Help knowing when to use passe compose or imparfait tense?

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on February 6, 2013 at 5:06am

Hello

Oh, I don't know your level in French, but It's more difficult to choose which verb to use than the tense. And in this text, some verbs are very difficult to find.

but is it your homeworks ? I don't want to do your homeworks but I can help you to do them ot mark them.

For the verb to choose, begin with the most easy,

like "Nous (blank) tot tous les matins" => every morning, early we ??? => stand up.

For the tense, simply (I don't know how you learn that)

But this is a story, so someone tells to us this story.

If this person tells about the landscape, describes how it was,  the weather, the trees, animals, every descriptions ...  => imparfait

if he tells about customs, habits, about he did every day, about he used to do => imparfait

if he tells about one special event, a tree was falling, a bear was appearing => passé composé (or passé simple) 

The first one : "tous les matins" = "every morning" if it is every morning it's not a special event => imparfait.

Tout a coup, marie-pierre (blank) : "Tout à coup" = "suddenly" = it's a special event => passé composé.

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on February 6, 2013 at 2:14pm

If you want to make an attempt you can post the result of your effort on this forum and I will  tell you if I think it is right or where I think it could be wrong!

To fill in the blanks you have to choose a verb (one out of the choices) that makes sense.

And you have to choose a tense that also makes sense (bearing in mind what Chantal said).

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Permalink Reply by Le Disez Cécile on February 8, 2013 at 6:58pm

Hello,

I 'm french so excuse me if there are some mistakes in english.

Usually French, we use the simple past and imperfect in textes. Il seems to me that this is what should be sought in your performance. (The past tense is used to talk about events but I don't think you have to use here.)

This is a difficult exercise even for the French as much as you must find the right verbs before.

In fact, in a narrative, the imperfect is used for actions that are repeated (eg getting up: it is an action that is done every day, so we used this tense
We use imperfect for actions that last.
This tense is used for the description.

For short actions, we use the simple past .A whenever there is a new action, you must use the simple past.

I suggest you do the exercise and I will correct it.

And if you want you can reformulate my answer in proper English.

Bye

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on February 8, 2013 at 8:15pm

 I hope this helps!

 

Hello,

I'm French so please excuse any mistakes in my English.

 

We French normally use the simple past  and imperfect tenses when writing.I seems to me that  this is the purpose of the exercise. (.....not sure what you mean here.Are you talking about the past historic such as "il fut" instead of "il a été" ?)

This is a difficult exercise even for French speakers becuase you need to find the right verbs first.

Actually ,in a narrative,the imperfect is used for repeated actions (like getting up  for example:it is something we do every day  and so this tense is used.

We use the imperfect for continuous actions   ("actions that last" is also good).

This tense is used for  description (I think)

 

For short actions  we use the simple past.

When there is a new action  you use the simple past.

 

Why don't you  do the exercise and I will correct it for you.

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Permalink Reply by Le Disez Cécile on February 8, 2013 at 9:35pm

Thank for your quick and very interesting response.
This will actually make me progress.

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Permalink Reply by Le Disez Cécile on February 8, 2013 at 10:32pm

I'm talking about the past historic such as " il fut".

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on February 8, 2013 at 10:54pm

You are welcome.

In that case:

The past tense is used to talk about events but I don't think you have to use here=

The past historic is used in a literary context ( or in written narratives)  but I don't think you need to use it here.

 

I hope that was helpful -but I am sure that I must have made some mistakes also.

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Permalink Reply by Le Disez Cécile on February 9, 2013 at 11:05am

I hope Rawr will finally post the answer.

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Permalink Reply by alan gould on February 23, 2013 at 6:48pm

I'll add my two cents about understanding when to use which tense and then I have a question.  

The imperfect is continual -- we were sitting, the sun was shining, the bird was singing.  Writers use it to describe the setting before introducing any action (that advances the story).  example: "we were sitting by the fire when he arrived."  sitting by the fire is continual, over a period of time.  his arrival is not continual, it's specific.  

I found it helpful when first learning it to think of "used to" regarding the past.  "I used to" or "I would" eat there every day before school.  It's habitual, descriptive.  thus in the story given above, it's imperfect in the first few sentences -- we would get up early, we would begin our day, we would swim every day because we were camping by a lake.  Marie Pierre then decides to go for a walk.  This is the first time the verb is advancing the story, it's no longer describing habitual action, setting the scene.  

My question is this.  I'm aware that the imperfect is primarily a written tense.  But I'm not sure if it's used in spoken french and when I question it, I try to listen for it on the radio but I haven't resolved it.  It makes sense that it would be used but maybe the French prefer to avoid it?  

     

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on February 24, 2013 at 2:12am

It was a surprise to me that  it should be hard to find instances  of the imperfect in spoken French.

So I listened to the series of "Spiral" being shown (in French) on  BBC 4 last night to see what you meant.

But I didn't have much difficulty in finding examples (admittedly in written/fictional dialogue) of the imperfect  being used..

Admittedly the perfect tense seemed to crop up more often than the imperfect but that didn't surprise me .

Examples were "c'était bleu" (the car) or "c'était Bardès" (a character in the play)

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Permalink Reply by alan gould on February 24, 2013 at 2:40am

It's possible that "etre" is used in the imperfect in speech whereas the imperfect is otherwise avoided.  I'd rather not try to explain it.  As far as the absence of the imperfect on the radio when I listen to the news, it's very possible I simply miss it because my French aural comprehension is still fairly weak.  

Here is a sentence using the imperfect:  "Nous voulions partir ce matin, mais il y a eu un contretemps."  I saw this sentence when learning the word "contretemps" so it could be that it's a sentence that would merely be read,  not spoken.  If you were speaking to someone, would you use "voulions" or "avons voulu" to express that sentence?     

EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on February 24, 2013 at 3:06am

You could say either.

If it was "voulions" it seems to me to be more descriptive (more setting the scene) .

If it was "avons voulu" it would be more matter of fact.

 

I have to confess ,though, that as an English speaker it  is easy for me to slip into  the imperfect rather than the perfect because it is a natural mistake to make to think that  " nous voulions" should mean "we wanted" whereas " nous avons voulu" should mean "we have  wanted" .

But it is not that simple of course. 

Well that is my take , anyway.

 

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