Le passé simple: the past historic in French
- When to use the passé simple
- How to conjugate the passé simple
- Exceptions to the conjugation rules
- Online exercises to improve your French
- Lingolia Plus French
What is the passé simple?
Le passé simple, also known as the past historic, is a French past tense that is only used in written language. It has the same meaning as the passé composé; it talks about a completed, one-time action in the past.
Learn everything you need to know about the passé simple in French grammar with Lingolia’s quick and easy examples, then put your knowledge to the test in the free exercises.
Example

L’année dernière, je partis en vacances en France.
À vélo, je roulai au bord de la mer de Brest jusqu’à Saint-Malo puis je visitai Saint-Malo.
Pendant que je visitais Saint-Malo, je pris beaucoup de photos.
When to use the passé simple
We use the passé simple in the following cases:
- to talk about a one-time, completed action in the past
- Example:
- L'année dernière, je partis en vacances en France.Last year I went on holiday to France.
- to talk about a sequence of past actions
- Example:
- À vélo, je roulai au bord de la mer de Brest à Saint-Malo puis je visitai Saint-Malo.On my bike, I travelled along the coast from Brest to Saint-Malo and then I explored Saint-Malo.
- to talk about a new action that interrupted another action that was already in progress
- Example:
- Pendant que je visitais Saint-Malo, je pris beaucoup de photos.While I was in Saint-Malo, I took a lot of photos.
Remember
The passé simple is mostly used in written French. In spoken language, we prefer to use the passé composé.
- Example:
- L’année dernière je suis parti en vacances en France.Last year I went on holiday to France.
How to conjugate the passé simple
To conjugate the passé simple in French grammar, we remove the infinitive ending and add the following endings according to the verb group:
Person | er-verb | ir-verb | re-verb |
---|---|---|---|
1st person singular (I) | j’aimai | je finis | je vendis |
2nd person singular (you) | tu aimas | tu finis | tu vendis |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | il/elle/on aima | il/elle/on finit | il/elle/on vendit |
1st person plural (we) | nous aimâmes | nous finîmes | nous vendîmes |
2nd person plural (you) | vous aimâtes | vous finîtes | vous vendîtes |
3rd person plural (they) | ils/elles aimèrent | ils/elles finirent | ils/elles vendirent |
The verbs avoir and être are irregular so have a special conjugation in the passé simple.
Person | avoir | être |
---|---|---|
1st person singular (I) | j’eus | je fus |
2nd person singular (you) | tu eus | tu fus |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | il/elle/on eut | il/elle/on fut |
1st person plural (we) | nous eûmes | nous fûmes |
2nd person plural (you) | vous eûtes | vous fûtes |
3rd person plural (they) | ils eurent | ils/elles furent |
To conjugate any French verb in the passé simple, go to our verb conjugator.
Exceptions to the conjugation rules
- The verbs venir and tenir, as well as their related forms (revenir, retenir, …), are conjugated differently in the passé simple.
Person | venir | tenir |
---|---|---|
1st person singular (I) | je vins | je tins |
2nd person singular (you) | tu vins | tu tins |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | il/elle/on vint | il/elle/on tint |
1st person plural (we) | nous vînmes | nous tînmes |
2nd person plural (you) | vous vîntes | vous tîntes |
3rd person plural (they) | ils/elles vinrent | ils/elles tinrent |
- Verbs ending in -oir are irregular in the passé simple; see the list of irregular verbs for examples.
- Example:
- savoirto know → je sus, tu sus, il sut, nous sûmes, vous sûtes, ils surent
- For verbs ending in -cer, we add a ç before the ending (except in the 3rd person plural).
- Example:
- commencerto start → je commençai, tu commenças, il commença, nous commençâmes, vous commençâtes, ils commencèrent
- For verbs ending in -ger, we add an e before the ending (except in the 3rd person plural).
- Example:
- mangerto eat → je mangeai, tu mangeas, il mangea, nous mangeâmes, vous mangeâtes, ils mangèrent