To & Fro Twixt English & French Past Tenses
What Each Tense in One Language Can Be in the Other
I. French Past Tenses & Possible English Equivalents
| French | English | |
| J’ai parlé Passé composé |  | “I spoke” Simple past |
| “I have spoken” Present Perfect |
| Je parlais Imparfait | | “I spoke” Simple past |
| “I was speaking” Past progressive | ||
| “I would speak” “I used to speak” Habitual verb phrases |
II. English Past Tenses & Possible French Equivalents
| English | French | |
| “I spoke” Simple past | | Je parlai Passé simple |
| J’ai parlé Passé composé | ||
| Je parlais Imparfait |
| “I have spoken” Present Perfect | | J’ai parlé Passé composé |
| “I was speaking” Past progressive | | Je parlais Imparfait |
| “I would speak” 1. as Habitual verb phrase 2. as Conditional | | Je parlais Imparfait |
| Je parlerais Conditionnel |
| “I used to speak” Habitual verb phrase | | Je parlais Imparfait |
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