The passé composé and the imparfait are two past tenses used to describe actions or states in the past, but they serve to express different aspects of these actions or states.
Passé Composé
The passé composé is used to express specific actions or events that took place and were completed in the past. It often indicates a specific action or a change of state at a precise moment.
- J'ai mangé une pomme. (I ate an apple.)
- Il a plu hier. (It rained yesterday.)
- Nous avons vu un film samedi dernier. (We saw a movie last Saturday.)
Imparfait
The imparfait is used to describe habitual or continuous actions or states in the past. It is also used to describe the context or setting of a story, as well as to express simultaneous actions or past states.
- Je mangeais souvent des pommes. (I often ate apples. - past habit)
- Il pleuvait quand je suis sorti. (It was raining when I went out. - context or setting)
- Nous regardions la télévision tous les soirs. (We used to watch TV every evening.)
More Examples
- Quand j'ai ouvert la porte, il pleuvait. (When I opened the door, it was raining.)
- Je lisais quand il est entré dans la pièce. (I was reading when he entered the room.)
- Quand ils étaient étudiants, ils allaient souvent à la cinémathèque. Ce n'était pas cher et il y avait des films intéressants de tous les pays. (When they were students, they often went to the cinematheque. It wasn't expensive and there were interesting films from all over the world.)