6.4.1

Which One to Use?

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Imperfect vs Perfect

Here are when you should use the perfect tense in French and when you should use the imperfect:

Perfect

Perfect

  • You use the perfect tense in French to talk about a completed and finished action in the past.
    • E.g. Il a regardé la télé.
      • He watched the tv or he has watched the tv.
  • When you translate into English, you do not need to translate 'has', but you have to write it in French.
Imperfect

Imperfect

  • The imperfect is used for descriptions in the past.
    • Il faisait froid.
      • It was cold.
  • It is also used to talk about an ongoing action in the past.
    • Il mangeait son repas.
      • He was eating his meal.
    • Elle parlait à sa mère.
      • She was speaking to her mum.
Imperfect

Imperfect

  • When one action interrupts another one in the past, you need to use the imperfect to talk about the interrupted action.
    • Je cuisinais quand ils sont arrivés.
      • I was cooking when they arrived.
Imperfect

Imperfect

  • You also need to use the imperfect to say what used to happen.
    • Tous les lundis, je jouais au foot.
      • Every Monday I used to play football.
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1

Home & Abroad

1.1

Town & Rural Life

1.1.1Town1.1.2What, Which, Where?1.1.3What is There in Your Region?1.1.4Places in the Town1.1.5Things To Do
1.2

Holiday, Tourism & Directions

1.2.1Countries1.2.2Holidays1.2.3Going on Holiday1.2.4Tourism1.2.5Food1.2.6Eating Out1.2.7Opinions on Food1.2.8Directions (1/2)1.2.9Directions (2/2)1.2.10Exam-Style Questions - Holidays
1.3

Customs

1.3.1Festivals & Customs1.3.2Festivals and Customs 2
1.4

Everyday Life & Traditions

1.4.1Greetings
2

Education & Employment

2.1

School Life & Routine

2.1.1Subjects (1/2)2.1.2Subjects (2/2)2.1.3School Routine2.1.4School Life2.1.5Exam-Style Questions - School Life
2.2

School Trips, Events & Exchanges

2.2.1School Trips
2.3

Future Plans & Work

2.3.1Education Post-162.3.2Jobs (1/2)2.3.3Jobs (2/2)2.3.4Job Applications2.3.5Career2.3.6Learning a Language2.3.7Charity2.3.8Exam-Style Questions - Charity Work
3

Personal Life & Relationships

3.1

House & Home

3.1.1Home3.1.2Rooms of the House3.1.3In Your House
3.2

Daily Routine & Helping at Home

3.2.1Routine3.2.2Helping at Home
3.3

Family & Friends

3.3.1Describing Yourself3.3.2Physical Appearance3.3.3Personality3.3.4Friends3.3.5Opinions on Friends3.3.6Relationships3.3.7Family3.3.8Other Family Members3.3.9Role Model3.3.10Childhood3.3.11Exam-Style Questions - Family
4

The World Around Us

4.1

Global Issues

4.1.1The Environment (1/2)4.1.2The Environment (2/2)4.1.3Exam-Style Questions - The Environment4.1.4Addressing the Issue4.1.5Poverty & Homelessness4.1.6Social Issues4.1.7Energy
4.2

Weather

4.2.1Good Weather4.2.2Bad Weather
4.3

Travel & Transport

4.3.1Transport
4.4

The Media

4.4.1Social Media4.4.2The Internet4.4.3Exam-Style Questions - Internet
4.5

Information & Tech

4.5.1Mobile Technology
5

Social Activities, Fitness & Health

5.1

Special Occasions

5.1.1Parties
5.2

Hobbies & Interests

5.2.1In Your Free-Time5.2.2Music5.2.3Cinema5.2.4TV5.2.5Sport5.2.6Why Do You Play Sport?5.2.7Sports (1/3)5.2.8Sports (2/3)5.2.9Sports (3/3)5.2.10Exam-Style Questions - Sport
5.3

Numbers

5.3.1Numbers 1-205.3.2Numbers 21-100
5.4

Shopping & Money

5.4.1Shopping For Food5.4.2Style & Fashion5.4.3Materials5.4.4Money Matters5.4.5Exam-Style Questions - Pocket Money
5.5

Illness & Health

5.5.1Healthy living5.5.2Unhealthy living5.5.3Illness (1/2)5.5.4Illness (2/2)5.5.5Aches & Pains
5.6

Food & Drink

5.6.1Fruits5.6.2Vegetables5.6.3Other Foods5.6.4Exam-Style Questions - Fruits5.6.5Meat5.6.6Fish5.6.7Drinks & Snacks
5.7

Time

5.7.1Telling the Time5.7.2Time of the Year5.7.3A Day, The Year5.7.4Expressions: The Past5.7.5Expressions: The Present5.7.6Expressions: The Future5.7.7Time Expressions
6

Common Tenses

6.1

Present Tense

6.1.1Regular ER Verbs6.1.2Regular IR Verbs6.1.3Regular RE Verbs6.1.4Reflexive Verbs6.1.5Irregular ER Verbs (1/2)6.1.6Irregular ER Verbs (2/2)6.1.7Irregular IR Verbs (1/2)6.1.8Irregular IR Verbs (2/2)6.1.9Irregular RE Verbs (1/3)6.1.10Irregular RE Verbs (2/3)6.1.11Irregular RE Verbs (3/3)6.1.12Present Participle (1/2)6.1.13Present Participle (2/2)6.1.14Irregular Present Participles6.1.15Avoir & Etre
6.2

Perfect Tense

6.2.1Avoir (1/2)6.2.2Avoir (2/2)6.2.3Irregular Past Participles (1/2)6.2.4Irregular Past Participles (2/2)6.2.5Être ER Verbs6.2.6Être IR & RE Verbs6.2.7Irregular Être6.2.8Perfect Infinitive
6.3

Imperfect tense

6.3.1Regular ER Verbs6.3.2Regular IR Verbs6.3.3Regular RE Verbs6.3.4Irregular ER Verbs6.3.5Irregular IR Verbs6.3.6Irregular RE Verbs6.3.7Être
6.4

Imperfect vs Perfect

6.4.1Which One to Use?
6.5

Future Tense

6.5.1Regular ER Verbs6.5.2Regular IR Verbs6.5.3Regular RE Verbs6.5.4Immediate future6.5.5Irregulars (1/2)6.5.6Irregulars (2/2)
7

Advanced Tenses

7.1

Conditional Tense

7.1.1Regular ER Verbs7.1.2Regular IR Verbs7.1.3Regular IR Verbs7.1.4Irregulars (1/2)7.1.5Irregulars (2/2)
7.2

Pluperfect Tense

7.2.1Avoir (1/2)7.2.2Avoir (2/2)7.2.3Être ER7.2.4Être IR & RE7.2.5Irregular Être
7.3

Present Subjunctive

7.3.1Regular Verbs (1/2)7.3.2Regular Verbs (2/2)7.3.3Irregulars (1/2)7.3.4Irregulars (2/2)7.3.5Using the Subjunctive7.3.6Imperative
8

Extra Grammar

8.1

The Passive Voice

8.1.1Être (1/6)8.1.2Être (2/6)8.1.3Être (3/6)8.1.4Être (4/6)8.1.5Être (5/6)8.1.6Être (6/6)8.1.7Avoiding the Passive
8.2

Pronouns

8.2.1Personal Pronouns (1/2)8.2.2Personal Pronouns (2/2)8.2.3Reflexive Pronouns8.2.4Indefinite Pronouns8.2.5Emphatic Pronouns8.2.6Relative Pronouns8.2.7Ça, Cela, Celui8.2.8Demonstrative Pronouns8.2.9Possessive Pronouns
8.3

Asking Questions

8.3.1Question Words (1/2)8.3.2Question Words (2/2)
8.4

Nouns

8.4.1The, A8.4.2Some8.4.3Masculine8.4.4Feminine (1/2)8.4.5Feminine (2/2)8.4.6Plurals8.4.7Irregular Plurals
8.5

Prepositions

8.5.1Prepositions (1/3)8.5.2Prepositions (2/3)8.5.3Prepositions (3/3)8.5.4Phrases
8.6

Adverbs

8.6.1Forming an Adverb8.6.2Good, Badly, Fast
8.7

Quantifiers & Intensifiers

8.7.1A Lot, Enough, Very
8.8

Adjectives

8.8.1Agreement (1/3)8.8.2Agreement (2/3)8.8.3Agreement (3/3)8.8.4Position (1/2)8.8.5Position (2/2)8.8.6Comparative8.8.7Superlative8.8.8Good, Better, Best8.8.9Demonstrative8.8.10Indefinite
8.9

Negative

8.9.1Negatives (1/2)8.9.2Negatives (2/2)
8.10

Conjunctions

8.10.1To Make Sentences Longer8.10.2To Add Extra Information
8.11

Miscellaneous

8.11.1Abbreviations

Practice questions on Which One to Use?

Can you answer these? Test yourself with free interactive practice on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

  1. 1
    What is the correct way to say 'it was cold' in French?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    Tu racontes ce qui s’est passé : tu étais en train de travailler quand ton ami est arrivé.<br><br>Quelle phrase est correcte ?Multiple choice
  3. 3
    Lis cette phrase : 'Tous les samedis, nous allions au marché.' <br><br>Quel temps est utilisé, et pourquoi ?Multiple choice
  4. 4
    Hier soir, Marie a travaillé sur ses devoirs. Elle les a terminés avant de se coucher.<br><br>Quelle phrase est correcte ?Multiple choice
  5. 5
    Tu veux raconter une description d’un lieu dans le passé. <br><br>Quel temps est le plus approprié ?Multiple choice
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Être

Regular ER Verbs