French Historic Past
Le Passé Simple is the simple past tense of the indicative mood. It's used to express actions that were completed in the past.
The passé simple is the direct equivalent of the English simple past (I did), but is found almost exclusively in literature and other French writings. In spoken French, the passé simple has been replaced by the passé composé.
For example
See also: French Passé and All French tenses
