There is another past tense that is known also in other languages. If you know Spanish there is the indefinido, if you
know Italian, there is passato
remoto, French has passé simple. However there is a big difference, the passé simple is only used sublime literature language. The other language - in comparison - still use this form actively.
In the formation of the
passé simple we have to differentiate between verbs ending in -er, -ir, -re and -oir.
Many forms are irregular, especially verbs of type 2 ending in -re, -oir have no regular form.
The
passé simple is formed with the stem of the present forms adding the endings accordingly.
Overview
person
-er
-ir
-re
-oir
Type 1
Type 2
Type 1
Type 2
donner
(donn-)
finir
(fin-)
descendre
(descend-)
boire
(---)
recevoir
(recev-)
voir
(---)
je
donnai
finis
descendis
bus
reçus
vis
tu
donnas
finis
descendis
bus
reçus
vis
il / elle
donna
finit
descendit
but
reçut
vit
nous
donnâmes
finîmes
descendîmes
bûmes
reçûmes
vîmes
vous
donnâtes
finîtes
descendîtes
bûtes
reçûtes
vîtes
ils / elles
donnèrent
finirent
descendirent
burent
reçurent
virent
Taking only the endings of the above table we get the following overview:
Overview
Person
-er
-ir
-re
-oir
Type 1
Type 2
Type 1
Type 2
je
ai
is
is
us
us
is
tu
as
is
is
us
us
is
il / elle
a
it
it
ut
ut
it
nous
âmes
îmes
îmes
ûmes
ûmes
îmes
vous
âtes
îtes
îtes
ûtes
ûtes
îtes
ils / elles
èrent
irent
irent
urent
urent
irent
The
passé simple knows many irregular verbs, especially the verb être is irregular, therefore we show it here in particular. The translation is only a help for us, since there is no 100% equivalent in English.
