French grammar · Upper intermediate (B2)
The passé simple: the past tense of novels
How to recognise the passé simple, the past tense of written stories: regular endings, the most common irregular verbs, and how it works with the imparfait.
What it is
The is a past tense of writing. Novels, tales, history books and some newspaper articles use it to tell events, where speech uses the passé composé: = (She opened the letter).
You need to recognise it when you read, but you don't need to use it when you speak or write emails. The / and / forms are by far the most common.
Regular forms
-er verbs take the endings -ai, -as, -a, -âmes, -âtes, -èrent. -ir verbs and most -re verbs take -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent. Many irregular verbs take -us, -us, -ut, -ûmes, -ûtes, -urent.
| Subject | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| / / | |||
| / |
Common irregular verbs
Many irregular verbs build the passé simple on their past participle: → , → , → , → . Others must be learnt: → , → , → , → , → .
| Infinitive | / | / |
|---|---|---|
With the imparfait
In a written story, the passé simple tells the events and the imparfait describes the scene, exactly as the passé composé and the imparfait do in speech. The plus-que-parfait still goes back to an earlier moment.
Some forms look like the present (): the other verbs in the text tell you which tense it is.
- Il pleuvait. Elle prit son manteau et sortit.It was raining. She took her coat and went out.
- Ce soir-là, elle ouvrit la lettre et comprit pourquoi sa mère était partie.That evening, she opened the letter and understood why her mother had left.