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How do you know if you should use the perfect or imperfect tense?

Generally, the imperfect tense should be used for events which happened regularly in the past or which took place over a period of time. The perfect tense is used more for one off events. So for example, ...

Answered by Leah T. • French tutor

2042 Views

How do I know whether or not I should use the subjunctive mood after "que"?

The subjunctive mood is by definition a way of speaking that shows the speaker's personal attitude towards what they're saying. I'm sure that the textbook you're using explains all the basic situations wh...

Answered by Jakub M. • French tutor

1847 Views

How do I form the passé composé?

In French, the perfect tense (or passé composé) is formed using the present tense of the verb avoir (for all verbs except for a few exceptions which use the present tense of the verb

Answered by Briony R. • French tutor

2417 Views

How do contractions of articles work in French?

Definite articles (le & la) have to be contracted every time they are in front of a word starting with a vowel or a silent h. For example, le + étudiant = l'étudiant, le + homme = l'homme.

Answered by Anne-Lise M. • French tutor

1958 Views

When should you use the past historic (passé simple)?

You can use the passé simple in any formal piece of writing, but as it is quite a literary way of writing, it's generally more appropriate to pieces of writing in which you might be narrating a story. It ...

Answered by Carys W. • French tutor

2236 Views