What is the difference between the Perfect (Passé Composé) and Imperfect (Imparfait) tenses?

The perfect and imperfect tenses are both used to describe the past, but in different situations. The perfect tense is used to describe a completed action in the past, for example, what you did this morning (Avant d’aller à l’école, j’ai pris le petit déjeuner), what you did at the weekend, or what you did last summer. In contrast, the imperfect is used to describe background actions in the past (Il faisait soleil) , actions which happened regularly in the past, actions with an undefined end point, or something that happened on an ongoing basis. 

Answered by Katie S. French tutor

2442 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How to use the negative


Translate the following Facebook post: "Il y a un centre commercial dans ma ville. Le samedi j’aime faire les magasins avec ma copine. Récemment j’ai acheté un nouveau portable. C’était trop cher. Je ne sais pas si on va sortir la semaine prochaine."


When do you use 'avoir' and 'être' for past tenses?


When do I know whether to use "tu" or "vous"?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences