French C1: Storytelling: the passé simple · Words

Novels, tales and history books narrate in the passé simple, where speech would use the passé composé. -er verbs: -ai, -as, -a, -âmes, -âtes, -èrent (il parla, ils parlèrent). -ir and -re verbs: -is, -it, -irent (il finit, il prit). Others take -us, -ut, -urent (il fut, il eut, il put, il vint → vinrent). You mostly need to recognise the third person.

• il fut — he was (literary)
• il eut — he had (literary)
• il fit — he did, he made (literary)
• il vint — he came (literary)
• il dit — he said (literary)
• il était une fois — once upon a time
• aussitôt — at once, immediately
• le conte — tale

• Il était une fois un roi très riche. — Once upon a time there was a very rich king.
• Elle ne dit pas un mot. — She didn’t say a word.
• Ils vécurent heureux. — They lived happily ever after.
• Il fut le premier à comprendre. — He was the first to understand.