breadbirdie

[junior oyster]

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.

[neat osprey]

the two main tenses for describing past events are passé composé and imparfait. For the most part, their use cases don't overlap!

Passé composé is used to describe events that happened at a specific point in the past. They're singular events, with no duration in your narration (they could be long events, it's just that for the purpose of your sentence, they act as a thing that happened at one time, with a before and an after).

Imparfait is used to describe long-lasting states, habits, or contextual events.

"Quand j'étais à Rome, j'ai visité le Colisée" (when I was in Rome, I visited the Coliseum)
"j'étais à Rome" (imparfait) is setting the context. This is not just a thing that happened, you are describing something that took place during that context.
"j'ai visité le colisée" (passé composé) is a singular event that happened within that context

"une nuit, je suis sorti pour regarder le ciel" is using passé composé, meaning it happened once. One night, I went out to watch the sky.
"la nuit, je sortais pour regarder le ciel" is using imparfait, meaning it was a habit. At night, I would go out to watch the sky.

A few links to help you out further:
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/passe-compose-vs-imparfait/
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/passe-compose-vs-imparfait-clues/