Look at these -dre verbs in le Passé Simple:
Cette nuit-là, je défendis mon seigneur de toute ma force.
That night, I defended my lord with all my strength.
Soudain, tu perdis l'équilibre.
Suddenly, you lost your balance.
C'est alors qu'il entendit un hurlement terrifiant.
At that moment he heard a terrifying scream.
Nous prétendîmes être endormis.
We pretended to be asleep.
Vous répondîtes en même temps.
You answered at the same time.
Ils attendirent le Père Noël toute la nuit.
They waited for Santa Claus all night long.
To conjugate -dre verbs in le Passé Simple, here is what to do:
Stem of the verb (without -RE) + endings: -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent
ATTENTION:
Here is a list of the main irregular -DRE verbs that DON'T follow this pattern in Le Passé Simple:
- prendre (je pris, tu pris...)
- coudre (je cousis, tu cousis ...)
- peindre / craindre / joindre (je peignis / je craignis / je joignis ...)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources

Q&A

Nicholas
Kwiziq community member
5/06/17

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
6/06/17
Here is a link to our glossary article on Passé Simple:
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/glossary/verb-tense-mood/the-french-simple-past-le-passe-simple
@Nicholas
That's an interesting point of view, I never thought of that :)
Donald
Kwiziq community member
10 August 2017
6 replies
Passé simple:
Yes I agree that it does avoid the passé composé rules but....if it is only used as a written tool, why are there so any questions using it? While there may be a lot of the 77,000+ people using this site to learn French, I would bet a lot of money that most of us are learning to be able to speak it properly. Just my frustration. I would prefer more attention be given to idioms such as the ones in the weekend challenge.
Ron
Kwiziq community member
12 August 2017
12/08/17
Below is from another site that explains the need to learn the passé simple. The author is Laura who also works on this site. While I am in agreement with you that most of the 78,800 folks using this site to learn French will never use this tense; however, as pointed out by Laura in the excerpt below, it is used in very formal speech as well as in literature. To my way of thinking that necessitates learning it. And I too want to be able to speak this beautiful language properly and correctly as well as being able to fully understand a speaker. Voila !
"by Laura K. Lawless
Updated June 30, 2017
The passé simple, translated in English as either "simple past" or "preterite," is the literary equivalent of the passé composé, which means that it is used only in formal writing (e.g., historical and literary writing) and very formal speech. In such writing and speech, the passé simple is used alongside the imperfect, just as in everyday speech/writing, the passé composé and imperfect are used together.
You will probably never need to actually use the passé simple, but it is important to recognize it, especially if you read in French a lot (fiction or non-fiction). Fortunately, the passé simple is very easy to recognize. My high school French teacher told me that if a verb looked weird, it was probably in the passé simple, and 9 times out of 10, she was right."
Bonne chance dans vos efforts d’apprentissage du Français.
Ron
Donald
Kwiziq community member
12 August 2017
12/08/17
Ron
Kwiziq community member
12 August 2017
12/08/17
I must say; however, that I am not involved with the site nor with the team. I like you am studying French to become more proficient and correct in the language. I attempt to answer questions from time to time that come up because 1) it appears to be an open forum for discussion and 2) in helping others understand the points that I have knowledge about also reinforces in me what I have learned.
Bonne chance,
Ron
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
23 August 2017
23/08/17
Merci beaucoup de vos compliments, nous les apprécions énormément !
As for adding new lessons on idiomatic expressions, please be aware that I'm adding lessons as I go along (and as you noticed), there's simply not enough hours in a day :)
We're also working on new features as well as improving the weekly writing challenges :)
Thanks for your support !
À bientôt !
Gerilyn
Kwiziq community member
1 February 2018
1/02/18
I for one would feel it more useful if I were tested on the 3rd person forms but only had to show recognition knowledge of 1st and 2nd persons.
From what I've seen of the TCF (Test de connaissance du français) preparatory material and various sample questions for the B2/C1 level (as a sample of what the French/the Europeans think you need to know as an upper intermediate/advanced speaker of French), you need to have a lot of active control of your French - to be able to think on your feet in French, marshal your arguments, show a good understanding of idiomatic French and be able to use current idioms easily, etc. (Thus I think all the time QWIZIQ spends on the Passé Historique is not really time well spent.)
Actually, I'm sorry to criticize, (and really hesitated before posting this), because I appreciate this website and people's comments are, almost without fail, kind and helpful!
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
1 February 2018
1/02/18
I'm really happy that you enjoyed our site, and please don't feel bad, we at Kwiziq welcome any constructive feedback, and we are definitely taking your remarks and Donald's into consideration :)
I agree with you that some persons are more used than others in Le Passé Simple, and I like your suggestion of focusing on the 3rd person plural and singular as they are indeed more common.
I do think the 1st person singular is also quite useful in 1st-person novels for example.
Though we should still test the other ones, I agree that the ratio should definitely be in favour of these three forms.
As for idiomatic expressions, they are definitely the way to go at C1 level, which is best practised through integrated exercises such as our Weekly Writing Challenges.
Merci beaucoup et bonne journée !