Posted by kw on Monday, March 28, 2011 at 3:33pm.
The passé composé is used in French in answer the question 'What happened?' On the other hand, you will usually put a verb in the imparfait if it answers the question 'What was going on when something else happened?' Generally, the passé composé is used to relate events while the imparfait is used to describe what was going on in the past, states of being in the past, or past habits.
Both tenses often occur in the same story.
EX
imparfait (set scene) passé composé (event)
Avant, Marie habitait à Paris ... et puis un jour, elle a déménagé.
Before, Mary lived in Paris ... and then, one day, she moved.
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