The passé simple is a tense that is mainly used to narrate events in the distant past. It is used in written discourse such as stories, tales, biographies, and history articles. It is also used in formal speech. It expresses an action or a precise event that happened in the past. Differentiating between the passé simple and the imperfect tense has often been confusing for French learners. The imperfect tense expresses habits in the past, long actions in the past, descriptions in the past, whereas the passé simple generally expresses quick and sudden actions in the past. The emphasis is not on the duration of the action as much as it is on the action itself. In this chapter, we will focus on the form of the passé simple. We will also learn about the use of the passé simple through examples.
In French, the verbs are divided into three groups. The first group comprises the verbs ending in “er”. The second group comprises the verbs ending in “ir”. Both the verbs of the first group and the second group are called regular verbs because they conjugate the same way. The verbs of the third group are called irregular because their conjugation don’t follow a specific rule.
The conjugation of the verbs of the third group into the passé simple is very irregular and there are so many exceptions. That’s why we decided to study the most common ones and to devote two lessons to the subject.
In this lesson, we will study the verbs ending in “re”, as well as the most common verbs.
In French, the verbs are divided into three groups. The first group comprises the verbs ending in “er”. The second group comprises the verbs ending in “ir”. Both the verbs of the first group and the second group are called regular verbs because they conjugate the same way. The verbs of the third group are called irregular because their conjugation don’t follow a specific rule.
The conjugation of the verbs of the third group into the passé simple is very irregular and there are so many exceptions. That’s why we decided to study the most common ones and to devote two lessons to the subject.
In this lesson, we will study the verbs ending in “re”, as well as the most common verbs.
Verbs ending in “re”
There are many verbs that end in “re” and a lot of them have different conjugations into the passé simple. We have selected here a few verbs that conjugate differently into the passé simple.Verbs | Passé simple |
| boire |
Je bus Tu bus Il but Elle but On but Nous bûmes Vous bûtes Ils burent Elles burent |
| conduire |
Je conduisis Tu conduisis Il conduisit Elle conduisit On conduisit Nous conduisîmes Vous conduisîtes Ils conduisirent |
| dire |
Je dis Tu dis Il dit Elle dit On dit Nous dîmes Vous dîtes Ils dirent Elles dirent |
| écrire |
J’écrivis Tu écrivis Il écrivit Elle écrivit On écrivit Nous écrivîmes Vous écrivîmes Ils écrivirent Elles écrivirent |
| lire |
Je lus Tu lus Il lut Elle lut On lut Nous lûmes Vous lûtes Ils lurent Elles lurent |
| mettre |
Je mis Tu mis Il mit Elle mit On mit Nous mîmes Vous mîtes Ils mirent Elles mirent |
Common verbs of the third group
Verbs | Passé simple |
| aller |
J’allai Tu allas Il alla On alla Nous allâmes Vous allâtes Ils allèrent Elles allèrent |
| avoir |
J’eus Tu eus Il eut Elle eut On eut Nous eûmes Vous eûtes Ils eurent Elles eurent |
| faire |
Je fis Tu fis Il fit Elle fit On fit Nous fîmes Vous fîtes Ils firent Elles firent |
| être |
Je fus Tu fus Il fut Elle fut Nous fûmes Vous fûtes Ils furent Elles furent |
| pouvoir |
Je pus Tu pus Il put Elle put On put Nous pûmes Vous pûtes Ils purent |
| savoir |
Je sus Tu sus Il sut Elle sut On sut Nous sûmes Vous sûtes Ils surent Elles surent |