Le Passé Simple ( A form of the Past): Useful to recognise it :) This form is quite mysterious for new french learners as it is rarely used or exposed to them. Actually, most of the attention is paid to the 2 major past tenses (Passé composé & imparfait). In fact, ''Passé Simple'' is ''generally'' used only in formal writing (e.g., historical and literary writing) and very formal speech. You will need this tense especially if you read in French a lot (fiction or non-fiction) ! Also this tense is quite useful to tell French stories for children (''Les contes'' in french). Examples of Sentences with ''Passé Simple'': ()Il tomba par terre (he fell to the ground) => sudden and short action ()Ce fut un plaisir de vous rencontrer (It was a pleasure to meet you) and the list is long :D Good luck for all languages learners especially french learners ...