riotmkg

[cobalt bane]

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.

[mystic estuary]

let alone the passé simple...

its very much literature, not used in speech.

[open spindle]

So it wouldn't really be used if you were writing an essay on a certain subject, or say you are narrating a transcript; it would only be used for more formal literature?

i.e no point really looking into it that much

[mystic estuary]

if youre a1/a2. don't bother at all. it is none of your business

im b2 and i didnt know it existed

until i realised its futur simple

to be honest for b2 other than mandatory futur simple (that is hardly used in speech) the list goes:

• present
• passé composé
• imparfait
• futur simple
• conditionnel
• futur proche
• futur antérior
• plus que parfait
• subjonctif

[grand token]

First of all, what kind of narrative are you looking to do? All novels are narratives but not all narratives are novels. The literary tenses (passé simple, passé antérieur, subjonctif de l'imparfait, subjonctif du plus-que-parfait) are mostly used in novels; they generally don't get used in comic books for example (though some do). So, unless your narration is some sort of fictional story, it’s not mandatory to use, which leads me to my next point.
Second off, you can totally use the passé composé/plus-que-parfait even in novels; Camus did it in « L'Étranger ». You can use the passé composé in oral or written material but you can use the passé simple only in written material.

[open spindle]

This actually clears up my misconception regarding the usage of the tense, thank you