What is the difference between the 'passé composé' and 'imparfait' tenses?
While both tenses are used to talk about actions that have taken place in the past. The passé composé and imparfait tenses are distinct. The best way to distinguish them is to consider whether or not the action you are describing in the past is complete or incomplete.Passé composé (complete)J'ai joué au foot avec mes amis (I played football with my friends)Imparfait (incomplete)Je jouais au foot avec mes amis (I was playing football with my friends).When it comes to exams, just knowing the gist and recognising these as past tenses is not enough to get you top marks. It is particularly important for translation exercises to be able to know the difference between these tenses. Top tips for telling the difference:1 pronoun + 2 verbs = passé composé1 pronoun + 1 verb = imparfaitcomplete = passé composéincomplete / ongoing = imparfait
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Translate: Il fallait que je crée moi-même quelques chansons pour qu’un agent sache que je comprenais quelque chose à la musique. Ce que ma mère m’avait dit m’apparaissait comme évident, même si je n’y avais jamais pensé de façon aussi précise.