french past tense

passe compose is usually reserved for complete past actions

annoucnes what happened, actions that were completed

• je suis arrive tot (i arrived early)

• j’ai fini mes devoirs (i finished my homework)

passe compose expresses what happened a specific number of times

• j’ai etudie lundi (I studied on (a specific) Monday)

• j’ai perdu mon livre deux fois (i lost my book twice)

passe compose reports a change in a state of being, a new feeling

• a ce moment, j’ai deteste l’ecole (at that moment, i hated school)

• j’ai ete inspire par ton succes (i was (became) inspired by your success

passe compose interrupts an imparfait verb with news of some occurance

• j’etais a l’ecoloe quand il a commence a pleuvoir (i was at school when it started raining)

• j’essayais d’etudier mais mon ami m’a pose une question (i was trying to study but my friend asked me a question)