williamylee

[rich stirrup]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[slate pelican]

passé simple: not unless you're writing a novel

imparfait / passé composé: you don't choose one and stick to it over a whole text, instead for each verb you choose which tense to use depending on what you're expressing

[minor dagger]

the use of passé simple is dependent on register and basically only in writing, but syntactically they all can be used to describe the past, just depending on what you mean

[summer nebula]

Ok, but say for simple facts that happened in the past, should I use passé composé or imparfait in my telling?

[minor dagger]

it depends lol

it just depends

[summer nebula]

I have a feeling that imparfait is used more for things that "was happening", or "used to happen a lot"