Tense

French simple present for the English progressive English indicates that an event is in progress via a special form of the verb called the ‘progressive’: ‘be + V-ing’, e.g. ‘I am thinking’. French does not have an equivalent special form for this. The English present progressive will nor mally be translated into French by the simple present:

Je réfl échis I think or I am thinking

However, if it is important to stress the length of time, or the simultaneity of the event, French can use en train de:

Je suis en train de réfl échir I am thinking

Thus, when French uses a present tense, this may correspond either to the sim ple present or the present progressive of English. The meaning will depend on the context. For example, Je promène mon chien will be ‘I walk my dog’ in the fi rst example below, but ‘I am walking my dog’ in the second:

Je promène mon chien tous les matins aux Champs Elysées I walk my dog in the Champs Elysées every morning (Simple present in English because it expresses an habitual action)

Qu’est-ce que vous faites? What are you doing? Je promène mon chien I am walking my dog (Progressive form in English because it stresses the ongoing nature of the current action)

J’envisage souvent de partir I have often thought of leaving

Je vous apporte des fraises I have brought you some strawberries

The imperfect: Je jouais du piano The simple past (past historic): Je jouai du piano The compound past (perfect): J’ai joué du piano

10.3.1 The imperfect (a) This tense is used to describe ongoing past events without reference to a time of starting or fi nishing:

Pierre lisait Pierre was reading Il était tard It was late La ville dormait The town was sleeping

In narratives, the imperfect typically provides a background of ongoing events against which particular completed events are acted out. If the narrative is writ ten, these completed events will be in the compound past and/or simple past; if the narrative is spoken, they will be in the compound past (see 10.3.3):

Il était tard. M. Dupont arrêta sa voiture devant un café It was late. M. Dupont pulled up in front of a café

Les voleurs faisaient beaucoup de bruit. Les gendarmes se glissèrent dans la pièce sans se faire remarquer The thieves were making a great deal of noise. The policemen slipped into the room without being noticed

Je somnolais tranquillement quand quelqu’un a sonné à la porte I was dozing quietly when someone rang the door bell

(b) It also typically refers to an habitual action in the past. This is generally described in English through the use of the forms ‘used to’ or ‘would’:

M. Dupont s’arrêtait toujours au café quand il avait le temps M. Dupont always used to stop at the café when he had the time or M. Dupont would always stop at the café when he had the time

Since ‘would’ can also express the conditional in English, it is important for the English speaker to distinguish the ‘would’ which corresponds to the French imperfect from the ‘would’ which corresponds to the French conditional. If ‘would’ is imperfect, it should be possible to replace it with ‘used to’ and still have a grammatical sentence. If substitution of ‘would’ by ‘used to’ produces an ungrammatical sentence, it is a conditional:

Le dimanche, j’allais manger dans un restaurant à Paris On Sundays, I would (‘used to’ is OK) go to a restaurant in Paris

Si tu me donnais de l’argent, j’irais manger dans un restaurant à Paris dimanche If you gave me some money, I would (NOT *’used to’, therefore a conditional) go to a restaurant in Paris on Sunday

(See 10.4.2 for the conditional tense. See Chapter 11.3.1 for the use of ‘would’.)

(c) It can be used to describe completed past events where the speaker or writer wishes to make the past event more immediate by presenting it as if it were in progress:

Je courais jusqu’à la voiture. J’attendais un instant, puis je faisais marche arrière. Je roulais en me répétant: « Fais attention » I ran to the car. I waited a moment, then I put it into reverse. I drove, repeating to myself: ‘Be careful’

10.3.2 The simple past (past historic) The simple past tense refers to completed events in the past which are not seen as having any particular relevance to the present from the point of view of the speaker. Nowadays the use of the simple past (past historic) is restricted to written or very formal spoken French (e.g. very formal speeches):

Les Jeux Olympiques eurent lieu à Beijing en 2008 The Olympic Games took place in Beijing in 2008

Les dinosaures vécurent au jurassique Dinosaurs lived in the Jurassic period

Le président partit à 22h pour New York The president left at 10 p.m. for New York

10.3.3 The compound past (perfect) The compound past tense refers to a completed event in the past. In contrast to the simple past (past historic), however, it may refer to an action in the past whose effect continues into the present. It is available both in spoken and writ ten French:

Nous sommes arrivés hier de Dijon We came in from Dijon yesterday

Ils ont vendu leur maison et ils sont partis à l’étranger They sold their house and went abroad

Ils ont acheté six croissants pour notre petit déjeuner They bought six croissants for our breakfast

In some texts the simple past and the compound past are used together. The simple past refers to completed events which do not give rise to consequences continuing into the present, from the perspective of the writer. The compound past, by contrast, refers to past events whose consequences do continue to have present relevance, from the perspective of the writer. For example, the fol lowing extract from a newspaper article marking the fi ftieth anniversary of the death of the French airman and novelist Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, opens with the following passage:

Le 31 juillet 1944, quand un offi cier porta [simple past] offi ciellement disparu le Lightning P38 no. 223 piloté par Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, un colosse trop à l’étroit dans sa combinaison d’aviateur est entré [compound past] dans la légende

On 31 July 1944, when an offi cer offi cially reported as lost the Lightning P38 no. 223 piloted by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a giant of a man, too big for his aviator’s suit, became a legend

The simple past porta describes an event which is seen as over and done with; the compound past est entré describes an event which is seen as having a con tinuing consequence for the present, from the perspective of the writer: Saint-Exupéry became and still is a legendary fi gure.