Expressing past time in French - 1
the preterite and perfect tenses
There are four indicative past tenses in French, plus less common subjunctive forms. This page is concerned with the usage of the different forms of past tenses in French.
The rules governing usage of these past tenses are quite different to
the rules that in English determine, for instance, the choice of
the preterite (e.g. I saw) or the present perfect (e.g. I have
seen). Jump to part 2 for the imperfect (imparfait) and past perfect (plusqueparfait or passé antérieur) tenses.
1. The preterite, or past historic - le préterite ou passé simple
This is the classic literary and formal narrative tense, used for describing events in the past. It corresponds to the preterite or simple past tense in English. ► It is particularly used for third-person narrative.
► Except in some fixed expressions, it has more or less fallen out of
use in first person / second person conversational French. ► The first and second person plural forms are now considered archaic, and virtually never used, not even in formal written French. Sample verbs:
♦ être: je fus, tu fus, il fut, nous fûmes, vous fûtes, ils furent,
♦ avoir: j'eus, tu eus, il eut, nous eûmes, vous eûtes, ils eurent,
♦ pouvoir: je pus, tu pus, il put, nous pûmes, vous pûtes, ils purent,
♦ devoir: je dus, tu dus, il dut, nous dûmes, vous dûtes, ils durent,
♦ porter: J'portai, tu portas, il porta, nous portâmes, vous portâtes, ils portèrent
♦ finir: je finis, tu finis, il finit, nous finîmes, vous finîtes, ils finirent
♦ voir: je vis, tu vis, il vit, nous vîmes, vous vîtes, ils virent ♦ dormir: je dormis, tu dormis il dormit, nous dormîmes, vous dormîtes, ils dormirent ♦ venir: je vins tu vins il vint, nous vinmes, vous vintes, ils vinrent
♦ vendre: je vendis, tu vendis, il vendit, nous vendîmes, vous vendîtes, ils vendirent.
Examples:
He opened the window and looked at the crowd.
- Il ouvrit la fenêtre et regarda la foule
The president stood up and began to talk
Le président se leva et se mit à parler.
When he saw the size of the deficit, he was frightened
Quand il vit la taille du déficit, il eut peur 2. The "perfect" or composite past - Le temps parfait ou passé composé This is the tense which is most commonly used
for describing events in the past in modern less formal written French,
and in modern spoken French. It corresponds to either the preterite or
the present perfect tense in English. ► It is particularly used in conversational or oral narrrative. ► It is less used in formal narrative. ► It is formed using the auxiliary "avoir" (or for some verbs "être" - see below ), and the past participle. Sample verbs:
♦ être: j'ai été, tu as été, il a été, nous avons été, vous avez été, ils ont été,
♦ avoir: j'ai eu, tu as eu etc.
♦ pouvoir: j'ai pu, tu as pu, etc,
♦ devoir: j'ai dû, tu as dû, etc.
♦ porter: J'ai porté, tu as porté, etc.
♦ voir: j'ai vu, tu as vu, etc.
♦ dormir: j'ai dormi, tu as dormi, etc. ♦ venir: je suis venu, tu es venu, il est venu, nous sommes venus, ils sont venus
♦ vendre: j'ai vendu, tu as vendu, etc.
► Special cases: Perfect tense with "être" With common verbs of movement, the perfect tense is conjugated with the auxiliary "être", not "avoir". aller, venir, monter, descendre, entrer, sortir, arriver, partir, rester, tomber, naître, mourir (and devenir, rentrer, remonter, repartir etc.) except when these verbs are used transitively, i.e.with an object. The perfect tense is also formed with the auxiliary "être" with all reflexive verbs. Sample verbs
♦ Je suis allé, tu es parti, elle est née, ils sont morts, elles sont venues. ♦ Je me suis levé..... elle s'est levée, nous nous sommes levés, etc. (See below for rules on past participle agreement)
General examples:
Yesterday I went to Paris - Hier je suis allé à Paris
We went in and waited - Nous sommes entrés et avons attendu
I've seen it - Je l'ai vu (note the position of the pronoun object)
I saw him yesterday - Je l'ai vu hier (note the position of the pronoun object)
I saw the film yesterday - J'ai vu le film hier.
My car broke down on Monday - Ma voiture est tombée en panne lundi
My car has broken down - Ma voiture est tombée en panne
I took the plane to Paris - J'ai pris l'avion jusqu'à Paris. ► Agreement of the past participle: There are two different situations, depending on whether the perfect tense is formed with avoir or with être.
a) For verbs conjugated with "avoir", i.e. most verbs, the past
participle agrees in number and gender with the direct object when this
comes before the participle. ► Note the particular case of relative clauses, where the object pronoun que assumes the properties of number and gender of the noun that it refers to. Comparative examples:
I saw my sister in the supermarket - J'ai vu ma soeur au supermarché.
I saw her in the supermarket - Je l'ai vue au supermarché.
It is particularly important to remember this rule in the case of relative clauses
The guy (whom) I saw was really cool. Le type que j'ai vu était très cool.
The girls (whom) I saw were really pretty. Les filles que j'ai vues était très jolies.
b) When a verb is conjugated with être, the past participle agrees in number and gender with the subject. Examples:
He arrived yesterday - Il est arrivé hier.
We went in and waited - Nous sommes entrés et avons attendu
Charlotte was born last Sunday - Charlotte est née dimanche dernier
The girls have already left - Les filles sont déjà parties
Essential French words and phrases for travellers
25 essential words and 25 vital phrases
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