Passé Composé vs Imparfait: Which French Past Tense?
Choose between completed events, habits and background descriptions in French.
FR001 · FR · A2 / B1 · tenses, conjugation
The question
Why do we say Il pleuvait quand je suis sorti?
The imparfait often describes a continuing situation, habitual action or background in the past. The passé composé commonly presents an event as a completed whole. Both can appear in the same sentence: Il pleuvait quand je suis sorti (It was raining when I went out).
The contrast in context
| Situation | French example | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Background | La rue était calme. | The street was quiet. |
| Habit | Quand j'étais petit, je jouais ici. | When I was little, I used to play here. |
| Completed event | Hier, j'ai perdu mes clés. | Yesterday, I lost my keys. |
| Interrupted scene | Je lisais quand elle a appelé. | I was reading when she called. |
The distinction is not simply 'long action versus short action'. A long event can be presented as completed (J'ai travaillé pendant six heures), while a brief repeated action can appear in the imparfait (Chaque matin, il ouvrait la fenêtre). The speaker's viewpoint matters.
Common mistake
Avoid automatically putting every past action in passé composé. For an ongoing background, *Il a plu quand je suis sorti can convey a different sequence from Il pleuvait quand je suis sorti.
Remember
Use imparfait for the scene or habit and passé composé for an event viewed as a completed whole.