Trigger words are a strong statistical signal, not a guarantee. They get you the right answer most of the time — but the same trigger can point either way depending on what the speaker means to emphasize, and a sentence can legitimately go the other direction if the framing calls for it. Use these as a first read, not a final answer.
⚡ Passé Composé triggers — bounded, punctual events
| Category | Triggers | Why PC |
|---|
| sudden | soudain, tout à coup, brusquement, tout d'un coup | Marks an abrupt interruption or shift |
| specific-time | hier, lundi dernier, en 2020, à 8h, le 15 mars | Pinpoints the event to a specific moment |
| one-time | une fois, un jour, ce jour-là | Marks a single occurrence |
| sequential | puis, ensuite, après, d'abord, enfin | Links events in order (foreground) |
| duration-completed | pendant + a finished timeframe | Marks a finished period |
| frequency-counted | deux fois, trois fois, plusieurs fois | A specific, countable number of occurrences |
| boundary | commencer à, finir de, s'arrêter de | Explicitly marks a start or end point |
🔄 Imparfait triggers — unbounded, ongoing situations
| Category | Triggers | Why Imparfait |
|---|
| habitual | souvent, toujours, d'habitude, tous les jours, chaque semaine, régulièrement | Marks a repeated routine |
| simultaneous | pendant que, alors que, tandis que | Simultaneous actions, no completion in focus |
| scene-setting | il y avait, il faisait (weather), c'était | Background description |
| indefinite-duration | longtemps, autrefois, à l'époque | An extended time without clear edges |
| used-to | avant, dans le passé, quand j'étais jeune/enfant | Marks a past habit or state |
| state | être, avoir, savoir, croire, penser (descriptive use) | Mental/emotional states are inherently unbounded |
The verbs that change meaning
| Verb | Imparfait | Passé composé |
|---|
| vouloir | ongoing desire — je voulais (I wanted) | tried/decided and acted — j'ai voulu (I tried to) |
| pouvoir | had the ability — je pouvais (I could) | specific success — j'ai pu (I managed to) |
| devoir | obligation, outcome unstated — je devais | had to, and it happened — j'ai dû |
| savoir | already knowing — je savais | the moment of finding out — j'ai su |
| connaître | ongoing familiarity — je connaissais | the moment of first meeting — j'ai connu |
Levels 2 and 3 lean hardest on this page's disclaimer — that's exactly the point. Trigger words get you most of the way there, but pendant, quand, and toujours genuinely point both directions, and level 3 has no trigger word to lean on at all.