French flag

Tense guide
Passé simple (Past Historic)

Language: French
Tense:
Person:

Practice conjugation drills

Introduction

This tense is a formal way to talk about the past. You will find it mostly in written French, like in novels, history books, and fairy tales. It describes actions that are completely finished. Think of it as the tense for storytelling, similar to saying "once upon a time..". in English.

IMPORTANT: You almost never use this tense when speaking. For everyday conversation, you use a different past tense to talk about these same actions. You only need to recognize this tense when you read.

The most common use is to describe a single, complete action that happened in the past. The action is finished and done.

Soudain, un bruit retentit.
(Suddenly, a noise sounded.)
Ce jour-là, elle prit une décision importante.
(That day, she made an important decision.)
Le garçon ouvrit la lettre.
(The boy opened the letter.)
Il regarda par la fenêtre.
(He looked out the window.)

It is also used to show a sequence of completed actions. It lists events that happened one after the other in a story.

Il se leva, mit son manteau et partit.
(He stood up, put on his coat, and left.)
La reine entra dans la salle, salua la foule, puis s'assit sur le trône.
(The queen entered the hall, greeted the crowd, then sat on the throne.)
Nous arrivâmes au château, nous traversâmes le pont, et enfin nous vîmes le roi.
(We arrived at the castle, we crossed the bridge, and finally we saw the king.)
Elle prit le livre et commença à lire.
(She took the book and began to read.)

It can describe a sudden action that interrupts a background situation. The quick, interrupting event uses this tense.

Il pleuvait quand la voiture s'arrêta net.
(It was raining when the car stopped short.)
Elle dormait profondément lorsque le téléphone sonna.
(She was sleeping soundly when the telephone rang.)
Nous marchions dans la forêt au moment où nous aperçûmes un loup.
(We were walking in the forest at the moment we spotted a wolf.)

It can be used for an action that lasted for a specific, finished period of time in the past. The focus is on the total duration, which is now over.

Il vécut en France pendant dix ans.
(He lived in France for ten years.)
Leur règne dura cinquante ans.
(Their reign lasted for fifty years.)

Conjugation patterns