Language/French/Grammar/Past-Tense

This page is all about exploring the various forms of past tenses in French 🇫🇷. As you dive into the world of French grammar, you'll discover the intricacies of using past tenses correctly and effectively. After mastering this lesson, feel free to expand your knowledge by checking out our other related pages on French punctuation, dates in French, and the subtle differences between using "J'ai eu" or "j'avais" in French grammar. Bonne chance! 🍀

The perfect

The French past perfect is used to indicate an action in the past that occurred before another action in the past. This is the tense which is most commonly used for describing events in the past in modern spoken French.

Sample verbs

• être: j'ai été, tu as été, il a été, nous avons été, vous avez été, ils ont été,
• avoir: j'ai eu, tu as eu etc.
• pouvoir: j'ai pu, tu as pu, etc
• devoir: j'ai dû, tu as dû, etc
• porter: J'ai porté, tu as porté, etc.

Examples

• Il n'avait pas mangé (avant de faire ses devoirs): He hadn't eaten (before doing his homework).
• J'ai fait du shopping ce matin ; j'avais déjà fait la lessive: I went shopping this morning; I had already done the laundry.
• J'étais déjà sorti (quand tu as téléphoné): I had already left (when you called).

The preterite

The past historic or "passé simple" in French is also referred to as the preterite.

This is the classic formal narrative tense, used for describing events in the past. Except in some fixed expressions, it has fallen out of use in conversational French.

Sample verbs

• être: je fus, tu fus, il fut, nous fûmes, vous fûtes, ils furent,
• avoir: j'eus, tu eus, il eut, nous eûmes, vous eûtes, ils eurent,
• pouvoir: je pus, tu pus, il put, nous pûmes, vous pûtes, ils purent,
• devoir: je dus, tu dus, il dut, nous dûmes, vous dûtes, ils durent,
• porter: Je portai, tu portas, il porta, nous portâmes, vous portâtes, ils portèrent
• finir: je finis, tu finis, il finit, nous finîmes, vous finîtes, ils finirent

Examples

• Nous fûmes très heureux: We were very happy
• Ils rendirent les porte-feuilles qu’ils avaient volés: They returned the wallets that they had stolen

Other Lessons

• Nouns which change form when they refer to males or to females
• Mass versus count nouns
• « de » or « du », « de la », « des » after quantifiers
• Indefinite article
• Typical use of demonstrative determiners
• Adjectives used as adverbs without addition of —ment
• Use of the definite article with titles
• Adverbs ending in —ment derived from words no longer in the language
• Agreement of past participles with direct objects placed before in relative clauses
• Subjunctive Mood

Other Lessons

• Adjectives used as adverbs
• Verbs with prepositions
• Questions
• How to Use Be
• Quand utiliser QUAND et QUANT
• Agreement with a preceding direct object in a relative clause when the participle is followed by an infinitive
• Choosing between il est and c'est
• Location of adverbs modifying sentences
• Subject–Verb Agreement
• "J'ai eu" or "j'avais"