How do I know when to use imperfect or perfect tense in French?

Generally speaking, the imperfect describes:

  1. Ongoing events which haven't been completed yet E.g. J’étais à l’école – I was at school.

  2. Repeated actions – non-specific number of times E.g. Je faisais le tennis chaque semaine – I used to do tennis every week.

  3. General physical/ mental state of being E.g. J’aimais l’école – I liked school.

The perfect (or passé composé)

  1. An event or action that took place in the past and has been completed Hier, j’ai été à l’école- Yesterday I was at school.

  2. An action that was a one off or was completed a specific number of times La semaine dernière, j’ai fait le tennis tous les jours – Last week I did tennis everyday.

  3. A change in general physical/ mental state of being En ce moment, j’ai aimé l’école – At that moment, I liked school.

The two work together: the imperfect describes what was happening, the perfect is used to interrupt. J’étais à l’école quand ma mère m’a appelé – I was at school when my mum called me.

Answered by Eva J. French tutor

1647 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

What are effective ways of improving my level of spoken French?


What do I include in my speaking exam?


How do you form a negative sentence in the present tense?


How do you form the conditional tense?


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 2013–2024

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences