly switching between these two perspectives. You use the imparfait to describe the "status quo" or the background. Then, you use the passé composé to interrupt that background with a specific action. It is like a grammar traffic light. The imparfait is the green light where things are flowing. The passé composé is the red light that marks a specific stop or change. Yes, even native speakers pause for a microsecond to choose the right one, so don't worry if you do too!

1. 1For the passé composé, you need two parts: a helping verb (avoir or être) and a past participle.
2. 2Most verbs use avoir. For example, j'ai mangé (I ate).
3. 3A small group of movement verbs (the Dr. Mrs. Vandertramp list) and reflexive verbs use être. For example, je suis allé (I went).
4. 4For the imparfait, take the nous form of the present tense, drop the -ons, and add the endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
5. 5For example, parler becomes nous parlons. Drop -ons to get parl-. Then add the ending: je parlais (I was speaking).
6. 6The only truly irregular verb in the imparfait is être, which uses the stem ét- (e.g., j'étais).

Use the passé composé when you can point to a specific spot on a calendar or a clock. It is for actions that are completed. If you can say "and then..." after the sentence, it is probably passé composé. Use it for a sequence of events: "I woke up, I drank coffee, and I left." Each of those is a finished action. Use it for a change in state: "Suddenly, I became sad."

Use the imparfait for descriptions. This includes the weather (il faisait beau), time (il était midi), age (j'avais dix ans), and physical or mental states (j'étais fatigué). It is also the tense for habits. If you did something regularly in the past, like "I used to play soccer every Sunday," use the imparfait (je jouais au foot). It is the "used to" or "was doing" tense.

Do not use the passé composé for background information that doesn't have a specific end. If you say j'ai été fatigué, it sounds like you were tired for one specific second and then it was over. Usually, you want j'étais fatigué because tiredness is a state of being.

Do not use the imparfait for the main "interrupting" action. If you are telling a story about a car crash, the crash itself is not imparfait. The crash is a sudden, plot-changing event. If you use imparfait for the crash, it sounds like the car was eternally crashing in a weird time loop. Nobody wants that.

One big mistake is using être as a helping verb for everything. Remember, j'ai été means "I was/have been" (completed), while j'étais means "I was" (ongoing description). Another classic is forgetting that soudain (suddenly) almost always triggers the passé composé. If something happens suddenly, it is an action, not a description. Also, watch out for the verb penser. If you say j'ai pensé, it means "The thought crossed my mind once." If you say je pensais, it means "I was thinking" or "I used to think." It is a subtle difference, but it changes the whole vibe of your sentence.

In English, we often just use the Simple Past ("I ate") for everything. This makes French feel tricky. Think of it this way: imparfait is like the scenery in a play (the trees, the house, the lighting). The passé composé is the actors walking onto the stage and saying their lines. If you are describing a job interview, the fact that you were nervous is imparfait (j'étais nerveux). The moment you shook the manager's hand is passé composé (j'ai serré la main). If you are ordering food and describing a past meal, the taste was imparfait (c'était délicieux), but the act of ordering was passé composé (j'ai commandé).