Imparfait vs Passé Composé: The Ultimate Past Tense Decision Tree

Introduction: The Past Tense Paralysis

You are describing a memory in French. You start a sentence, and then it hits you—the dreaded choice. Do you use the Passé Composé or the Imparfait?

In French, there is no single "past tense." History is split into two dimensions: what happened (action) and how it was (context).

Mistaking these tenses is one of the biggest bottlenecks keeping students trapped at the B1 level. It is also a massive scoring criteria absolute for , where storytelling is mandatory.

Trigger Condition	Tense	Example
Soudain (Suddenly)	Passé Composé	Soudain, il a plu.
Tout à coup (All of a sudden)	Passé Composé	Tout à coup, j'ai vu...
Souvent (Often)	Imparfait	Je parlais souvent.
D'habitude (Usually)	Imparfait	D'habitude, j'allais...

Imparfait vs Passé Composé: The Ultimate Past Tense Decision Tree

Imparfait vs Passé Composé: The Ultimate Past Tense Decision Tree

Introduction: The Past Tense Paralysis

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Part 1: The Core Distinction (The Camera Rule)

Aiming for CLB 7+?

Part 2: The 3 Rules of Passé Composé

1. Completed with a Clear End

2. Interrupting an Ongoing Action

3. Part of a Sequential List or Chain of Events

Part 3: The 3 Rules of Imparfait

1. Physical Descriptions and Scenery

2. Habits and Routines (Repeat Actions)

3. Continuous Background (Continuous states)

Aiming for CLB 7+?

Part 4: The Combined Sandwich (The Storyteller Framework)

Part 5: Common Sneaky Triggers

Aiming for CLB 7+?

Conclusion: Practice Makes Perfect

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