The Two Cameras of French Storytelling: A Simple Guide to Passé Composé vs. Imparfait

So, you’ve been learning French for a while. You can say hello, order a croissant, and talk about your daily routine in the present tense. You feel like you're making progress. But then you try to tell a simple story about what you did last weekend, and you hit a wall. A big, grammatical wall with two doors: passé composé and imparfait.

You know you need them to talk about the past, but which one do you choose? You might find yourself guessing, translating literally from English, or sticking to simple sentences that feel robotic and lifeless. Your story about a fun day at the park ends up sounding like a dry police report: "I went to the park. I saw a dog. I bought an ice cream. The end." 🤷

If this feels familiar, you are not alone. This is one of the most common hurdles for A2 learners, and it's the key that unlocks real storytelling in French. The good news? It’s much more intuitive than you think. The secret is to stop thinking of them as grammar rules to memorize, and start thinking of them as two different camera lenses you can use to tell your story.

The Problem: Two Pasts, One Story

In English, we can often use the same simple past tense for different situations. "The sun shone," "I walked to the store," "I was happy." French, however, forces you to be more specific about the nature of that past event. It asks you: "Was this the main event, or was it the background scenery?"

Answering that question is the key to choosing the right tense. Let's meet your new camera crew.

Camera 1: The Spotlight (Passé Composé)

Think of the passé composé as your spotlight camera. Its job is to focus on the key actions of your story. These are the specific, completed events that happen one after another and move the plot forward.

Use the passé composé for:

• Main Events: The most important things that happened.
• Completed Actions: Events with a clear beginning and end.
• A Sequence of Actions: A series of things that happened in order.

Imagine your story is a movie. The passé composé captures the scenes that would make the trailer. It's the action!

Let's see the spotlight in action:

• Hier, **j'ai acheté** un livre. (Yesterday, I bought a book.) - A single, completed action. The purchase is over.
• Il **est arrivé** à 9 heures. (He arrived at 9 o'clock.) - A specific event at a specific time.
• Soudain, le téléphone **a sonné**. (Suddenly, the phone rang.) - An event that interrupted the scene.
• Ce matin, **je me suis levé**, **j'ai pris** une douche et **j'ai bu** un café. (This morning, I got up, I took a shower, and I drank a coffee.) - A sequence of completed actions. Boom, boom, boom.

The key feeling of the passé composé is done. The action happened, it's finished, and we are moving on to the next point in the story.

Camera 2: The Wide Angle (Imparfait)

If the passé composé is the spotlight, the imparfait is your wide-angle camera. Its job isn't to capture the action, but to set the scene. It provides the context, the atmosphere, and the background details that make your story feel rich and alive.

Use the imparfait for:

• Descriptions: What things were like - the weather, the people, the location.
• Background Actions: What was happening when the main event occurred.
• Habits or Repeated Actions in the Past: Things you used to do.
• Feelings and States of Being: How someone felt or what they were thinking.

This is the lens that gives your story color, mood, and depth. It answers the question, "What was the world like when the action happened?"

Let's see the wide angle in action:

• Le soleil **brillait** et les oiseaux **chantaient**. (The sun was shining and the birds were singing.) - Description of the scene.
• Quand j'étais petit, **j'habitais** à Paris. (When I was little, I used to live in Paris.) - A state of being in the past; a long-term situation.
• Il **était** très content. (He was very happy.) - Describing an emotion.
• Je lisais un livre quand le téléphone a sonné. (I was reading a book when the phone rang.) - A background action (je lisais) interrupted by a main event (a sonné).

The key feeling of the imparfait is ongoing or descriptive. It wasn't a single event; it was the state of things.

The Storyteller's Framework: Putting It All Together

Okay, the theory is clear. But how do you apply it in the heat of the moment? Let's build a simple story and choose our lenses for each part.

Our Story Idea: Yesterday, I went to a café. It was a nice day. I was reading a book when my friend Marie arrived. We talked for an hour.

Let's break it down, sentence by sentence, asking ourselves: Spotlight (Action) or Wide Angle (Scenery)?

1. Hier, je suis allé(e) au café. (Yesterday, I went to the café.)

   • Question: Is this a main, completed action?
   • Answer: Yes. It's the first key event of the story.
   • Lens: 🎥 Spotlight (Passé Composé).

2. Il faisait beau. (The weather was nice.)

   • Question: Is this a main action, or is it describing the scene?
   • Answer: It's pure description. It sets the atmosphere.
   • Lens: 🖼️ Wide Angle (Imparfait).

3. Le café était plein de monde et les gens parlaient doucement. (The café was full of people and they were talking softly.)

   • Question: Is this describing what the café was like?
   • Answer: Yes, it's more scene-setting. It's the background noise and visuals.
   • Lens: 🖼️ Wide Angle (Imparfait).

4. Je lisais mon livre... (I was reading my book...)

   • Question: Is this the main event, or is it the background action that was happening when something else occurred?
   • Answer: It's the background action. It was ongoing.
   • Lens: 🖼️ Wide Angle (Imparfait).

5. ...quand soudain, mon amie Marie est arrivée. (...when suddenly, my friend Marie arrived.)

   • Question: Is this arrival a new, specific event that moves the story forward?
   • Answer: Absolutely. It interrupts the background action of reading.
   • Lens: 🎥 Spotlight (Passé Composé).

6. Nous avons discuté pendant une heure. (We talked for an hour.)

   • Question: Is this a completed action with a defined duration?
   • Answer: Yes. The conversation happened and it's over.
   • Lens: 🎥 Spotlight (Passé Composé).

Let's read the final story:

Hier, je suis allé(e) au café. Il faisait beau. Le café était plein de monde et les gens parlaient doucement. Je lisais mon livre quand soudain, mon amie Marie est arrivée. Nous avons discuté pendant une heure.

See the difference? It's not just a list of facts anymore. It's a scene. We can feel the cozy atmosphere of the café (imparfait) and we see the key plot points (passé composé) that drive the narrative. You've gone from a reporter to a storyteller.

The Real Challenge: Making it Automatic

Understanding the theory is a huge first step. 🎉 But we both know the real challenge: using it correctly without having to pause for 30 seconds to think about camera lenses. How do you get enough practice so that it becomes second nature?

This is where simply reading grammar explanations falls short. You need three things:

1. A constant stream of good, level-appropriate stories to see the tenses used in context.
2. A way to actively practice producing your own stories.
3. Immediate feedback to know if you made the right choice, and to understand why.

Finding all three can be difficult and expensive. You can read articles, but they're passive. You can write in a journal, but who will correct you? You can hire a tutor, but that's not always practical.

This is the exact problem we built Toritark to solve. We designed it to be the perfect training ground for turning grammar theory into practical skill.

Your Personal Storytelling Gym

Instead of just giving you rules, Toritark gives you a full-circle practice loop designed to build instinct.

1. Get Unlimited, Level-Appropriate Stories: First, you need material. In Toritark, you can choose a topic you find interesting-like "A day in Paris" or "A strange encounter"-and our AI will generate a brand new, unique story for you, tailored to your A2 level. These stories are filled with natural examples of passé composé and imparfait, so you can see how they work together in the wild.

2. Read and Absorb the Patterns: As you read the story, you're not just passively consuming. If a sentence is tricky, you can long-press for an instant translation. When you see a verb form like il faisait and wonder about it, the context of the story reinforces its descriptive meaning. You're learning the feel of the grammar, not just the rule.

3. The Magic Step: Retell the Story and Test Your Skills: This is where theory becomes practice. After you've read the story, Toritark prompts you to retell it in your own words. Now, it's your turn to be the director. You have to choose the right lens. Should you use passé composé for that action? Or was it background scenery that needs the imparfait? You write your version of the story, making your best choices.

4. Get Instant, Tutor-Level Feedback: This is the crucial final step. You don't have to wait days for a correction or wonder if you were right. The moment you submit your text, Toritark's AI analyzes it and gives you incredible feedback. It will show you your text side-by-side with a corrected version, highlighting any errors. But it doesn't just say 'wrong'. It explains why. You might see a correction that says: "The verb 'a été' (passé composé) was used here, but 'était' (imparfait) is better because it describes an ongoing state of being (how the weather was), not a completed action."

This cycle-Read, Understand, Produce, Get Feedback-is the fastest way to build an intuitive grasp of complex grammar. You're not just memorizing; you're doing. You're actively creating stories and getting immediate, intelligent guidance.

Stop letting the past tense paralyze you. The difference between passé composé and imparfait is the difference between a boring list and a beautiful memory. It's time to pick up your cameras and start shooting.

Ready to build your storytelling instinct? You can generate your first AI story and get instant writing feedback at Toritark.