When should you use the passé simple instead of the imparfait?/Quand devrais-tu utiliser le passé simple à la place de l'imparfait?

The passé simple is used to describe an action that belongs exclusively in the past and was not a habit, as in it happened only once in the past; whereas the imparfait is used to decribe an action that happened more than once and relatively regularly in the past, like a habit, but is now not a reality anymore.

Le passé simple est utilisé pour décrire une action unique et irrégulière qui s'est produit une seule fois et qui s'est terminé d'aussi tôt dans le passé. L'imparfait est utilisé lorsqu'une action dans le passé s'est reproduite plusieurs fois, telle une habitude, mais qui est à présent terminée.

Passé simple: Je fus frustré sur le moment. (I was frustrated on the moment)

Imparfait: J'étais un enfant frustré. (I was a frustrated child)

AB
Answered by Arthur B. French tutor

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