How to Teach the French Passé Composé and Imperfect Together – A French Teacher’s Guide
When I teach the French passé composé and imperfect together, I want students to understand that these two past tenses have different jobs. Students often learn each tense separately, but the real challenge comes when they have to decide which tense to use when speaking or writing about the past.
I keep the basic distinction very simple:
The passé composé tells us what happened.
The imperfect describes the past.
From there, I show students how the two French past tenses work together to tell a story. The passé composé gives us the events, while the imperfect provides the description, background, feelings, and other details.
French Passé Composé vs Imperfect – Foldable Student Lesson Handout Book
Scroll down to the section at the end of this post for more related teaching and practice resources.
Start with the basic difference
I begin by reviewing what students already know about the passé composé.
The passé composé is used to say what happened in the past.
An event has a beginning and an ending, and the passé composé allows us to move through a sequence of events.
Ce matin, je me suis réveillé(e) à sept heures.
This morning, I woke up at seven o’clock.
Mon fils est venu dans ma chambre.
My son came into my room.
Il m’a demandé, « Maman, on va manger? »
He asked me, “Mom, are we going to eat?”
These are things that happened, one after another.
I then introduce the imperfect as the tense we use to describe the past.
This distinction gives students a starting point:
Passé composé = What happened
Imperfect = Description
Show students how the two tenses work together
Rather than giving students two separate lists of rules, I show them how the passé composé and imperfect can appear together in the same story.
I continue the example:
Je lui ai dit que j’étais encore fatigué(e) et que je voulais dormir un peu plus.
I told him that I was still tired and that I wanted to sleep a little more.
The event is:
Je lui ai dit…
I told him…
That is passé composé.
But:
j’étais encore fatigué(e)
and
je voulais dormir un peu plus
describe how I was feeling and what I wanted at that time.
Those are in the imperfect.
This helps students see that the two tenses aren’t competing with each other. They are doing different jobs within the same story.
Use a story to make the difference clear
I continue building the story:
Je me suis levé(e).
I got up.
Je suis allé(e) dans la cuisine.
I went into the kitchen.
Then I add a description:
Il faisait un peu froid.
It was a little cold.
So:
J’ai mis un gilet.
I put on a sweater.
Then:
Ma fille est venue dans la cuisine.
My daughter came into the kitchen.
Elle m’a fait un gros câlin.
She gave me a big hug.
I have students identify what is happening in the story.
The passé composé moves the story forward:
je me suis levé(e)
je suis allé(e)
j’ai mis
est venue
m’a fait
The imperfect gives us the description:
il faisait un peu froid
This is the point where I want students to start seeing the French past tenses as part of a story, rather than as two unrelated grammar topics.
Point out être and avoir
I also use this story to draw students’ attention to être and avoir.
Not always, but usually, the verb être is used to describe something in the past, so we use it in the imperfect.
For example:
Elle est revenue dans la cuisine et elle m’a dit qu’elle était prête.
She came back into the kitchen and told me that she was ready.
Elle m’a dit is the event.
elle était prête describes her state at that time.
I also point out that not always, but usually, the verb avoir is used to describe something in the past, so we use it in the imperfect.
For example:
Elle m’a dit qu’elle n’avait pas envie de manger tout de suite.
She told me that she didn’t feel like eating right away.
Again, the event is in the passé composé:
Elle m’a dit…
The description is in the imperfect:
elle n’avait pas envie…
Continue the story
I add another example:
Elle voulait s’habiller d’abord.
She wanted to get dressed first.
Here, voulait describes what she wanted at that time, so I use the imperfect.
Then:
Je lui ai dit d’aller s’habiller.
I told her to go get dressed.
This is an event, so I use the passé composé.
And finally:
Elle est revenue dans la cuisine et elle m’a dit qu’elle était prête.
She came back into the kitchen and told me that she was ready.
By this point, students have seen both French past tenses used repeatedly and naturally in the context of a story.
Give students a simple way to think about storytelling
Once we’ve worked through the story, I give students a very simple formula:
Imperfect = set the scene
Passé composé = what happened
For example:
Je faisais la cuisine…
I was cooking…
This sets the scene.
Then:
…quand le téléphone a sonné.
…when the phone rang.
The phone ringing is the event that happened.
So we have:
Je faisais la cuisine quand le téléphone a sonné.
The imperfect gives us the background, and the passé composé tells us what happened.
I find this is one of the easiest ways for students to begin understanding how the two tenses work together.
Teach students to look for imperfect clues
Once students understand the basic distinction, I give them some expressions that often point toward the imperfect, particularly when they indicate repetition or habitual actions in the past.
Some of the expressions I use are:
- chaque semaine, chaque mois, chaque année — every week, every month, every year
- toujours — always
- souvent — often
- de temps en temps — from time to time
- tous les jours — every day
- le week-end — on the weekends
- le matin, le soir — in the mornings, in the evenings
- le lundi, le mardi — on Mondays, on Tuesdays
- normalement, d’habitude — usually
- parfois, quelquefois — sometimes
- en général, généralement — in general, generally
- rarement — rarely
I tell students that these expressions can be useful clues, but they aren’t automatic signals. They still need to understand what is happening in the sentence.
Introduce passé composé clues
I contrast these with expressions that can help students recognize a completed event or a sequence of events in the passé composé.
- une semaine, un mois, un an — one week, one month, one year
- un jour — one day
- un week-end — one weekend
- lundi, mardi… — on Monday, on Tuesday…
- une fois, deux fois — once, twice
- un matin, un soir — one morning, one evening
- toujours — always, including now
- plusieurs fois — several times
- soudain — suddenly
- tout à coup — all of a sudden
- d’abord — first of all
- ensuite, puis — next, then
- enfin — finally
- finalement — in the end
Again, I emphasize that these are clues rather than absolute rules.
In fact, toujours is a particularly useful example because it can appear with either tense depending on the meaning. Students have to look at the context instead of simply matching one word with one tense.
Have students build their own stories
Once students have practiced identifying the two tenses, I want them to start using them.
I give them a simple situation and have them begin by setting the scene with the imperfect.
For example:
Je faisais la cuisine…
Then I have them add an event in the passé composé:
…quand le téléphone a sonné.
From there, they can continue the story.
The goal is for students to think about what was happening in the background and then decide what happened next.
This is much more useful than having students conjugate isolated verbs without any context.
Remind students that the imperfect describes more than actions
I also make sure students don’t associate the imperfect only with “was doing.”
The imperfect can describe what someone was feeling, what they wanted, what things were like, or what was happening at the time.
For example:
J’étais encore fatigué(e).
Je voulais dormir.
Il faisait un peu froid.
Elle n’avait pas envie de manger.
Elle était prête.
These descriptions help students understand why the imperfect is so important when telling a story.
Bring the two French past tenses together
At the end of the lesson, I return to the two ideas I introduced at the beginning:
Passé composé = what happened
Imperfect = describe the past
When students are telling a story, they can use the imperfect to establish the setting and describe what was happening, and then use the passé composé for the events that move the story forward.
I want students to stop thinking of the passé composé and imperfect as two completely separate French past tenses.
When they speak about the past naturally, they will often need both.
The imperfect gives the story its background and description.
The passé composé gives us the events.
And when students learn to use the two together, they can move from simply making sentences about the past to actually telling a story in French.
Practice the French Passé Composé and Imperfect
If you’re teaching students how to use the French passé composé and imperfect together, I have ready-to-use resources to help them practice identifying the two tenses, choosing the appropriate tense, and using both French past tenses when speaking and writing about the past.
French Passé Composé vs Imperfect | Imparfait | Grammar Practice & Review Bundle
French Passé Composé vs Imperfect – Foldable Student Lesson Handout Book
French Passé Composé and Imperfect – French Grammar Activity
French Passé Composé vs Imparfait – Imperfect Exercises
French Imperfect and Passé Composé Review Activity
