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Glossary

Passé composé

By Jibber Jabber · Updated

A French compound past tense often used for completed events.

In Le train est arrivé (The train arrived), the event is presented as completed. The tense combines an auxiliary verb with a past participle.

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  1. Passé composé and imparfait in French stories In a story, the imparfait often describes a background or a repeated situation. The passé composé often presents an event as completed, but the choice depends on how the speaker frames it.

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Jibber Jabber. "Passé composé." Comprehensible Input French, updated 2026-11-09. https://comprehensibleinputfrench.com/glossary/passe-compose/