# FR: passé simple in an essay



## moomoocow125

If I am writing an essay about a historical person, would I use passe simple? I have to describe where they were born, their events, etc. Would everything be in passe simple? 

For example

He was born in 1810. Il a écrit des livres.

Il est né en 1810.
or
Il naquit en 1810? Il écrivit des livres. 


Romantic music was expressive. The middle class became more powerful after the French Revolution. 

La musique romantique était expressive. La bourgeoisie est devenue plus puissante après la révolution française
or
La musique romantique fut expressive. La bourgeoisie devint plus puissante après la révolution française


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## jann

hello moomoocow125 

For most of us English speakers who are learning French, the _passé simple _is a tense that we are never required to use in class.  Usually, we are required to be able to recognize and understand it when reading, but we are rarely asked to write it.  Writing in the _passé simple_ is to some extent a stylistic choice.

If you have studied the _passé simple_ and done exercises on it in class, then it's possible that your teacher intends the historical biography assignment as yet another exercise in that tense.  (Maybe you are taking an advanced French class and have an unusual teacher?  )  However, it is more likely that this exercise is designed to make you practice _passé composé _vs._ imparfait_, since we anglophones often have trouble with this distinction.  You should ask your teacher.


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## moomoocow125

thanks for replying. this is actually a major project and we get to choose our subject and part of it is to write a formal essay. My teacher did not specify the tense. I chose to do mine about romantic music and I might write about composers, so I think it should be in the passe simple.


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## jann

hi moomoocow125,

Well, I still think you should ask your teacher.  However, if you have your heart set on it, you might read this article on literary tenses or this short one in French on the _passé simple_.  You should know that things which would be normally stated in the _imparfait_ remain in the _imparfait_.  You only use _passé simple_ for things that would normally be stated in the _passé composé_.  If you need help with conjugation in literary tenses, check the wordref conjugator.

Good luck


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## Qcumber

moomoocow125 said:


> If I am writing an essay about a historical person, would I use passe simple? I have to describe where they were born, their events, etc. Would everything be in passe simple?
> For example He was born in 1810. Il a écrit des livres.
> Il est né en 1810. / Il naquit en 1810? Il écrivit des livres.


In the past narrarive frame, _le passé simple_ is definitely better than_ le passé passé composé_. It's all a matter of style. You should know that many French people are unable to write anything in _le passé simple_.  
If you find _le passé simple_ too difficult, do like many French scholars, *use le présent*.
e.g. Blaise PASCAL naît en 1623 à Clermont-Ferrand. Sa famille déménage à Paris en 1631, où il est présenté à l'abbé Mersenne qui tient un salon de philosophie.


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## Stefan Ivanovich

It may be safer, and is definitely unobjectionable, to avoid _passé simple_, and restrict yourself to _imparfait _and _passé composé _(and _*présent*, _as Qcumber wisely advised). In non-litterary contexts, _passé simple_ tends to be perceived as affected and overserious.


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## swampyjocks

Hi,
I'm doing a french exam next week and we have to write a short story (only 300 words) but I'm just wondering what tense I should be using when I write. 
Salut, 
J'ai un examen de francais la semaine prochaine et on dois ecrire un redaction (seulement 300 mots), mais ce que je demande c'est quelle temps il faut que j'utilise? 

For example last years exam described a situation where you were in your uncles house and found a strange room which was locked, you decided to break in..... then it asks for , 'la suite'. So if I want to say 'the door creaked as it opened' would I say , ''la porte craqua comme il ouvrit'' ? Or is it possible to use the imparfait and passe composé throughout. 


P.s. Excusez moi pour les erreurs inevitable en francais et la penurie des accents (j'ai un clavier irlandais)!


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## joleen

I think I would tell you to stick to the imperfect to describe situations (La porte était fermée. La pièce était grande. Il y avait un lit et un journal. )

Then it depends on your level at school! I don't think I would expect a Gcse student to write with the passé simple!


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## swampyjocks

Well I'm in university in Dublin and I think GCSEs are well below my 'level'! I think they may want us to use the imperfect subjunctive as well! Help me! 

So I would have to use it then joleen? thank you for responding I'm aware there are many threads on this but I couldn't find the answer to my particular question!


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## joleen

No problem! 
If you're a uni student then I think you should go with the simple past. 

I'd advice you to have a look there : http://fzpc.club.fr/Go/Synth_Gram_Texte/Tps_Recit.htm For a bit of revision. 

I hope your teacher doesn't expect you to use the imperfect subjunctive as it's not really taught in schools nowadays, and not used at all.
Maybe (s)he wants you to use the "plus-que-parfait" ? (elle avait voulu boire de l'eau)

Here is a reminder of the tenses : http://fzpc.club.fr/Go/Synth_Gram_Texte/Concord_tps.htm#Present_Passe

"La porte craqua alors qu'il l'ouvrait"

I don't know if all this is clear, I hope I'm not stressing you ahead of the exam!!!


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## swampyjocks

Im going to be honest I'm quite confused! Not by you though, just by what they want us to do! I recognise and can write in practically all the tenses except the passe imparfait! I'm almost positive they were teaching that to us at some stage this semester! Anyway thank you for your help anyway! I'll write in the passe simple when it seems correct to me! Wish me luck!  

Merci mille fois Joleen!


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## joleen

Don't worry, it's not even easy for us so I guess it's hell for you 
The best way to get used to tenses is to read books. When you just look at rules, it always seems complicated (even with examples)
Good luck then


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## Sepia

For the creaking door you should use passé simple 

It only creaks for this short moment when it is being opened - the action begins and ends while we are watching. 

If we imagine the door was only being motioned back and forth by the wind all the time while we are approaching the house it is an action that has no beginning or end while we are watching - just as little as the house being green. That would call for l'imparfait.

----

When I was learning French I used to imagine this as a film strip. The long dolly shot that just showed what a place looked like or what actions in general were taking place, was l'imparfait. Then a cut - some action was showed, somebody talking or doing something, and cut again. That was passé simple. 
----


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## NerdTableforone

I have been searching through the posts about the passé simple. I know how to conjugate (roughly :-D) and that it sounds really elitist when one uses it for common conversation in France (I do not know about the other Francophone countries).  However, I have to write a thesis for my undergraduate senior seminar (if you can even call that a thesis). So, after all that rambling, my question is: Concerning the passé simple, how formal should to the register be before one uses it? Should I use it when writing a request for a letter of recommendation? Should I use it in a thesis? When talking/emailing to a professor? In a thank-you note to the President of France (random example I know)? Etc.


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## jann

When you think about the passé simple, I think that the adjective "literary" would perhaps be more appropriate than the adjective "formal."  It's not a matter of register so much as a matter of context.  

If you are writing a story, the passé simple is perfectly natural...  even if it's a silly children's story, or a sordid romance novel (i.e., even in situations where the idea of "formality" doesn't come into play, even in works which could by no means be called "literature.").  Likewise, if you are narrating historical events in a book or an academic paper, you would certainly use it.

You will not use the tense in speech, not even in exchanges with your professors.  It's not so much a matter of sounding elitist as just being archaic.  Outside of a handful of set expressions, the only situation I can think of where it would be perfectly natural  for you to use this tense orally is if you were telling a tale (i.e., making up a narrative, as in storytelling tradition)... or perhaps if you were an important dignitary giving a major speech. 

Nor would you use this tense in the written situations you mention: requesting a recommendation, emailing an instructor, or writing a thank-you note to someone in political office (unless, perhaps, your note was intended to read like a novel instead of a letter).  None of those situations have a narrative dimension.

So to answer your real question, should you use the tense in your senior thesis? That depends not only on the topic and style of your thesis, but also on your mastery of the tense.  Surely it would be better to write well in tenses you can use with ease than to introduce awkwardness, errors, or inconsistency of style in your essay by trying to include a tense you're not comfortable with.  Note that historical events may just as well be narrated in the historic present.  But if what you really want is a simple yes-no answer, you can always ask your thesis advisor. 

As you may have discovered, your question has been merged into an existing discussion on usage of this tense in essays.  We have a number of discussions about other specific contexts...
FR:  passé simple in letters
FR:  Passe Simple in a film review 
FR:  passé simplé hors de la littérature 
FR:  journal intime en passé simple? 
etc.

...as well as a long general discussion (FR: use  of passé simple), not to mention any number of threads about the grammatical aspects of mixing various past tenses.


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