The passé simple in French is one of the most challenging tenses French learners have to deal with. Its conjugation is not similar to any other tense, which means you have to learn many verb forms by heart. Let's discuss it shortly.
French
English
Il parla au roi.
He spoke to the king.
Usage of the Passé Simple
Rule 1: Today, the passé simple is used less and less, however, you can still often find it in books and other texts. Just like the passé composé, the passé simple describes an event that has happened once in the past.
This tense is used only in written French in the following situations:
- to discuss an action in the past that has already happened
French
English
L'été dernier, nous réservâmes un hôtel à Nice.
Last summer, we booked a hotel in Nice.
- to discuss a series of past events
French
English
Nous nageâmes dans la mer, explorâmes la cuisine française, et essayâmes de ne penser à rien d'autre qu'au soleil et à l'eau.
We swam in the sea, explored the French cuisine, and tried to not think about anything except the sun and water.
- to describe the main or a one-time action that interfered with an already ongoing action
French
English
Un jour, alors que nous étions allongés sur la plage, je la vis.
One day, when we were lying on the beach, I saw her.
Note: in spoken French, instead of the passé simple, we use the passé composé.
Forming the Passé Simple
Contrary to what the name suggests, its conjugation is not straightforward. To congugate the verb in this tense, we remove the infinitive ending and add the appropriate ending accroding to the verb group. Here are all the verb endings in the passé simple:
| Person | 1 group (-er) | 2 group (-ir) | 3 group (-re) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Je | -ai | -is | -is |
| Tu | -as | -is | -is |
| Il, elle, on | -a | -it | -it |
| Nous | -âmes | -îmes | -îmes |
| Vous | -âtes | -îtes | -îtes |
| Ils, elles | -èrent | -irent | -irent |
| Person | 1 group (-er) | 2 group (-ir) | 3 group (-re) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Je | -ai | -is | -is |
| Tu | -as | -is | -is |
| Il, elle, on | -a | -it | -it |
| Nous | -âmes | -îmes | -îmes |
| Vous | -âtes | -îtes | -îtes |
| Ils, elles | -èrent | -irent | -irent |
For example, here's the conjugation of the verb manger (to eat):
| je | mangeai |
| tu | mangeas |
| il, elle, on | mangea |
| nous | mangeâmes |
| vous | mangeâtes |
| ils | mangèrent |
| je | mangeai |
| tu | mangeas |
| il, elle, on | mangea |
| nous | mangeâmes |
| vous | mangeâtes |
| ils | mangèrent |
Note: Be aware that irregular verbs such as avoir and être have different endings in the passé simple, so you have to learn them as well.
Quiz
1/4
Put the verb into the right form in the passé simple: grandir
0
correct answers.