Passé simple

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The Passé simple (also Passé défini ) is a tense of the past in French . Linguistically it corresponds to the Italian Passato remoto , the Spanish Pretérito indefinido or Pretérito perfecto simple, the Romanian Perfectul simplu as well as the Passà defini of Ladin and is derived from the Latin perfect . In contrast to these Romance languages, the use of the passé simple in French today is largely restricted to the written language.

The usage is similar to that of the Passé composé . The difference to this lies in the relation to the present: In the written language the passé composé is used if one is available, in the other cases the passé simple is used. The passé simple is also related to the imparfait , a tense of the past in the French language that pays special attention to the aspect of an action .

Use of the Passé simple

  • If within an uncompleted action punctual actions are inserted, making their financial statements found:
Nous étions sur le point de gravir le sommet, tout à coup le gel arriva . "We were about to climb the summit, suddenly the frost set in."
  • According to quand (lorsque) in the sense of "as":
Nous dansions sans cesse lorsque Paul s'arrêta . "We danced incessantly when Paul (immediately) gave up."
  • With completed repetitions:
The telephona deux fois ce matin. "He phoned twice this morning."

Application with other times

Passé composé and Passé simple

Both times express an event that took place in the past. The difference in the use of the two times lies in the time of the event:

  • If the events reach up to the present, you need the passé composé in both written and spoken language:
Elle est arrivé aujourd'hui. “It arrived today” (that is, it is here now).
Il a plu ce matin. “It rained this morning” (that is, the streets are still wet).
  • Pure facts from the past are given in the traditional written language with the passé simple:
Christophe Colomb découvrit l'Amérique. "Christopher Columbus discovered America."
Joan of Arc fut brulee à Rouen. "Joan of Arc was burned in Rouen."

Imparfait and Passé simple

The imparfait expresses an incomplete, ongoing action. The passé simple expresses a punctual, closed action inserted into this ongoing action:

Nous étions en route lorsqu'il commença à pleuvoir. "We were on our way when it started to rain."

Passé antérieur and Passé simple

In addition to the plus-que-parfait , the passé antérieur can also be used to express the past. The passé antérieur is formed from the passé simple of avoir or être and the participe passé of the verb concerned.

Dès que Benjamin fut rentré , il se with à regarder la télévision. "As soon as Benjamin returned home, he started watching TV."

The Passé antérieur is mostly in subordinate clauses, which are introduced by conjunctions such as dès que, après que, quand or lorsque . The passé simple is in the main clause.

Formation of the passé simple

Since the passé simple is mostly used in narrative texts or historical reports, the third person singular and plural forms are the most common. The regular verbs ending in -er form the passé simple in -a and -èrent . The regular verbs ending in -ir and -dre form it in -it / -irent . The irregular verbs , there are two groups. One forms the Passé simple on -it / -irent and the other on -ut / -urent .

There are also verbs with special forms such as avoir: il eut / ils eurent; être: il fut / ils furent and venir: il vint / ils vinrent

Verbs with the ending -er

  • je cherch-ai
  • tu cherch-as
  • il, elle cherch-a
  • nous cherch-âmes
  • vous cherch-âtes
  • ils, elles cherch-èrent

Verbs with the endings -re and -ir

  • je répond - is or je fin - is
  • tu répond - is or tu fin - is
  • il, elle répond - it or il, elle fin - it
  • nous répond - îmes or nous fin - îmes
  • vous répond - îtes or vous fin - îtes
  • ils, elles répond - irent or ils, elles fin - irent

Verbs with the ending -oir

  • je voul - us
  • tu voul - us
  • il, elle voul - ut
  • nous voul - ûmes
  • vous voul - ûtes
  • ils, elles voul - urent

Auxiliary verbs (verbes auxiliaires)

  • être: je --fus = German I became
  • avoir: j '- eus = dt. I got
  • savoir: je - sus = dt. I learned
  • devoir: je --dus = dt. I had to
  • pouvoir: je - pus = dt. I could
  • faire: je - fis = German I did

Irregular verbs (verbes irréguliers)

  • venir: je - vins or nous --vînmes
  • tenir: je - tins or nous - tînmes
  • voir: je - vis or nous - vîmes
  • vivre: je - vécus or nous --vécûmes
  • recevoir: je - reçus or nous --reçûmes
  • s'asseoir: je - m'assis or nous nous - assîmes
  • mourir: je - mourus or nous --mourûmes

Remarks

  1. Pretérito indefinido (Gramática, 1931) also as Pretérito perfecto simple (Esbozo, 1973), Pretérito absoluto also historical perfect.
  2. A hint arises from the answering of two questions: Necessary condition I : Is the story suitable to be written down in a diary or not? In the event that the story could be stored in a diary, the passé would be simple . But if the narrative could not be deposited on a certain day, time, etc., then the imparfait would exist . Sufficient Condition II : But is the narrative complete or not? If it is not completed , the imparfait is complete , but the passé simple is complete . So if both questions are answered with yes , the passé simple follows .