Passe compose and ImparfaitUse both when walking about the pastUse imparfait to tell how things were, or what used to happen over and overQuand j’étais jeune, nous allions à la plage chaque étéWhen I was young, we used to go to the beach every summerAlso use imparfait to give descriptionsIl faisait trés beau. Il y avait beaucoup de fleurs.The weather was beautiful. There were a lot of flowers.Use the passé compose to say what happened or what someone did in a set period of timeUn fois, j’ai fait un château de sable incroyable!One time, I made an incredible sandcastle!Sometimes we need to use both in a sentenceYou can tell what was going on with the imparfait when another action occurredJe jouais aux dames quand le telephone a sonnéI was playing checkers when the telephone rang Le passé composé

Une fois

L’imparfait

Souvent, tous les lundis, chaque été, tout le temps, le temps, toujour, l’heure

Ce matin

When I was young, I used to play video games

Quand j’étais jeune, je jouais aux video

We used to go to the beach every summerNous allions à la plage chaque été

My brother liked to climb trees every weekendMon frère aimait grimper aux arbes chaque le weekend

In the fall, it was always beautifulEn l’automn, il était tout beau

In the spring, there were a lot of flowersEn la primavera, il était beacoup de fleurs

When I was little, I was always happyQuand j’étais petite, j’étais contente

One day, I made a sandcastleUn jour, je fait un chateaux de sable

One day, my brother played a trickUn jour, mon frère fait de farces