Lesson 1.1 — Quand j'étais petit — Narrating past memories (French B1)

Listen first

Someone shares a childhood memory. Notice the switch between « était/faisait » and « a … ».

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New vocabulary — tap to hear

quand j'étais petit(e)when I was little 🔊

d'habitudeusually 🔊

tout à coupsuddenly 🔊

un souvenira memory 🔊

à l'époqueat that time 🔊

il faisait beauthe weather was nice 🔊

Now say it

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« Quand j'étais petit, je jouais dehors tous les jours. » 🔊

When I was little, I played outside every day.

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Pronunciation

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Quand j'étais petit, je passais tous les étés chez mes grands-parents. 🔊When I was little, I spent every summer at my grandparents'.

C'était à la campagne ? 🔊Was it in the countryside?

Oui. Un jour, pendant que je jouais dans le jardin, j'ai trouvé un petit chat. 🔊Yes. One day, while I was playing in the garden, I found a little cat.

Et qu'est-ce que tu as fait ? 🔊And what did you do?

Je l'ai gardé ! Il s'appelait Minou et il dormait toujours sur mon lit. 🔊I kept it! It was called Minou and it always slept on my bed.

Grammar in focus · imparfait vs passé composé

Use the imparfait for the background — descriptions, habits and ongoing actions (j'étais, je jouais, il faisait). Use the passé composé for single, completed events that move the story forward (j'ai trouvé, j'ai gardé). « pendant que » (while) usually introduces the imparfait.

Write it yourself

Write 4–5 sentences about a childhood memory, mixing the imparfait (background) and the passé composé (what happened).

Your answer

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Tip for this task
Bien ! Background = imparfait (« il faisait beau »); key events = passé composé (« j'ai trouvé »). Don't put everything in one tense.

Quick check

An adaptive quiz confirms you've got it and schedules the right words for review.

1. Which tense gives the background/description?

2. « Tout à coup, il ___ (entrer). » Best choice:

3. « d'habitude » signals…

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