How is the past tense formulated in French?

At GCSE, one would need to know two versions of the past tense, the passé composé and the imparfait. The P.C. is used to explain events that happened just once and can be in the near or distant past. It is named as such because it is composed of the present tense auxiliary verb (avoir or être) and the past participle.
The imparfait is used to describe repeated events or states of affairs in the past, and is formulated by taking the 'nous' form of the present tense verb, removing the 'ons' ending, and adding the imperfect endings "ais, ais, ait, ions, iez, aient" for each personal pronoun. The imperfect roughly translates to "used to" in English.

EH
Answered by Ellis H. French tutor

1561 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Décrivez une histoire de tes vacances?


How would you say "I enjoy being with my friends. When I can't see them, we keep contact by text message" in French ?


What is the difference between the imperfect tense and the passé composé?


How do you compare two things in French?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning