APPENDIX II.
THE PAST TENSES IN FRENCH.
The English praeterite being the equivalent of three tenses in French, it is of the utmost importance that a clear idea of the shades of meaning conveyed by the latter should be firmly possessed.
i.
WHENEVER REPETITION OF THE ACTION IS IMPLIED the IMPARFAIT is used.
The force, in English, is "used to . . .," "kept . . . -ing," etc.
E.g., Esth. l. 6: m'aidais à soupirer . . . "wast wont to sigh with me."
l. 83: . . . disais-je, . . . = "I would say"
ii.
WHEN NO REPETITION OF THE ACTION IS IMPLIED.
A. IF THE ACTION IS CONSIDERED AS BEING SIMPLY IN PROGRESS, WITHOUT REFERENCE EITHER TO ITS BEGINNING OR TO ITS END, again the IMPARFAIT is used.
The force, in English, is "was . . . -ing."
E.g., l. 12: je vivais séparée = "I was living apart."
l. 58: . . . attendaient leur arrêt = "were awaiting their doom."
B. IF THE ACTION IS STATED WITH REFERENCE EITHER TO ITS BEGINNING, OR
TO ITS END, OR TO BOTH, the PASSÉ DÉFINI is used.
Thus a. Simple occurrence, which is the introduction of a new action now beginning to take place, takes the passé défini.
E.g., l. 19: . . . ajouta-t-il, . . . = "he [then] added."
l. 26: . . . qui sauva nos aïeux = "which [once before] saved our forefathers."
l. 494.: il trembla pour sa vie = "he began to tremble for his life."
b. Continuous duration through a completed period of time which may be expressed or implied, takes the passé défini.
E.g., l. 4: . . . fus de mes premiers ans la compagne assidue = "wast the constant companion of my earliest years."
l. 272: . . . qui ne furent jamais = "who never [in all time] had existence."
l. 477: . . . il fut des Juifs = "there was once [but is no more] a race of Jews."
NOTE that the action may be stated as recurring a given or indefinite number of times, and yet the verb will not be in the imperfect.
E.g., l. 249: Mon pere mille fois m'a dit . . .
l. 531: Et j'ai pâli deux fois. . . .
If the imperfect were used here, the meaning would be "My father used to tell me a thousand times," i.e., he told me 1000 X n times, and in the second sentence, "I grew pale 2 X n times."
The student is recommended to account to himself carefully for the different tenses used in contrast to one another in the following passages:
ll. 4 and 6; 72 and 73; 1058 sqq. and 1073; 1074 to 1082.