français · B1 · grammar · 4 minutes
Passé composé or imparfait?
Layer a bounded event over its ongoing background.
Understand the choice
The two past forms express viewpoints, not simply long versus short actions. Imparfait opens an action from within; passé composé packages it as a whole. A sentence often needs both layers.
Core rule: Use the imparfait for ongoing background, habitual action, or description; use the passé composé for a bounded event or change that advances the story.
Notice it in context
Je préparais le dîner quand le téléphone a sonné.
I was preparing dinner when the phone rang.
Préparais is the activity already in progress; a sonné is the event that enters it.
Tous les dimanches, nous rendions visite à nos grands-parents.
Every Sunday, we used to visit our grandparents.
The repeated time marker supports the habitual imperfect.
Soudain, quelqu’un a ouvert la porte.
Suddenly, someone opened the door.
Soudain and the completed change favor passé composé.
What to remember
- A state can use passé composé when its boundaries matter: j’ai été malade pendant trois jours.
- Background events may be objectively brief; viewpoint, not duration alone, controls the tense.
Common trap: Do not choose the tense only by counting minutes. Ask whether the speaker is viewing the action from inside or as a completed whole.