Simple past values
The simple past tense is a time in the past that is mainly used in writing. Contrary to the imperfect, it allows us to express a punctual and relatively brief present without any notion of repetition or habit.
Il regardait un film lorsque le téléphone sonna. Ce jour-là, le train arriva à l'heure.
The simple past tense is mainly used in writing. Moreover its forms with us and you are becoming more and more rare and we prefer the present perfect tense.
Building simple past
The peculiarity of the simple past tense is that it has four types of endings. The most difficult ones are the verbs of the 3nd group.
- single past tense in -a for all verbs of 1st group and for the verb "aller" (to go): -ai, -as, -a, -âmes, -âtes, -èrent (e.g.: il aima)
- single past tense in -i for verbs of the 2nd group and for some verbs of the 3rd group: -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent (e.g.: elle finit, elle fit)
- single past tense in -u for some verbs of the 3rd group: -us, -us, -ut, -ûmes, -ûtes, -urent (e.g.: elle put)
- simple past tense in -in- for the verbs "venir" (to come) and "tenir" (to hold) as well as their derivatives: -ins, -ins, -int, -înmes, -întes, -inrent (e.g.: je vins)
| aimer | finir | pouvoir |
|---|---|---|
| j'aimai tu aimas il aima nous aimâmes vous aimâtes ils aimèrent |
je finis tu finis il finit nous finîmes vous finîtes ils finirent |
je pus tu pus il put nous pûmes vous pûtes ils purent |
1. In the simple past tense and the imperfect indicative, the endings of verbs in the 1st group with "je" have almost the same pronunciation. To make the difference, you have to replace the "je" with "tu".
Imperfect: Souvent, je parlais trop. ==> Souvent, tu parlais trop.
Simple past: Soudain, je parlai trop ==> Soudain, tu parlas trop.
2. Verbs "venir" (to come) and "tenir" (to hold) as well as their derived verb have a simple past tense in -in:
| tenir | venir |
|---|---|
| je tins tu tins il tint nous tînmes vous tîntes ils tinrent |
je vins tu vins il vint nous vînmes vous vîntes ils vinrent |
3. There is no particular rule to know if a verb of 3rd group is rather conjugated with an i form or a u form. However, we can quote these main irregular verbs :
courir : je courus, tu courus, il courut, nous courûmes, vous courûtes, ils coururent
vouloir : je voulus, tu voulus, il voulut, nous voulûmes, vous voulûtes, ils voulurent
connaître : je connus, tu connus, il connut, nous connûmes, vous connûtes, ils connurent
savoir : je sus, tu sus, il sut, nous sûmes, vous sûtes, ils surent
pouvoir : je pus, tu pus, il put, nous pûmes, vous pûtes, ils purent
boire : je bus, tu bus, il but, nous bûmes, vous bûtes, ils burent
croire : je crus, tu crus, il crut, nous crûmes, vous crûtes, ils crurent
valoir : je valus, tu valus, il valut, nous valûmes, vous valûtes, ils valurent
vivre : je vécus, tu vécus, il vécut, nous vécûmes, vous vécûtes, ils vécurent
plaire : je plus, tu plus, il plut, nous plûmes, vous plûtes, ils plurent
taire : je tus, tu tus, il tut, nous tûmes, vous tûtes, ils turent
résoudre : je résolus, tu résolus, il résolut, nous résolûmes, vous résolûtes, ils résolurent
4. In order not to be confused with the verb "croire" (to believe), the verb "croître" (to grow) keeps its circumflex accent in all its conjugation.
croître : je crûs, tu crûs, il crût, nous crûmes, vous crûtes, ils crûrent
Warning: do not confuse the simple past tense of the verb être (je fus) with the verb faire (je fis). Note also that there is never an accent in the 3rd person singular: il sortit
- There are 4 types of endings in the simple past tense depending on the ending of the verb:
- 1st group + aller: -ai, -as, -a, -âmes, -âtes, -èrent
- 2nd and some verbs of the 3rd group: -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent
- Some verbs of the 3rd group: -us, -us, -ut, -ûmes, -ûtes, -urent
- Venir and Tenir + derived verbs: -ins, -ins, -int, -înmes, -întes, -inrent
- There is no rule as to whether a verb has an ending with i or u, unfortunately you have to learn the list by heart.
- The simple past tense is used in writing to mark a brief and punctual action.