Le Passé - French Past Tenses 
                                     One of the most striking differences between French and English is in verb tenses. Learning how to use 
                                     the various past tenses can be very tricky, because English has several tenses which either do not 
                                     exist in or do not translate literally into French - and vice versa. 
                                     During the first year of French study, every student becomes aware of the troublesome relationship 
                                     between the two main past tenses. L'imparfait [je mangeais] translates to the English imperfect [I was 
                                     eating] while le passé composé [j'ai mangé] literally translates to the English present perfect [I have 
                                     eaten] but can also be translated as the English simple past [I ate] or the emphatic past [I did eat].  
                                     It is extremely important to understand the distinctions between passé composé and imparfait in order to 
                                     use them correctly and thus express past events accurately. Compare the uses of these two tenses in 
                                     the following table. 
                                           Imparfait                                                                                     Passé composé 
                                                                                                                                          
                                     I.    An ongoing action with no specified completion   vs  One or more events or actions that 
                                                                                                                                         began and ended in the past   
                                           J'allais en France - I was going to France                                                    Je suis allé en France - I went to France  
                                           Je visitais des monuments - I was visiting                                                    J'ai visité des monuments - I visited 
                                           monuments                                                                                     some monuments  
                                     II.   A habitual or repeated action                                                           vs  A single event  
                                           Je voyageais en France tous les ans - I traveled                                              J'ai voyagé en France l'année dernière - 
                                           (used to travel) to France every year                                                         I traveled in France last year  
                                           Je visitais souvent le Louvre - I often visited the                                           J'ai visité Paris samedi - I visited Paris 
                                           Louvre                                                                                        on Saturday  
                                     III.  Description/background info; set the scene of                                                 ...when something happened, 
                                           how things were or what was happening when...                                           +   interrupting the 
                                           (to be + -ing usually indicates this)                                                         description/background.  
                                           J'étais à la banque quand...                                                                  ... quand Chirac est arrivé. 
                                                - I was at the bank when...                                                                   - ... when Chirac arrived.  
                                           Je vivais en Espagne quand...                                                                 ... quand je l'ai trouvé. 
                                                - I was living in Spain when...                                                               - ... when I found it.  
                                     IV.  General description of physical or mental state of  vs  Change in physical or mental state at 
                                           being                                                                                         a precise moment or for an isolated 
                                                                                                                                         cause  
                                           J'avais peur des chiens - I was afraid of dogs                                                J'ai eu peur quand le chien a aboyé - I 
                                                                                                                                         was scared when the dog barked  
                                     V.  Expression of the time of day or age in the past  
                                           Il était cinq heures du matin - It was five a.m.  
                                           C'était son anniversaire; il avait douze ans - It was his birthday; he was twelve.  
                                     Thus l'imparfait describes past situations, while le passé composé narrates specific events. In 
                                     addition, l'imparfait can set the stage for an event expressed with the passé composé (see III, above). 
                                        
                                     Compare the following passages: 
                                     Quand j'avais 15 ans, je voulais être psychiatre. Je  Un jour, je suis tombé malade et j'ai découvert les 
                                     m'intéressais à la psychologie parce que je                                         miracles de la médecine. J'ai fait la connaissance 
                                     connaissais beaucoup de gens très bizarres. Le                                      d'un médecin et j'ai commencé à étudier avec lui. 
                                     week-end, j'allais à la bibliothèque et j'étudiais                                  Quand la faculté de médicine m'a accepté, je n'ai 
                                     pendant toute la journée.                                                           plus pensé à la psychologie.  
                                     When I was 15, I wanted to be a psychiatrist. I was  One day, I got sick and discovered the wonders of 
                                     interested in psychology because I knew a lot of                                    medicine. I met a doctor and started studying with 
                                     really weird people. On the weekends, I used to go  him. After the medical school accepted me, I didn't 
                                     to the library and study all day.                                                   think about psychology any more. 
                                                                                  
                         The following key words and phrases can help you figure out whether to use l'imparfait or le passé 
                         composé: 
                         L'imparfait                                             Le passé composé 
                         d'habitude                     usually                  une/deux (etc.) fois          once/twice (etc.) 
                         de temps en temps              from time to time        plusieurs fois                several times 
                         autrefois                      formerly                 soudainement                  suddenly 
                         le week-end                    on the weekends          un week-end                   one weekend 
                         le lundi                       on Mondays               lundi                         on Monday 
                         tous les jours                 every day                un jour                       one day 
                         normalement                    usually                  tout d'un coup                all of a sudden 
                         souvent                        often                                                    
                         en général                     in general, generally                                    
                         chaque semaine, mois,          every week, month,                                       
                         année...                       year 
                         le soir                        in the evenings