Talking About the Past: Time Expressions

1. The Core Past Time Markers: Yesterday and Before

Let's start with the most fundamental words used to talk about the recent past. These are single-word adverbs that you'll hear and use constantly.

As you saw, the key terms are:

• Hier: Yesterday
• Hier soir: Yesterday evening / Last night
• Avant-hier: The day before yesterday

These adverbs are typically placed at the beginning or end of a sentence. Notice how they signal the use of the passé composé.

• J'ai fini mon travail **hier**. (I finished my work yesterday.)
• Avant-hier, nous sommes allés au cinéma. (The day before yesterday, we went to the cinema.)

2. Expanding Time: Last Week, Last Month, Last Year

To talk about broader past time frames like "last week" or "last month," we use a simple and consistent structure: [time period] + dernier/dernière.

The key here is that dernier (last) is an adjective, so it must agree in gender with the noun it describes.

• le mois (month) is masculine -> le mois **dernier**
• la semaine (week) is feminine -> la semaine **dernière**

Let's watch a video that explains this and provides clear pronunciation.

Here's a quick summary of the pattern:

• Last week: la semaine dernière
• Last month: le mois dernier
• Last year: l'année dernière

Example from the video: Je suis allé chez ma tante **le mois dernier**. (I went to my aunt's house last month.)

3. Specifying "Ago": The Expression Il y a

One of the most useful structures for talking about the past is il y a, which means "ago." You use it to specify how long ago a completed action took place.

The structure is: Il y a + [duration]

Let's watch a very short and focused explanation.

As the video highlighted, you use this for something that is finished. The literal translation of il y a is "there is" or "there are," but when followed by a duration, its meaning changes to "ago."

• J'ai rencontré mon ami **il y a cinq ans**. (I met my friend five years ago.)
• Elle a commencé un nouveau travail **il y a trois semaines**. (She started a new job three weeks ago.)
• Nous avons acheté cette voiture **il y a deux jours**. (We bought this car two days ago.)

4. Sentence Placement and Common Mistakes

A common question is where to put these time expressions in a sentence. The good news is that you have flexibility.

As a general rule, placing the time expression at the beginning of the sentence adds a little more emphasis to when the action occurred. Placing it at the end is more neutral and very common in spoken French.

• Emphatic: **Hier soir**, j'ai regardé un film. (Last night, I watched a movie.)
• Neutral: J'ai regardé un film **hier soir**. (I watched a movie last night.)

Finally, it's crucial to remember that these past time markers require a past tense. Using them with the present tense is a common error for learners.

• Incorrect: ❌ Hier, je **vais** au bureau.
• Correct: ✅ Hier, je **suis allé(e)** au bureau.

Conclusion

Excellent work! You've now learned the essential vocabulary to place your past actions on a timeline. This is a fundamental skill for telling stories, sharing experiences, and discussing past projects, all of which are vital for your professional and social goals.

Key Takeaways:

• Use simple adverbs like hier (yesterday) and avant-hier (the day before yesterday) for the recent past.
• Use the structure le/la... dernier/dernière to say "last..." (e.g., la semaine dernière). Remember to make the adjective agree.
• Use il y a + [duration] to say "...ago" (e.g., il y a deux mois).
• These expressions are strong signals to use the passé composé and can generally be placed at the beginning or end of a sentence.

Next Lesson Preview:
Now that you can form a correct passé composé sentence and specify when it happened, the next step is to link multiple actions together. In our next lesson, we will focus on describing a sequence of completed past events, turning individual sentences into a coherent narrative.