Passé simple

The passé simple, translated in English as either "simple past" or "preterite," is the literary equivalent of the passé composé, which means that it is used only in formal writing (e.g., historical and literary writing) and very formal speech. In such writing and speech, the passé simple is used alongside the imperfect, just as in everyday speech/writing, the passé composé and imperfect are used together.

You will probably never need to actually use the passé simple, but it is important to recognize it, especially if you read in French a lot (fiction or non-fiction). Fortunately, the passé simple is very easy to recognize. My high school French teacher told me that if a verb looked weird, it was probably in the passé simple, and 9 times out of 10, she was right. 

How to Conjugate the Passé Simple

The passé simple of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the passé simple endings.

Notes:

1. -ER verbs take the first set of endings, -IR and -RE take the second.

2. Spelling change verbs, like manger and lancer, have their spelling change in most forms of the passé simple.

3. The irregular verbs at the bottom have irregular stems in the passé simple but take the same endings as regular -IR/-RE verbs. 

ER endings		parler > parl-	manger > mang-	lancer > lanc-
je	-ai	parlai	mangeai	lançai
tu	-as	parlas	mangeas	lanças
il	-a	parla	mangea	lança
nous	-âmes	parlâmes	mangeâmes	lançâmes
vous	-âtes	parlâtes	mangeâtes	lançâtes
ils	-èrent	parlèrent	mangèrent	lancèrent
IR/RE endings		finir > fin-	rendre > rend-	voir > v-
je	-is	finis	rendis	vis
tu	-is	finis	rendis	vis
il	-it	finit	rendit	vit
nous	-îmes	finîmes	rendîmes	vîmes
vous	-îtes	finîtes	rendîtes	vîtes
ils	-irent	finirent	rendirent	virent
Irregular verbs
s'asseoir	s'ass-	mettre	m-
conduire	conduis-	naître	naqu-
dire	d-	peindre	peign-
écrire	écriv-	prendre	pr-
faire	f-	rire	r-
joindre	joign-	voir	v-

Conjugate Irregular Verbs in the Passé Simple

Most irregular verbs with a past participle that ends in -u use that past participle as the passé simple stem. These verbs and their stems are:

   avoir   eu-

   boire   bu-

   connaître   connu-

   courir   couru-

   croire   cru-

   devoir   du-

   falloir   fallu-

   lire   lu-

   pleuvoir   plu-

   pouvoir   pu-

   recevoir   reçu-

   savoir   su-

   valoir   valu-

   vivre   vécu-

   vouloir   voulu-

Three verbs have irregular stems but take the same endings as the above verbs:

   être   fu-

   mourir   mouru-

   venir   vin-

The passé simple endings for irregular verbs are as follows:

   * je        -s
   * tu        -s
   * il         -t
   * nous   -^mes
   * vous   -^tes
   * ils       -rent

Here are a few irregular verbs conjugated into the passé simple; for more, see my French verb conjugator.

avoir > eu-
   j'eus
   tu eus
   il eut
   nous eûmes
   vous eûtes
   ils eurent

être > f-
   je fus
   tu fus
   il fut
   nous fûmes
   vous fûtes
   ils furent

mourir > mouru-
   je mourus
   tu mourus
   il mourut
   nous mourûmes
   vous mourûtes
   ils moururent

venir > vin-
   je vins
   tu vins
   il vint
   nous vînmes
   vous vîntes
   ils vinrent