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Temps historiques
When writing about history, the tenses used in French and English aren’t always the same. French prefers to use the present or even the future, while English tends to stick to the past tense.
Historical past – Passé historique
alias Passé simple, Passé défini
In historical accounts as well as journalism and literature, the passé simple takes the place of the passé composé used in spoken French.
| Exceptionnellement, les Gaulois adoptèrent la culture romaine et en acceptèrent la langue. | Unusually, the Gauls embraced Roman culture and accepted their language. |
| Source: Naissance de la langue française | |
Historical present – Présent historique
alias Présent de narration, Présent littéraire
However, French typically uses the historical present to describe history because this helps bring the events to life. While it is possible to use the historical present in English, the past tense sounds much more natural.
Par exemple…
| Le 1er mai 1561, le roi Charles IX reçoit un brin de muguet porte-bonheur. Le cadeau lui plaît tellement, qu’il décide d’offrir tous les ans un brin de muguet à chacune des dames de sa cour. | On May 1st 1561, King Charles IX received a sprig of lily of the valley for good luck. The gift so pleased him that he decided to give a sprig of lily of the valley to each of the women in his court every year. |
| Source: Bonne fête du Premier Mai | |
Historical future – Futur historique
alias Futur de narration, Futur de perspective
There’s also a historical future in French, but it’s never used to tell the whole story, the way the historical present may be. Instead, the historical future is mainly used to emphasize events sandwiched between passages in the present or passé simple.
Par exemple…
| Aimé Césaire restera député pendant près de 50 ans. | Aimé Césaire remained a deputy for almost 50 years. |
| Source: Césaire, chantre de la négritude | |
When translating between French and English, it’s important for the target language to sound authentic, which is why tenses don’t always match up. Read more about the art of translation.
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