How Does the Simple Past Tense Work in French?

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 (like 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 nonfiction). Fortunately, the passé simple is very easy to recognize. If a verb looks "weird" to you, chances are it's the passé simple.

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:

-ER verbs take the first set of endings
-IR and -RE take the second set of endings
Spelling change verbs, like manger and lancer, have their spelling change in most forms of the passé simple.
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