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Grammar · Simple past of regular verbs
Unlike in English, there is a literary past tense in French, used when writing formally. This past tense is the passé simple . It is relatively simple to predict when to use this tense: for every occurrence of the passé composé in conversational French, one simply uses the passé simple in literary French. Note that the passé simple is not a composed tense, and therefore does not have an auxiliary verb.
Formation
To conjugate in this tense, find the stem and appends the appropriate ending.
| Subject | Ending | Conjugated verb | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Je | -ai | Je dansai. | I danced. |
| Tu | -as | Tu dansas. | You danced. |
| Il | -a | Il dansa. | He danced. |
| Nous | -âmes | Nous dansâmes. | We danced |
| Vous | -âtes | Vous dansâtes. | You danced. |
| Ils | -èrent | Ils dansèrent. | They danced. |
Regular stems
The following verbs are irregular in the present indicative, but are regular in their passé simple stems.
| Infinitive | Stem | Je … |
|---|---|---|
| -ir verbs | ||
| dormir | dorm | dormis |
| partir | part | partis |
| sentir | sent | sentis |
| servir | serv | servis |
| sortir | sort | sortis |
| -rir Verbs | ||
| couvrir | couvr | couvris |
| découvrir | découvr | découvris |
| offrir | offr | offris |
| ouvrir | ouvr | ouvris |
| souffrir | souffr | souffris |
| -re Verbs | ||
| combattre | combatt | combattis |
| rompre | romp | rompis |
| suivre | suiv | suivis |
Vocabulary · French history
Text · French history
Text
Exercises
ExerciseSimple past
- Complétez les phrases suivantes en conjuguant les verbes au passé simple:
- J'_____ (entrer) dans le tour.
- Tout d'un coup, mon ami ____ (tomber).
- Nous _________ (monter) l'éscalier.
- Je _____ (dire) aux professeurs qu'il _______ (regarder) la télé.
- Ils t'_______ (offrir) le plat, et tu le _______ (laisser) tomber.
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