French Grammar

French Past Tenses

French uses two main past tenses in everyday speech — passé composé for completed events, imparfait for description and background. Hearing them together in context is how the contrast starts to feel natural.

Textbook French Past Tenses

The standard forms taught in French courses worldwide — illustrated with real clips from native speakers, not invented examples.

Imparfait

Verb stem + -ais / -ais / -ait / -ions / -iez / -aient

The imparfait sets the scene — what was happening, what used to happen, what the world was like. It pairs with the passé composé to give French its characteristic past-tense texture.